It is remarkable that an entire leadership team from the city of Myrtle Beach would choose to re-write history this way.

Myrtle Beach City Manager, John Pedersen, continued a global narrative of ongoing, misleading information put out by leaders in the Myrtle Beach community.

Arriving in Puerto Rico last week, former Myrtle Beach Area Chamber C.E.O., Brad Dean, stated,  “These allegations of corruption, fraud, and illegal political contributions are untrue. I believe, now you are going to have to help me, because  I haven’t actually seen this, but I believe they come from MyrtleBeachSC.com.”

Mr. Dean’s statements, associating MyrtleBeachSC.com with those articles, were untrue.  It would be impossible for Mr. Dean to forget the drama that played out in 2009 between him, his organization, and the Sun News.  However, Mr. Dean did re-write the history of those events putting our company’s name, and my own personal name forward as the author of those articles concerning his group’s political contributions.  Mind you, later, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber’s lobbyist sued the Sun News over those series of articles.  Still Mr. Dean remembered the facts differently when speaking to the press in Puerto Rico.

Mr. Pedersen, globally continued this same narrative. Said Pedersen,”I learned yesterday that a small group of cyber terrorists is attempting to smear Brad’s name in Puerto Rico. This is beyond deplorable. This group has been attempting to drag Brad, the entire chamber and the city of Myrtle Beach through the mud for several years now.”

While Mr. Pedersen was unspecific about who this group was,  Mr. Dean’s remarks called our news site and me out by name. This can be heard at the 16 minute mark in the video below.

One local former politician and the former mayor’s wife,  then chimed in as well.

While we are currently seeking legal action against the City Manager and the City of Myrtle Beach in regards to their refusal to turn over FOIA concerning 8 years of Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce web data history, we encouraged Mr. Dean in his pursuit of his new venture.  The unfounded claims above from Mr. Pedersen, Mr. Wallace and Mrs. Springs are simply not true.  We challenge any one of them to come forward with evidence that David Hucks or MyrtleBeachSC.com reached out to Puerto Rico before Mr. Dean’s comments were made in the video above.

We later did respond to Oscar J. Serrano, Publishing Editor of  NotiCel.com, after he reached out to us wanting more information in regards to the statements Dean made in Puerto Rico.  We then connected Mrs. Springs and Mr. Wallace with Mr. Serrano so Wallace and Springs could directly learn the truth themselves.

Mis-information abounds.  Anyone who lived in Myrtle Beach in 2009 knows fully well that the Sun News wrote those front page and highly read articles.  Mr. Wallace was a central part of this story mentioned by name.  How does he now support the statements Dean made?  What knowledge does he or Pedersen have that MyrtleBeachSC.com reached out to Puerto Rico to smear Mr. Dean?  Is the Sun News among the group of cyber terrorists Mr. Pedersen speaks of above?  Mr. Pedersen was assistant city manager in 2009.  Many of the city council members, in office at that time,  were personally named in those articles as taking $24,000 in sequentially numbered cashiers checks handed out by Mr. Dean.  Those council members were Mr. Pedersen’s bosses.  Did he not read those articles?

For our Readers,  we provide a copy of just one of those articles published by the Sun News here:  It is remarkable that an entire leadership team from the city of Myrtle Beach would choose to re-write history this way.

Campaign Staffers Say Dean Brought In Disputed Cash

EDITOR’S NOTE – TO OUR READERS:  For reasons unknown, the State Newspaper (Owned By McClatchy) completely took this article down today (March 19, 2018) at 6:19 p.m.   The article originally ran on the Sun News, (a McClatchy Paper), but was picked up and continued to run on The State until today.

Apologies to our readers.

Questions have been raised by the media in Puerto Rico about monies that the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce president, Brad Dean, handed out to politicians, in sequential cashiers checks, distributed by his organization in 2009.  Those articles were written in 2009 by David Wren of the Sun News.  Mark Kelly, a former local lobbyist, would later sue the Sun News in regards to those very news items.  At the time of those articles, the IRS and the FBI were investigating those payments.  Those investigations later ended with no arrests.  Only Shep Guyton, the former Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Board President, has had any charges brought against him. Those State of SC ethics charges and fines are still outstanding and awaiting trial.

