After residents of the gated and affluent Grande Dunes community reported ongoing issues with crime these past few weeks, City Manager John Pedersen is choosing to place security at the entrance of Myrtle Beach City Hall. His efforts are a measure to ensure his own personal safety, as well as, the safety of the mayor, each of whom have offices located inside City Hall.
City Resident Mark Minervini recently posted the below on the Grande Dunes Next Door site.
This week I attended the meeting at the Ocean Club that was specifically called to address recent gun shots, home invasions, attempted break-ins, auto thefts, etc. The meeting turned out to be an LStar dog and pony show where they spent a few minutes on the concerns of Grande Dunes residents (the reasons we all attended) and instead used the meeting as an opportunity to disclaim liability, pivot to transition (to get off the subject of crime) and tee up the next LStar meeting aimed at increasing their footprint here to suck as much money out of our community as they can. There are many things that LStar conveniently left out of their “presentation.” They tried to play down the incidents and the dangers of the crime that has recently occurred, but I’m here to tell you that there is an armed intruder on the loose, and little is being done about it. My neighbors and my family have come face to face with this person. Who knows if this man is on drugs, and god forbid he enters your home desperate with a firearm in his hands. In all my dealings with business people over 35 years, I have rarely come across such insincere, lying creeps as the public relation clowns appointed by LStar. They think they are slick, but anyone with a half of a brain can see right through their charade. When referring to the recent break-ins, the presenter of the meeting actually said “what do you expect if you leave your windows and doors unlocked.” LOL! Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t expect a home invasion by a man in a hoody with a gun! Feel free to call me with comments, concerns and hopefully solutions. Mark Minervini
Below are a few city resident comments from Minervini’s post
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On July 26th, Myrtle Beach Republican leader and Grande Dunes resident posted the below on Facebook.
This time, Myrtle Beach police were on the scene as these break ins occurred.
CRIME ISSUES DIMINISH CITY MANAGER’S CREDIBILITY
Several years of constant and high profile crime issues city-wide have merchants questioning if the City Administrator is competent to run the city.
Natalie Litsey formerly owned a business in the super-block. She told MyrtleBeachSC news, “I lost everything I invested in that business. The city did nothing about the violence in that area, except blame me and my business for the very crimes they allowed on their city streets. Pedersen used those very excuses to close my business down. The entire episode was suspicious. I don’t know how this man sleeps at night.”
The former business owner chose to leave the Myrtle Beach area and now lives in another state.
Security aside, several merchants say they are intent on discussing the competence of the city manager with Mayor Brenda Bethune and City Council later this Fall.