It’s official: Johnny Gardner running for a 2nd term as Horry County Council chairman
Just hours before the filing deadline Wednesday, Johnny Gardner made it official: He’s running for a second term as Horry County Council Chairman.
Gardner ousted former council chair Mark Lazarus in a surprise upset victory in 2018.
His first term has been marked by controversy but has also been highly productive.
In recent years, Gardner has helped usher through several sweeping reforms of building and development in Horry County. He’s also overseen tax increases and budget expansions to hire hundreds of new county staffers, including new police officers, 911 operators and firefighters.
Gardner declined interview requests from The Sun News on Monday and Tuesday but issued a statement Wednesday morning announcing his re-election bid.
“I have strived to keep my promises to the voters of Horry County during my first term in office and look forward to keeping more promises in a second term,” Gardner wrote.
He’s running as “the people’s chairman” on a “promises kept” platform.
Gardner faces a crowded field of challengers: Lazarus has announced he’s running for council chair again, in part to complete unfinished business from his first term. Council member Johnny Vaught has also thrown his hat in the race, arguing that the council needs better leadership.
And Little River resident Katrina Morrison, a frequent speaker at council meetings, has also filed to run. She said she’s running to pump the brakes on Horry County’s rapid development and focus on infrastructure needs.
Gardner, in his statement, cheered the hiring of new public safety officers, the passage of new development policies and the fact he helped cancel a county contract with the South Carolina Department of Transportation that would have sent county funds toward Interstate 73 construction.
He said he would focus on bolstering county infrastructure and hiring more public safety officers in a second term.
A rocky start
Just before Gardner would take office, he attended a now-infamous lunch meeting with a political associate and the leadership of the county’s economic development arm, the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation.
An MBRDC employee recorded the lunch conversation and Sandy Davis, the head of MBRDC, later turned it over to county officials.
An assertion made by one of Gardner’s political associates in the recording alarmed some county officials who thought it amounted to extortion.
County Administrator Chris Eldridge later asked the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division to open an investigation into it. The agency did so, but found no wrongdoing.
Upon taking office, Gardner took steps to fire Eldridge, though he retained his job. Eldridge retired several months later and current County Administrator Steve Gosnell took over.
In July, Gardner agreed to pay a $3,650 fine for campaign finance violations during his 2018 campaign.
Big wins for Gardner
Despite the controversies, Gardner has also been productive during his first term.
Last summer, for example, he helped usher through impact fees — a new charge on new building — that helps pay for some infrastructure. When a new housing development is built, for example, the developer will pay impact fees on each of the new homes. The money can be used for things like new fire stations or new parks near the new development.
Gardner also helped pass last summer an update to the county’s flood ordinance, which increased building standards in flood-prone areas.
That legislation was heralded as a big win by flood-prevention advocates. The new regulations require that new homes and buildings within flood-prone areas be built above high-water marks to prevent future damage.
Also last year, Gardner oversaw several tax and fee increases that have gone toward hiring new county staff and purchasing new equipment. Those increases have allowed for raises for county employees, new public safety employees to be hired and an expansion of the stormwater department, which helps mitigate flooding.
“We now are collecting impact fees on new construction so the cost of providing services for that construction is shared by new homeowners,” Gardner noted in his statement. “Council (also) recently changed county development regulations to help mitigate against flooding in our new sub-divisions.”
On infrastructure, Gardner has supported widening farm-to-market roads like S.C. 90 and S.C 905. He said in his statement that he’s prioritizing finding funding for those projects.
“There is still much to be done, especially in the area of road improvements, for the county to be able to increase services to keep up with our growing population without placing a heavy tax burden on the many who have lived here for some time,” he said.
Gardner also cheered what he described as a moral boost among county staff.
“Morale among county employees is 100 percent improved from four years ago,” he said. “Lack of leadership and cohesiveness? You have to be joking!”
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 11:54 AM.
