Why did this city leader don a body camera to a public event Friday afternoon?
Like dozens of others who attended a Feb. 24 groundbreaking ceremony for a new North Myrtle Beach business, Mike Mahaney was dressed in slacks with a shirt and tie.
But the city’s chief administrative officer also had a body cam affixed to his pocket, for reasons he wouldn’t elaborate on when asked.
“If you do a story, you can say the the city manager has no comment,” Mahaney told The Sun News.
Mayor Marilyn Hatley said the equipment wasn’t being required by city leaders, and was unsure why Mahaney was using it.
“I’m sure it was for some safety measure, but I don’t know,” she said. “There’s no mandate for him to wear one.”
County Council chairman Johnny Gardner were among those who spoke with Mahaney at the Friday event, but he couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Mahaney was among more than 100 people who attended the groundbreaking of Pepsi Bottling Ventures’ new 165,000-square-foot plant at the Palmetto Coast Industrial Park along Water Tower Road.
Several North Myrtle Beach police officers, state Sen. Greg Hembree and county council chairman Johnny Gardner were among those who also took part.
Mahaney, who’s served as city manager since 2010, was cleared of criminal charges in November stemming from an alleged confrontation with a business owner that happened earlier in 2022.
The S.C. Law Enforcement Division launched an investigation following allegations that Mahaney put his hands on Glass Bottom Kayak Tours co-owner Laura Weaver during a City Hall meeting.
A SLED special agent reported to 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson that there was “no question” Mahaney made contact with Weaver, but the county’s top prosecutor said there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue charges.
Mahaney wasn’t wearing a body camera earlier this week during interactions with the mayor, Hatley said.
Body cameras vary in size and price. Mahaney’s is from Axon, though it wasn’t immediately known what model it was. It was also unclear whether the device was activated.
City spokesman Donald Graham didn’t immediately respond to several questions including where funds for the camera came from and why and when Mahaney decided to start using it. The Sun News on Friday submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking footage dating back to Jan. 1.
In 2015, South Carolina became the first state to require that law enforcement agencies outfit officers with body cameras, but leaves it up to local agencies when it comes to releasing footage.