North Myrtle Beach City Council voted today to approve over $300,000 in taxpayer funded Hush Money to former North Myrtle Beach City Manager, Mike Mahaney.

Mahaney did not attend the specifically scheduled meeting on Tuesday, which had only one item on the agenda.

The resolution for the transition and release in full of Mahaney (which we covered yesterday from his duties as of Oct. 22nd), Agreement between Mahaney and the City of North Myrtle Beach, was approved by the city council and the mayor in a meeting that lasted less than one minute without any allowed public discussion.

Why would the City of North Myrtle Beach pay Mike Mahaney a whopping $126,000 just for signing the agreement?

North Myrtle Beach’s Public Information Officer, Lauren Jessie, informed media today that due to Mahaney’s resignation prior to Tuesday’s meeting, the public grievance hearing scheduled for today will no longer take place.

TAXPAYER FUNDED HUSH MONEY AGREEMENT APPROVED

North Myrtle Beach City Attorney, Chris Noury, declined to provide additional comments, stating that the document and statement issued by the city are self-explanatory.

City Council also denied public input into the Hush Money payment vote.

Clause 7 of the agreement states: “Mr. Mahaney agrees not to make any disparaging remarks about the City, its employees, its officers, its Council Members, and its agents, except as may be required by law. The City, in turn, agrees not to make disparaging remarks about Mr. Mahaney, except as may be required by law.”

This language comes with a payment for Mahaney. Critics are saying the quid pro quo is definitely an indication of Hush Money.

Based on the Tuesday meeting agenda, Mahaney will receive appreciation from the city for his time as city manager, along with two payments totaling $193,379 and $126,505 as stated in the resolution. The first payment includes six months’ salary, the monetary value of Mahaney’s unused annual leave, his car allowance, health insurance for six months, and a one-year premium for a life insurance policy that will be converted to an individual policy.

The agreement mentions that the second payment of $126,505 will be a lump sum payment, which will be directly deposited during the week of January 6th to 10th, 2025, according to clause two.

At 1 p.m. today, multiple merchants we interviewed characterized the agreement as mere hush money. Despite this, they hold the belief that Mahaney did not engage in extortion towards the town. They felt the city did this of its own volition.

As per the agreement, Mahaney is set to obtain a sum of $319,884. His resume indicates that his income at the point of his departure was $253,000 annually.