A Grand Strand newcomer or a familiar face? Myrtle Beach names city manager finalists
Myrtle Beach will soon have a new city manager as the search has been narrowed down to three finalists.
Wilmington, NC, Deputy City Manager Anthony Caudle, College Park, GA, City Manager Terrance Moore and Myrtle Beach Deputy City Manager Jonathan “Fox” Simons will be vying for the position. Current City Manager John Pedersen announced his retirement earlier this year and has been working on a week-by-week contract this winter until a replacement is selected.
Candidate experience and application details
All three candidates come with city manager experience and a master’s degree in public administration, according to their applications, which were sent to The Sun News by the City of Myrtle Beach.
Caudle’s application says he has 34 years of experience in managing resort communities. Given the nature of Myrtle Beach’s tourism economy, Caudle says he has a “unique set of qualifications” for the position.
Moore currently works in College Park, GA, home to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and various corporation headquarters, where he took a “collaborative approach to leadership and management,” his application states.
Simons, who has worked in Myrtle Beach since 2015 and has experience in other S.C. cities including Greenville and Easley, pointed to his involvement in current Myrtle Beach projects, like the downtown master plan, in branding himself as a desirable candidate.
From development to policing, where are the candidates on the issues?
In the application materials, each candidate was asked to answer a series of questions including how they would progress the city’s downtown master plan, react to emergency situations and approach “innovative policing.”
Concerning development, Caudle highlighted his work in Wilmington with the city’s master plan, which is updated every five years. His application states Wilmington’s policing and crowd control rely on the community’s involvement from the beginning and ensuring everyone is aware of a large event before it happens.
Moore said his experience working with the Atlanta airport and tax allocation districts makes him a good candidate to handle the downtown development. Major athletic events and conventions also took place in College Park, which Moore said involved traffic control and working with public safety.
During his time in Greenville, Simons was involved in a downtown development project, where he worked mainly with financing, his application states. Parts of Greenville’s redevelopment can be used as a model for Myrtle Beach, his application says, specifically city council’s support of the development. Simons said he’s been in Myrtle Beach for many large events and stressed the importance of a strong police presence and maintaining quality of life by keeping noise violations to a minimum.
Myrtle Beach city council is holding a public special meeting at 2. p.m. Thursday in rooms 202-204 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center to select a candidate and come up with an offer.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 1:11 PM.
