Ed Carey Addresses Voters About Government Transparency

This past Friday night,  Mayoral candidate, Ed Carey addressed a group of voters at the Fresh Brewed Coffee House in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Carey is an engineer who helped create Myrtle Beach’s Market Common.  While he spoke alongside three local council candidates at the forum, Carey is a well known team builder. Carey told MyrtleBeachSC.com he can and will work with any and all city council members the residents choose to put in office this November.  At the forum, Carey stressed the need for increased government accountability and transparency.

On his website,  Carey4mb.com, Carey states that he feels Myrtle Beach needs these long term improvements:

TERM LIMITS & ELECTION CYCLE

●  Limit Mayor/Council to two, four-year terms

     – Election to office is not a “job,” it’s an opportunity to serve (and go home)

     – Current mayor has already served 12 years;  two other council members

        are running for unprecedented 5th terms – 16 years going on 20

●  Move elections to traditional, even-numbered years

     – Holding City elections in “off years” dramatically and intentionally reduces

       voter participation, strongly favors incumbents – and requires more funding

SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS

●  Every individual and every neighborhood deserves representation

     – 5 of 7 council members live north of 38th Avenue North

     – Our current system strongly favors the wealthy & discourages voting

●  Combination of single-member districts and at-large council seats

TOTAL TRANSPARENCY

●  Move Council meetings to evenings to encourage citizen participation

    – Current meetings held weekday afternoons when many voters are working

●  Council minutes must be readily available online

    – Current minutes have not been posted in months