Former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride among 8 council candidates

Former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride joins seven other candidates seeking one of three seats in this year’s City Council election.

The filing period closed at noon Friday.

Philip Render and Michael Chestnut, who currently serve on City Council, are running for re-election. Susan Grissom Means announced in April that she would not seek another term.

In North Myrtle Beach, the Cherry Grove Ward and Crescent Ward seats, as well as one at-large seat are up for election. The incumbents in all three seats were the only ones to file in those races.

The elections will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 3.

Myrtle Beach election field

Michael Chestnut

Chestnut, a restauranteur, is running for his fourth term. He joined City Council in 2000.

“I enjoy serving the public,” he said. “I just want to make a difference in my community and I feel like there’s a lot more to be done. ... I like being the listening ear of the community. And I feel like we’ve got a good team put together.”

Mary Jeffcoat

Jeffcoat, who works with the homeless coalition New Directions, also served on council from 1983 to 1991.

“I think City Council is doing a wonderful job for the city of Myrtle Beach,” she said. “I want to be part of that team. I think it’s important to have a woman on council, and when Susan said she wasn’t running I decided I would run this year.”

John Krajc

Krajc, a Realtor, is a first-time candidate.

“I believe that Myrtle Beach is ready for a fresh face of leadership to move Myrtle Beach into tomorrow,” he said. “I believe in a Myrtle Beach that is a 12-month thriving business community as well as [one that’s] good for our way of life, as opposed to being solely dependent on one main industry – which is tourism.”

Mark McBride

McBride served one term on City Council from 1994 to 1998 and then two terms as mayor from 1998 to 2006. He lost his bid for re-election in 2006 to John Rhodes, who was re-elected in 2013.

In 2013, McBride filed and, a few hours later, withdrew his candidacy for Myrtle Beach mayor on the last day of filing saying the timing wasn’t right.

He could not be reached for comment Friday.

Robert Palmer

This is Palmer’s third attempt at Myrtle Beach public office, running for City Council in 2011 and mayor in 2013.

“I live in The Market Common area,” he said. “The people from the south of [U.S.] Highway] 501 don’t really have anyone representing them. I was approached by a number of people asking me to run again. All though I’m running for all of Myrtle Beach, like everyone else, if elected my goal is to have representation on the boards of people who live in the south end.”

Philip Render

A dentist and dean at Horry-Georgetown Technical College, Render is running for a third term. He joined City Council in 2004.

“I want to see that property tax relief remains in place and our law enforcement assets continue to grow,” he said. “I want to make sure the city remains on sound financial footing. … I put a premium on building relationships between county and state officials to try to get people together and on the [same page].”

Rick Sarver

Saver, who owns a coffee shop, is a first-time candidate for a Myrtle Beach public office. Since April, he also has served on the Downtown Redevelopment Corp. and as president of the Oceanfront Merchants Association.

Sarver could not be reached for comment Friday.

Jackie Vereen

Community Appearance Board member Jackie Vereen is making another attempt at City Council after narrowly losing – by fewer than 70 votes – in 2013. Vereen, who is in the hotel industry, also served two terms on Myrtle Beach’s Zoning Board of Appeals.

“I want to help better Myrtle Beach and to change the perception of Myrtle Beach,” Vereen said. “Right now, it’s not considered a safe beach. And I want to improve our public safety so that we can get the crime rate down.”

North Myrtle Beach

The incumbents in the three seats up for election in North Myrtle Beach all filed for re-election. All will run unopposed.

J.O. Baldwin

Baldwin, who currently holds the Crescent Beach Ward seat, will seek re-election for a fourth term. He is the president of a construction company.

Fred Coyne

Coyne will seek a second term for the Cherry Grove Ward seat. He is the owner of a custom home building company.

Hank Thomas

Thomas, a Realtor, is running to be re-elected to one of the city’s two at-large seats. It would be his third term.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride among 8 council candidates."