Horry County Council smacks Myrtle Beach Chamber over ‘totally false’ I-73 mailer
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a response from the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
Horry County Council members criticized the political arm of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce for sending a mailer on the Interstate 73 project that they say is inaccurate.
The criticism, which came at their Tuesday night meeting, comes as governments across South Carolina, including Horry County Council, are debating whether to fund I-73. The new interstate highway link would connect S.C. 22, near Conway, to I-95 near Latta and Dillon.
The Chamber has been lobbying for I-73 for decades, and is currently involved in a campaign to convince government leaders to dedicate funding to the project.
But council members said Tuesday that a postcard from the Chamber contained “misleading” information about the source of funding for the project as well as why the project is important.
“I looked at the thing and it upset me, it upset me a lot,” said council member Harold Worley, who led the criticism of the Chamber’s mailer. He said he had received the postcard in the mail in recent days.
“I don’t have a problem with you telling the truth on this council, or about this council, but when you put out things that are misleading, I do have a problem with it.”
Horry County leaders have identified and set aside a pot of money — $2.75 million annually from its hospitality fee collection — but have yet to take a formal vote to spend the funds. The total bill for I-73 is estimated to be $1.6 billion, with the cost split between local, state and federal governments.
Chamber CEO Karen Riordan said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that her organization would “stand by” its mailer. She said I-73 could “provide a life-saving evacuation route in the event of future emergencies on the coast.”
“We stand by all the information included in the Interstate 73 educational campaign,” she said. “Public safety officials worked around the clock after Hurricane Florence to keep one lane of traffic open to and from Myrtle Beach.”
What mailer says
The mailer says it comes from the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and has a logo of an affiliated political group that lobbies for I-73. The group shares members with the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
The mailer has an image on the front of the evacuation on U.S. 501 during 2018’s Hurricane Florence with the claim that I-73 wouldn’t have flooded and would have prevented the evacuation traffic the county experienced during the storm.
“After Hurricane Florence, we were that close from being cut off,” the front of the mailer read.
“The construction of Interstate 73 would ensure this never happens again,” it continued on the back.
County Council member Al Allen said the claim isn’t true.
Additionally, the mailer says the funding “from the federal, state and local governments is lined up.”
“That’s just not true,” Worley, of North Myrtle Beach, said. “It is for the local government, but not for the federal and state.”
Other council members shared Worley’s concerns Tuesday and took turns criticizing the group that sent it.
Worley detailed recent commitments from Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach to fund the construction of I-73. He and council member Johnny Vaught pointed out that Horry County Council has voted several times in recent years to fund I-73 if state and federal agencies commit funding as well, and the county has a pot of money set aside it could use for the project.
Worley also pointed out that Gov. Henry McMaster has pledged $300 million to I-73 but the legislature must first approve that spending, which it hasn’t done yet. Similarly, the federal government hasn’t committed funding to I-73.
Referring to the money the county set aside to use for I-73 — a portion of its annual hospitality fee collection — Worley said county leaders were past the point of “just talking about” funding I-73.
“What more do you want us to do to say that we as a council support this?” he said. “The thing that we don’t support is that the federal government and the state government haven’t stepped up to the table with the funding.”
Fact-checking mailer’s claim
Allen, who represents the Aynor area, said the mailer’s central claim that I-73 would have prevented the dangerous evacuation situation on U.S. 501 was not true.
I-73, as currently planned, would connect to S.C. 22, West of Conway and the U.S. 501 bridge that partially flooded. A portion of S.C. 22 also flooded badly during Hurricane Florence, and government officials have said that part of the highway would need to be raised if it’s used as part of I-73.
“I-73 would not have fixed that,” Allen said. “You need to understand that. Then to throw that propaganda out there? It’s false, it’s totally false.”
Worley told The Sun-News after the meeting he isn’t trying to send a message to the local Chamber. He said his primary concern is that the mailer contains false information.
“I’ve got no message to send to anybody,” he said. “The facts are the facts.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Horry County Council smacks Myrtle Beach Chamber over ‘totally false’ I-73 mailer."
