Needs of residents vs. needs of economic growth; Myrtle Beach candidates speak out

Eight candidates in the race for three open seats on Myrtle Beach City Council vary in ideas on how to tackle key issues the city faces, but most of them agree on one thing: There is a delicate balance between the needs of economic growth and the needs of residents.

“I think we do a pretty good job of it right now. I think the biggest thing we can do is just make sure we listen to the concerns of the residents and the businesses,” said Councilman Michael Chestnut, who is running for his fourth term on the council. “It’s just a balancing act. You’ve got to listen to people.”

Another main thing, he said, is “just being upfront with people that there are certain things we can do and certain things we can’t do.”

The city can and does provide services to residents that improve quality of life, he said, listing necessities like trash pickup and making sure the streets are clean and the fire hydrants work. And he says he listens when businesses approach the city with ideas to attract more tourists and bring in more revenue, but you have “to be smart with the money you have.”

Councilman Philip Render doesn’t see commercial needs and residential needs “at cross purposes.”

“I would say the well being and safety of residents are my most pressing concerns, period,” said Render, who is vying for his third term. “I think the role of local government is to also foster an environment where all well-managed private businesses may flourish.”

Taxes paid by private businesses, he said, account for about 80 percent of the city’s operating budget. “Local property taxes from residents have been greatly reduced over the past six years by over 80 percent.”

But the primary concern of all should be the well being and safety of those who live and work here, Render said. “You have to look after your folks first and you do that by providing adequate resources for our first responders, police and fire and our council has increased, for instance, the police budget by about a third over the last seven years.”

Mary Jeffcoat said the city has done a great job.

“Now, more than ever, there’s a very positive relationship between the business community and the residents,” she said in a nod to the city’s one percent sales tax. Twenty percent of the revenue generated from the tax is used to offset a portion of property taxes for permanent residents who live in their homes. The other 80 percent is used to promote the area out-of-state to attract more tourists.

“Our property taxes are the lowest in the state because of that provision,” said Jeffcoat, who served on the council from 1983 to 1991.

But “we still have a balancing act between the demands that tourists and day visitors place on our limited resources as opposed to our residents’ access to those resources. For example, parking to get to the beach for our residents is an issue,” she said, especially in peak tourist season. “We have to find a way to keep the day-trippers from infringing on our residents.”

First-time candidate John Krajc said the balance and focus needs to switch to the locals. “It’s never been about the locals,” he said.

“Tourism is important and I understand that’s important,” he added, but instead of honing in on seasonal interests, he said “we need to focus on year-round local businesses here that can pay year-round salaries.”

“I want the city to open its doors to tech, research, entrepreneurs, consultants, banking and anyone else that wants to come to Myrtle Beach and open a business,” he said. “Instead of eating steak in July and Ramen in January,” he added, it would be best if residents could rely on a steady paycheck through the entire year.

He envisions high-rise business complexes complementing the high-rise hotels downtown.

“Business-based trips can fill hotel rooms just as cost-effectively as tourists can fill beds,” he said.

Third-time contender Robert Palmer has another idea for putting the needs of residents first.

“The first thing that comes to mind is: was the chicken before the egg or was the egg before the chicken? Without economic growth how do you help provide for the needs (of residents)?” Palmer asked.

Palmer recommends moving Atlantic Beach Bikefest from Memorial Day. “I realize that will be a difficult task, but (it) still needs to be investigated. That day is for our veterans and service people first,” he said. “Secondly, it is the official start day of the season and promotes families and visitors to come here and (they) would keep coming here year after year.”

Moving Bikefest from Memorial Day, he said, would allow the city of Myrtle Beach to “honor our service folks but at the same time encourage our visitors and families to keep coming here.”

Jackie Vereen, a native hotelier who serves on the city’s Community Appearance Board, suggested redeveloping blighted parts of the city’s downtown to meet both the needs of economic growth and residents.

“Our commercial side is kind of lacking at this point,” said Vereen, who is making her second attempt to serve on council after narrowly losing a race in 2013. “We haven’t brought enough businesses in here to kind of fill in some of the voids that we have in the downtown redevelopment area there. Smaller businesses that bring jobs to our area would be great to put in that section there.”

But, in general, she thinks Myrtle Beach residents “are pretty happy.”

The extra foot traffic and activity that businesses draw, she said, helps with lowering crime, making the city safer for residents.

“We’re in the hotel business down on the Boulevard,” she said. “During the summer months, you don’t have as much crime in those areas because you have more eyes out and about.”

Former mayor and city councilman Mark McBride has put public safety at the top of his campaign platform.

“For too long I think we’ve put the interest of the business community first,” he said, adding the city uses “the lion’s share of the one-percent sales tax to market out-of-state when the priority is the public safety.”

He said he understands the balancing act between commercial and residential concerns, but he believes the “pendulum needs to swing back towards the residents’ interests.”

“The best example of putting the residents first is in getting control of the chaos of Memorial Day weekend,” he said. “Why do we need to have a weekend that requires 10-miles of barricades, a 23-mile bicycle loop, nine attempted murders, six vehicular deaths including two decapitations and someone being drug under an SUV for 1,200 feet?”

The issue can be solved, he said, by using a portion of the one-percent sales tax to hire “3,000 outside law enforcement officers” to beef up police presence and enforce the law.

“Currently, we pay the visiting officers $50 a day for a 12-hour shift, $4.17 an hour! No one will work for $4.17 an hour. Pay the officers $500 a day for three days, a $1,500 weekend, and we’ll find the officers to have an adequate force for Memorial Day,” he said.

Political newcomer Rick Sarver proposes a new type of hospitality nook downtown to help residents and the city’s economy.

“I have decided to run for city council, as I believe a ‘Bed and Breakfast’ downtown district would revitalize that area,” he said. “Hotel owners need to make a certain margin to keep operating and maintaining their facility. Rather than building more condo hotels that require hundreds of rooms per site ​a​t each location because margins are so thin, current small hotel owners can make a much higher margin per rental by converting to a ‘Bed and Breakfast’ boutique model.

“This model will​ lift the brand image of Myrtle Beach,” he said. “These new properties will also bring in fewer guests per location and, also, higher paying tourists into our market. Highway 17 and Bypass 17 can remain at current traffic levels with a new type of tourist who will find Myrtle Beach the perfect vacation spot. Our research shows that the average tourist of this type will purchase a Myrtle Beach home after as few as three repeat visits. These new purchases will help us maintain a consistent real estate marketplace and drive up the value of each home for residents who live in the city.”

Reach Weaver: 843-444-1722; @TSNEmily

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 7:30 AM with the headline "Needs of residents vs. needs of economic growth; Myrtle Beach candidates speak out."