Posted on Tue, Oct. 30, 2007
Council hopefuls take on bikers
MB candidates forum addresses rallies, parking
By Lorena Anderson
The Sun NewsThe majority of this year's Myrtle Beach City Council candidates would prefer not to hear the sound of Harleys rumbling up and down city streets - ever.
At a northside forum Monday night at Trinity Episcopal Church, incumbents Mike Chestnut, Phil Render and Susan Grissom Means and challengers Mike Lowder, Judy Rodman and John Easterling took questions from about 30 neighbors.
Moderator Randy Wallace read questions from people who couldn't attend, and one of them was about whether any of the candidates would consider reducing the number of bike rallies each year.
Chestnut said talks are already planned with motorcycle groups, and Means was the first to come straight out with her opinion.
"I would prefer we didn't have any bike weeks at all," she said. The motorcycle noise, she said, is "not fair to the people who live here."
Rodman said stronger noise ordinance enforcement would make the bikers feel less welcome - a feeling she didn't seem to want to discourage. And Phil Render said he favors moving events further outside the city.
"Our folks are tired of motorcycles," he said.
Only Easterling, himself a biker, suggested a compromise, such as having planned events at the fairgrounds in Loris, the old racetrack and the dragstrip, and having vendor booths within the city so at least the city could make money off the rallies.
"They are coming," Easterling said. "If you give them something to do besides cruise the streets and drink, they'll do it. Bikers like to ride."
Lowder said he didn't see how the city could tell one group of people they are not welcome anymore, but he did suggest stricter law enforcement and more officers on the streets.
Neighbors also asked several questions about parking along Ocean Boulevard and in residential areas - a problem that never goes away, they said.
No one wants parking meters in residential areas, the candidates agreed. Rodman and Easterling said that perhaps parking decks could work in some areas. The parking discussion became more like a town hall-style meeting, which Means said the city is planning to have with northside neighbors to discuss parking, anyway. Lowder suggested the city could have a parking garage and a trolley to carry people to the beaches.
The candidates all agreed parking along and around Ocean Boulevard is hazardous, especially in the summer, and that the city needs to come up with some solutions before people are injured.
Residents are also concerned about northside single-family homes being used as vacation rentals. "We really need help, or it's not going to be a neighborhood anymore," one woman said.
The candidates reminded residents they have to be willing to speak up when a house that should only hold one family is overloaded with partying vacationers, and each of them said they do not favor that kind of use in a residential area.
Monday night's meeting was likely the last candidate forum for Myrtle Beach City Council before the Nov. 6 election. Candidates urged people to be sure to cast their ballots on Election Day. Contact LORENA ANDERSON at 444-1722 or
landerson@thesunnews.com.My Response to this article
posted hereEvery year Daytona gets tougher and hands out more tickets. They want to be more family oriented. The cops pull the ladies at cabbage patch off the bull if they get too risque. (Where does the money go)
Bainbridge is cracking down. The year before last they ran cop cars down party row so slow your Harley would overheat. Sat. and Sun. mornings they still had Bikes on the side of the roads waiting for Tow trucks. (where does the money go)
PC residents did a little rumbling this year about the Noise at Thunder.(where does the money go)
Myrtle Beach has been bitching. (Where does the money go)
But like lambs to the slaughter or lemmings jumping off a cliff we line up with credit cards in hand for more ripoffs and abuse and then pat ourselves on the back and feel good about supporting those who do not support us.
Little girls on cell phones give ya the finger when ya blow your horn at em after they bout run ya over w/ a cell phone stuck to their ear never thinkin that hey, maybe you paid to ride in a run that may help find a cure for a disease they may get someday. You think they care? You think they even know?
Ridin into town yesterday I saw the cop before he saw me. Slowed down enough to make my front end dip. Thought he was gonna fall out of the car tryin to get his radar gun up to the window to light me up. To late. Smiled and gave him a wave. Reckon I will see him at the Police rodeo or the Sheriffs doggie run where he will try and get some of the money he missed on that one.
But hey it's all O.K. we will "pay" a few lobbyist (were does the money go) to go to the capital to beg for feel good laws and money, not to train distracted, self indulgent, cell phone addicted cagers to avoid us, but to "TRAIN US" on how to get the hell out of their freaking way while on the highways we help pay for.
But hey! What the hell! Were just them fat old dudes that dress up in brand new factory worn leathers and tow our bikes to the next gathering of the "fleeced" that even most sport bike riders have sense enough to stay away from. Besides there busier riding than trailering.
But not because they are afraid of us. Because they are afraid of the Maxim "what you rub up against rubs off".
Hell now days Rodney Dangerfield gets more respect than us.
A suggestion.......Either tell Myrtle Beach to shove it or be sure to throw your golf clubs in the trailer.
Or not. rc
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