Randal Wallace

On my Facebook page I was recently asked a question. What do you think is the most important issue facing Myrtle Beach? I thought about it and felt that there is really two issues that stand out. The first one is growing our tourism economy and focusing on the downtown area.  I have advocated for a long time that we should focus on downtown. We have the boardwalk ready to begin in September and we have provided the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce with the ability to advertise heavily out of market to grow the economy, brand the destination and grab as much of the market share as we can.

Our downtown area has been hit in recent years with a series of problems ranging from the overall economy to the closing of both the Myrtle Square Mall and the Myrtle Beach Pavilion, the real estate collapse, the competition from new areas like Market Commons, Tanger Outlets, Freestyle Park, Broadway At The Beach, new accommodation development etc. as well as the loss of the advertising monies from the State of South Carolina that effected the entire area as well as the end of the Bike Rallies. It has been a tough go but the people downtown have persevered.

Council has already begun  discussing  incentives for how to encourage the business owners to get started anew. Ideas have been as varied as the different entrepreneurs that make up the area. From ways to help finance new facades, or as I have suggested , helping  with whatever open ended plan the business themselves come up with on their own. I  figure  they know better than I do what they need to be a success. We need to focus, perhaps in sections, throughout the entire highway 17 corridor and into the Downtown and ocean front areas. We have a zoning rewrite that the planning commission is working on, and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce , the Ocean Front Merchants Association are also working on plans for events that will draw people to the area. It is like things are all coming together at once. It is an exciting time to be a part of what , I believe , can and will happen for the city’s business community, a future we have all been working toward for a long time.

I hope to return to Council to help this process along. To ensure that the government unleashes that entrepreneurial spirit that made Myrtle Beach such a great place to live, work and play. That our small businesses get to have a say in the direction of the city and not be stifled by to much city government. It’s been my purpose for many years but now the opportunity has arrived to help make it a reality. I am excited about that!

The second problem that I think is of equal importance and one that has been a concern of mine for a long time is improving the quality of life for the neighborhoods. I think we are seeing this come together as well. Knowing that you are never totally rid of blight, you can do everything you can to make it as minimal as possible. We have been working in many areas to do that but there is a lot more that can be done.

We now have 11 neighborhood watches that are in effect. Code enforcement is in the neighborhoods getting properties cleaned up and, with the help of the people living there, we have identified trouble spots. I have recently asked for a list of the various codes and laws we have passed to see if anything else can be done to address landlords about to whom and how they rent there properties.

We have an ever stronger community policing effort going on throughout the city, and we are very fortunate to have a top notch police department and, for the first time, an almost fully staffed one.

We also have begun to work on ways to help our residents with property upkeep problems that are beyond there financial means to handle. The City of Myrtle Beach and the Waccamaw Council Of Governments , of which I am on the board,  have worked on a program to help with repairs on homes. Sadly, there is not enough money to go around and the program has a long waiting list.  The COG also has to service three counties: Horry, Georgetown, and Williamsburg. That is a pretty tall order.

I think we are working to make this a better place to live for many of our citizens with all the different programs we are working on presently. The most exciting thing about all the above is the sense that all of it is coming together. With the advertising monies bringing in more tourists and growing our tourist base, providing jobs for our people and the opportunity to now focus on the downtown with such projects as the boardwalk and special events, we are poised to take a giant leap for the better when the overall economy turns around. This will be a future that will have us less dependent on any one group or event for our city’s economic stability and prosperity.

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