Mr. Dean did not appear to recollect the details of the matter, however, as he explained it to the press in Puerto Rico.

Said Dean, “These allegations of corruption, fraud, and illegal political contributions are untrue. I believe, now you are going to have to help me, because  I haven’t actually seen this, but I believe they come from MyrtleBeachSC.com.”  Dean, however,  was then corrected when he made those statements by members of the press attending who told him they had read them elsewhere.   Regardless, Mr. Dean went on with his same narrative,  “The MyrtleBeachSC.com site is not a credible news organization. The source that has been referred to, and if there are other sources that I am not aware of, is not a credible news organization.  It is owned by an individual that has been a constant critic of mine.”

The truth, however, happens to be far from the story Mr. Dean told.  The Myrtle Beach Sun News and journalist David Wren wrote an entire episode of ongoing investigative reports about those payments.  How Mr. Dean could re-remember that highly publicized chapter of his own life in a new way is a mystery?

Mr. Dean then later brought up testimony of over 18 pages of Myth versus Fact propaganda that the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has archived online about our news site and me personally.  He used this to “bolster” his evidence that the stories written in 2009 were not true.

We responded to a request from Oscar J. Serrano, Editor in Chief, of NotiCel™, among Puerto Rico’s most distinguished and leading news organizations:

David Hucks

_____________________________________

We then located a cached copy of a key article in the Sun News’ reporting and posted a copy with the Facebook Live-Stream press conference made by Mr. Dean. We did that so the press members in Puerto Rico could decide for themselves.

 

We believe Mr. Dean should not have included our news team in his response to those questions about his actions in 2009.  MyrtleBeachSC.com writes often about sunlight and government accountability.  We offered Mr. Serrano a line by line, parcept by parcept response to the legally parsed words that someone in authority at the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce chose to put online about MyrtleBeachSC.com.

While we wish Mr. Dean all the best in his new role, we would prefer that he leave our company out of the issues he faced in 2009, as we chose not to report on those matters as they were being investigated that year.   Mr. Dean clearly lied to the people of Puerto Rico.  What he chooses to do with that now is his to own.

On the day Myrtle Beach celebrated 80 years as a city,  Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce C.E.O. Brad Dean announced his resignation.

While the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has played a key role in the city since the 1950’s, the era that began in 2009 witnessed the chamber taking center stage.  The TDF helped transition the chamber from an advertising helper to the key player in the city, county, and the state.  Accolades aside, the emphasis placed on making certain the city was not outspent by other tourist destinations, might have distracted previous elected leaders of city government.

Cities, like North Myrtle Beach, also encourage and foster a relationship where their chamber operates as a vital part of the city.  Those cities, however, make their chamber a team player that is only one element in a congruent whole.

The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce could never have lived up to the expectations put upon it by the attention the TDF brings to bear.   Residents spoke out at Myrtle Beach City Hall yesterday asking that the tax be put to a referendum, or terminated, or allowed to expire.

Dean departs Myrtle Beach at a time when the city is clearly in high transition.  Leadership at City Council are now faced with a crossroads decision.

The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber has a vital role to play in Myrtle Beach’s future.  The size, scope and definition of that role should be investigated.  Perhaps, the audacious moniker the chamber claims as protecting Myrtle Beach should be reconsidered.

On Friday, March 9th, Myrtle Beach Public Information Officer, Mark Kruea, posted the city’s key argument for why the Tourist Tax should be renewed.  He posted it on a city owned website called Myrtle Beach Point Of View.

One of Kruea’s leading and central arguments for extending the tax was the $505.46 tax credit that 17% of Myrtle Beach primary homeowners get back in taxes on a $199,000.00 home.

Market Common residents pointed out to MyrtleBeachSC.com two central flaws in Kruea’s logic.

