The bridge to unity and growth is through healthy conflict.
After $30 million spent by the City of Myrtle Beach in purchasing an entire city block, the board of One Grand Strand announced this week that a change of leadership is necessary.
Listen to our short, MyrtleBeachSC Newsbrief on the change just above. Note how the issues surrounding Myrtle Beach are much like the issues facing traditional churches in these very same areas.
While the 1970s was the “Hey Day” for Myrtle Beach, a generation of current and much older leaders appear lost.
High homelessness, high crime, and dated structures are not the city’s primary issues.
A true and entrenched spirit of non inclusion has a stronghold over the city of Myrtle Beach as evidenced by the way the city is treated in Horry County and among state elected leaders.
The City of Myrtle Beach continues to behave as “experts” hiring “experts” to supposedly solve the dated, downtown problems.
WHAT THE GROUP SAYS ON PAPER
Partnership Grand Strand, a group that falls under the umbrella of the $54 million annually tax subsidized Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, touts its four areas of of focus. Prosperity, Identifying Talent, Place, and Infrastructure
The most vague among these is “Place”. “Essentially, what place is, is to really play a supportive role for what the Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance is doing,” Peggy Masterson (Director of Partnership Grand Strand) said. Masterson gave some examples which include the splash pad, dog parks, and frisbee golfing that opened near Broadway Street, as well as the ‘Arts and Innovation District,’ near Nance Plaza and 9th Avenue.
AS FAR AS RECOGNIZING NEW TALENT
Adam Morgan recently visited the City of Myrtle Beach, but not at the request of the city. He came, rather, at the request of city residents who are hungry for fresh ideas. Morgan is the head of a young group of politicians called the S.C. Freedom Caucus.
The Political Consultant for the Grand Strand Business Alliance is working overtime to keep Morgan and the S.C. Freedom Caucus out of Horry County.
These are among the same people who complained to Coastal Carolina University when MyrtleBeachSC News decided to give the University a journalism scholarship endowment.
How inclusive are these connected city groups? How wiling are these leaders to accept meaningful change?
The average age of those serving on Myrtle Beach City Council approaches 60 years old. The average age on most of these not for profit boards are even higher as our video explains.
As Myrtle Beach Redevelopment continues to struggle due to a lack of true inclusion, city leaders continue to ask for an ever increasing stream of endless tax dollars to fix the problem.
The area of infrastructure appears to be Partnership Grand Strand’s key area of tax funded focus.
Should inclusion be among the city’s top priority? Only the City of Myrtle Beach can make that cultural shift, and no one can nor should force them to do so.