1. A homeowner must be a primary resident to take advantage of this tax credit.  Residents who own a home in Market Common, but claim Pennsylvania as their primary residence, are not given a tax credit.  Also,  unless your primary residence is an oceanfront home, a home in the Golden Mile, Grand Dunes, or Dunes Club,  the city’s TDF tax credit won’t improve your standard of living.
2. The primary reason for the Tourist Tax was to grow tourism.   The facts indicate the tax has not grown tourism inside the city limits of Myrtle Beach for the past three years. City of Myrtle Beach tourism numbers are falling and the type of clientele the tax is attracting has raised concerns.

One simple way to confirm those facts, beyond any doubt, would be to electronically investigate the eight years of website data that MBACC meticulously keeps.  Has anyone on Myrtle Beach City Council taken the time to see those?

MyrtleBeachSC.com asked both Brad Dean and Mark Kruea for that data back on February 15, 2018 as can be seen below.

Myrtle Beach SC News <..…[email protected]>	Feb 15
to gsmith, Philip, mchestnut, Mary, jvereen, mlowder, John, Mark, brad.dean, Alan, Luke

To Our City Council,

On behalf of the residents who follow our news site,  I wish to express our appreciation for the recent, positive changes we are witnessing in our city, especially in the areas of accountability and transparency.

I also wish to express our condolences to Mayor Bethune during this time of loss.  She leads us well.

We did send the below FOIA request to Brad Dean of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.  In their arguments to the S.C. Supreme Court on FOIA,  S.C. Chambers said we would be able to attain such information from our City Councilmen.  PLEASE SEE THOSE REMARKS BEFORE THE SC SUPREME COURT IN THE VIDEO HERE.

Raw Data

We are requesting the raw analytics data from whatever analytics package MBACC uses.  It would not be responsible for a firm, such as MBACC, to have anything less than a high powered analytics package when spending $200 million in TDF tax monies.  As SCPRT has questioned MBACC‘s tourism numbers with a variance of 10 million fewer annual visitors than what MBACC claims for Horry County,  we do not wish to get MBACC numbers from abstracts the Chamber might compile or present themselves.   In holding MBACC accountable, we feel it is imperative for our council to be well aware of what analytics package MBACC uses and the ongoing raw data from this package as well.

HISTORIC $200 MILLION VOTE

As we approach considerations to this historic $200 million, ten year tax vote extension in MBACC subsidies, we ask that you assist our team in getting this information to us at the soonest.  Our readers will want to discern for themselves the measure to which this tax subsidy is working.

 If MBACC is using an analytics package,  electronically this is a simple matter of an export/import operation that can be done electronically with relative ease and a few mouse clicks.

Finally, as to the numbers from the Pay Per Click generator,  to be clear,  we are asking for the number of clicks out and not a dollar amount.  We are not asking how much in general funding MBACC was able to convert by re-selling our tax funded ad expenditures from this previous $200 million tax subsidy.  If any of you are unclear how MBACC re-sells the tax subsidies we give them,  please see that here.   All re-sales of this tax subsidy to private businesses falls in the purview of General Funding for MBACC, which does create a gray area as to transparency.  I believe, however, that our city council should have a firm grasp on how MBACC operates on both sides of this ledger, so as to be accountable to national and local taxpayers who fund this subsidy.

MyrtleBeachSC.com holds that these statistical numbers were purchased with tax payer dollars,  and, as such,  we request the below as soon as possible. We ask that you please provide the below well before this historic vote so our local readers can be on top of this issue.  (We ask a two week window, if possible)

Kindly,

David Hucks

ONE MONTH – NO WORD

Brad Dean and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce are currently challenging FOIA in the S.C. Supreme Court.  They are challenging as a “Friend Of The Court” in a Beaufort Chamber of Commerce FOIA lawsuit.

Listening to their side’s attorney in the video above,  they clearly inform the justices that should a news group, like ours, want to FOIA the Chamber of Commerce, we simply need to ask City Council and they will provide that data.

It has been almost one month since we asked.  When we made our request, we asked for a two week window, before any vote was taken so that we could make that data available to each of you.

The vote taken on March 6th in North Myrtle Beach was overwhelmingly against this tax.  Insiders have informed MyrtleBeachSC.com that leaders of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber were shocked by both the high voter turnout and, also, the overwhelming lack of support for the tax.  As such, residents in Myrtle Beach are now concerned that they will never be allowed to vote on this $200 million tax extension.  While it is called a TDF (tourist tax), locals pay this tax too.  Resident leaders are weighing an online petition to demand Myrtle Beach City Council give the voters a say in this matter.

$200 Million – So Much Money – So Little Oversight

The largest demand placed on the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce by City Council is that they spend the millions given to them.   No requirements currently exist that compel  MBACC  to show performance goals on:

1. The conversion rate on ad dollars spent versus the national average.   Does City Council even know?
2. The city of Myrtle Beach’s annual return on investment for dollars spent.
3. The type of clients MBACC targets or any metric expectations for what type of clients the city expects.  Residents who take the short drive from Market Common to the Family Kingdom on a Saturday night have raised concerns about the type of tourists MBACC is currently attracting.
4. Comparisons to other nationally acclaimed brand media experts who manage Orlando, Las Vegas, and New York nationally known brands like, for example, Disney.
5. A measurable Brand Story Social Media Strategy.

 RECENT VIRAL VIDEO EXPOSES WEAKNESSES OF MBACC APPROACH

A recent viral video put up by local Yossi Galimidi exposed the weaknesses of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber’s Tourist Tax approach.  The video has now been seen by over 102 million people.  If the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber spent 29 cents on each viewer, at a total tax subsidy of $38 million paid by the city, state and county to the Chamber,  MBACC would use up its entire fund for 2018 on this one video.   Yossi spent only his time in putting the video up. The video tells a very negative, but incomplete story.

To date, we have heard no response concerning this video from the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, yet this video will affect Summer 2018 business as much as any MBACC Tourist Tax promotional ad spend.

Brand experts say Myrtle Beach needs a daily and ongoing social brand story strategy.   However, MBACC converts the tax dollars given to it by the city  into private funding by driving traffic to its website – VisitMyrtleBeach.com.  MBACC charges local hotels, retail and restaurants to get that traffic driven to their individual business websites. While there are absolutely no private funding dollars to be made by MBACC from a social media brand strategy, brand experts tell MyrtleBeachSC this type of brand management would serve the city best.

HEAR THESE NATIONAL EXPERTS TELL  WHY THIS STRATEGY WORKS BEST HERE

Myrtle Beach city residents are waiting to see if City Council will allow the TDF (Tourist Tax) to be voted on by the residents.  MyrtleBeachSC.com and our viewers are waiting on the eight years of past web data from our FOIA request.  State-wide residents are waiting to hear the Supreme Court’s ruling on FOIA.

Meanwhile, Brad Dean and the MBACC are waiting to see if they can quietly get ten more years of $200 million in public funding with as little oversight as possible.

Lt. Governor Kevin Bryant

Lt. Governor Kevin Bryant is campaigning to be the next Governor in S.C.   On Saturday, March 10th, Bryant spoke in Myrtle Beach before the top brass of the National Guard Association of S.C.  The convention was held at the Myrtle Beach Hilton.

The primary for S.C. Governor is held June 12th.   There are currently five candidates vying for the Republican nomination.   Kevin Bryant is running against current incumbent Henry McMaster, Catherine Templeton, John Warren, and Yancey McGill.

Bryant is a conservative who promises state-wide integrity if elected.

Read About Bryant’s Contract With South Carolina here. 

Born in Anderson County in 1967, Lieutenant Governor Kevin L. Bryant graduated from T.L. Hanna High School in 1985 and the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy in 1989.

Since then, Bryant has managed, with his brothers and father, Bryant Pharmacy & Supply, an independent pharmacy located in Anderson.  Working together, the Bryant family has upheld the “old corner drug store” image while creating a highly skilled pharmacy as well as a provider of oxygen, medical equipment, and diagnostic supplies.

Lieutenant Governor Bryant married his wife, the former Ann Barinowski of Augusta, GA, in 1989; they have three children and a daughter in law.  The Bryants attend Concord Community Church, a non-denominational New Testament fellowship, where Bryant has served as a deacon.

In 2004, Lieutenant Governor Bryant was elected to the South Carolina State Senate, where he served for 12 years.  As a member of the State Senate, he chaired the General Committee and also had committee assignments on Agriculture and Natural Resources; Corrections and Penology; Finance; and Labor, Commerce, and Industry.

Following the resignation of Lieutenant Governor Henry McMaster, Bryant was elected President Pro Tempore of the South Carolina State Senate before being sworn in as South Carolina’s 92nd Lieutenant Governor on January 25, 2017.  In his role as Lieutenant Governor, Bryant serves as President of the South Carolina Senate and oversees the Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging.

During his tenure in public service, Lieutenant Governor Bryant has been a constant voice for limited government, lower taxes, and supporting traditional family values.  As Lieutenant Governor, he remains committed to his beliefs and providing superior constituent service to all South Carolinians.

Outspoken liberal Democrat, and former Myrtle Beach City Councilman, Wayne Gray, wrote an article circulating social media this week.

Gray’s family history in Myrtle Beach extends back on his father’s side to Philip Gray, who founded Grayco and Genco in the 1950s.

Locals and local leaders are curious as to why Gray would speak out now, with comments that target Burroughs and Chapin.  Some leaders have hoped the Wayne Gray era in Myrtle Beach politics were now a part of our historic past.  Perhaps this is not to be the case.

We post his entire statement here for our readers.

____________________________________________________

FOR MEANINGFUL DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT,
THE PAVILION SITE MUST BE THE ANCHOR

I have been involved with downtown redevelopment in the City of Myrtle Beach for twenty years. As a matter of history, the Pavilion Area Master Plan (PAMP), adopted by the City in 1998, was the guiding document that birthed redevelopment district boundaries, and subsequent actions by the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation and City leaders. The PAMP identified 5 districts in need of action between 16th Avenue North and 6th Avenue South, and from Broadway and Oak streets to the Atlantic Ocean.

The event featured music, food, vendors, entertainment, and door prizes.  The event ran from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and was highly attended by residents from all across Myrtle Beach.

This annual event will be held again in 2019.

Judge Benjamin H Culbertson ruled yesterday that Jack Isaiah Rabon’s mediation settlement with Kyle and Karon Mitchell be immediately thrown out on grounds that Rabon worked with a local lawyer  to defraud the Mitchells.

The Sun News reported last Fall 2017: Court documents filed in early September allege that Jack Isaiah Rabon, Jr., along with his wife, Nicole Rabon, conspired with their attorney and with the buyers of the land to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in the transaction from Karon Mitchell, Jack Rabon’s sister, and Kyle Mitchell, her husband. The suit claims that at least some of that money was funneled through a foreign bank account and then given in cash to the Rabons and their attorney, Lane Jeffries, who worked for the McNair Law Firm at that time.

The dismissal of the mediation agreement opens up opportunities for the Mitchells to sue Rabon, his attorney Lane Jeffries, the buyer of the Mitchell’s property Sarah Ginsburg and Jacob Biderman, and potentially even the city of Myrtle Beach.

As the Myrtle Beach Sun News reported last October 6th:

According to court filings, Jeffries, Jack and Nicole Rabon, Ginsburg and Biderman all told the plaintiffs that the purchase price for the combined parcels was $542,000. That’s the total amount that was listed on closing documents and the total that is available in Horry County land records.

However, the suit claims that the buyers really paid $777,000, and that the Rabons and Jeffries kept the additional $235,000 out of official records in an attempt to conceal it from Kyle and Karon Mitchell.

As a part of that arrangement, the suit says Biderman transferred $100,000 to a bank account in Chile under the name of Gabriel Yosef. That money was allegedly given to Jack and Nicole Rabon and Jeffries by Yosef after the transfer.