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Post by Purple Pan on Feb 25, 2011 6:20:06 GMT -6
Haven't posted in a long time but have been keeping up with what the idiot "leaders" of Myrtle have been up to.
I haven't seen anyone post this anywhere so I thought I would post it here. Seems the Chamber is "into" racing now.
Quite honestly, they don't need to waste MORE taxpayer money by adding MORE advertising to the Charlotte area. They have been advertising to that area since the beginning of time. (and still do)
No need to add MORE advertising to an area that KNOWS Myrtle's dirty secrets first hand.
The Charlotte area has tons of bikes, trailers, and private vehicles with FUMB on them already.
For the few from the Charlotte area that might not be up to date with Myrtle's dirty secrets, they are brought up to date immediately, once they do a search on Myrtle Beach from the website of the local newspaper, the Charlotte Observer. Their search gets them a long list of the articles from the Sun News and that enlightens them real fast.
www.wmbfnews.com/story/14137272/myrtle-beach-chamber-seals-deal-as-title-sponsor-of#Myrtle Beach Chamber seals deal as title sponsor of Charlotte race
MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – Myrtle Beach leaders hope a new partnership will have more people racing into town this year. The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce announced a new partnership with the Charlotte Motor Speedway and zMAX Dragway Thursday. In front of a 40-ton sand sculpture of a dragster at the Charlotte dragway, chamber officials announced that VisitMyrtleBeach.com is now the title sponsor of the National Hot Rod Association Four-Wide Nationals in April 14-17. VisitMyrtleBeach.com is now also the official vacation destination of the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Scott Schult, Executive Vice President of Marketing for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, says the partnership means a lot of exposure for the Grand Strand. "Each year the Charlotte Motor Speedway attracts 1.5 million people," said Schult. "This is a new, innovative way for us to partner with another brand that has a lot of synergies with the same target audience we have. What we want to do is amplify each other's message, and for us it's getting us people more aware of the Myrtle Beach area and getting them here for a vacation." Schult also adds that the Charlotte market is a good place to advertise because lots of people drive from the Queen City to the Beach to vacation. Billy Hardee of the Myrtle Beach Speedway says he does think this will help bring more race fans to the area and hopefully help his business. "Any time you mention racing, it's good for us, and good for the area," Hardee said. Chamber officials say both the beach and the track are family friendly experiences, and hopefully this new partnership will send new visitors revving their engines all the way to the beach. This partnership with between VisitMyrtleBeach.com and the Charlotte Motor Speedway will last through the rest of this year.
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Post by bikergal on Feb 25, 2011 9:54:18 GMT -6
I like how they say "racing in to town". Just don't race when you are here!
But to me what is funny is how they say how the speedway brings in 1.5M people. Yeah, but most every one of them are from the area and already know Myrtle Beach.
It would make sense to me to reach out a little further than just to Charlotte for advertising.
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Post by Purple Pan on Feb 27, 2011 5:49:45 GMT -6
Came across the following, dated October 2009. MB and Charlotte's "like-minded" hold hands alot it seems, according to info supplied by Wallace.
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Two other corporations who contributed at least $4,000 each to Rhodes, Martino, Wallace and apparently Gray are listed as Visit Media and Miller Direct (a “subsidiary of Visit Media”) - companies who publish visitors’ guides, newspaper ads, direct mail and build websites. Visit Media’s website (www.visitmedia.com) lists two addresses – 4214 Mayfair Street, Myrtle Beach, SC and 1741 Gold Hill Road Suite 102 Fort Mill, SC. However, on Wallace’s report, both are listed as located in Charlotte at 4421 Stuart Andrew Blvd. Calls to the North Carolina number indicate that it has been disconnected. Apparently, the relationship with the Myrtle Beach Chamber has become even cozier – at least geographically. It is believed (so far unconfirmed) that Visit Media/Miller Direct are the companies that publish and distribute some 300,000+ of the Chamber’s annual Stay & Play Guide
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Post by rangemaster on Feb 27, 2011 10:26:55 GMT -6
Came across the following, dated October 2009. MB and Charlotte's "like-minded" hold hands alot it seems, according to info supplied by Wallace. Yep - and read THIS: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DONORS PROFIT FROM MYRTLE BEACH SALES TAX MB Chamber Sends Millions to Firms Backing Politicians Friday, December 31, 2010 Posted on Sun, Dec. 19, 2010 By David Wren dwren@thesunnews.com Some businesses that made campaign donations to politicians who approved a sales tax increase for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce now are among the biggest beneficiaries of that tax increase.
The chamber has paid those businesses and others that donate to a political action committee supporting those politicians at least $5.9 million in public money - including sales tax revenue - during the first nine months of this year for marketing work without any competitive bidding and little public oversight.
The lack of oversight could become an issue this year in the state legislature, with some politicians calling for increased scrutiny of how public money is spent...
...Chamber President Brad Dean did not return telephone calls last week...
...FBI INVESTIGATION
The chamber paid two direct mail marketers, Fort Mill-based Miller Direct Media and Jordan Investment Corp. of Conway, nearly $1 million from public funds including the sales tax during the first nine months of this year, according to quarterly spending reports issued by the chamber.
The payments to Miller Direct and Jordan Investment follow $36,000 in campaign donations those two companies made last year to politicians who approved the tax.
Those campaign donations and others funneled through Dean and other chamber officials in the wake of the tax increase now are the focus of investigations by the FBI and IRS.
Scott Brandon, chief executive of the Brandon Agency advertising firm, said FBI and IRS agents have questioned him about his company's business relationship with the chamber.
"It's clear to me they were looking at whether my contributions to any of the PACs had any influence in me getting more business from the chamber," Brandon said.
The Brandon Agency gave $3,500 to the Grand Strand Statewide PAC in 2008 and Brandon gave a combined $75 last year to three other PACs that supported the sales tax.
The Brandon Agency has received $669,982 in public money during the first nine months of this year for marketing projects such as purchasing advertisements in magazines, according to chamber reports...
..."Some people believe that these guys [the chamber] were conspiring to influence the election by giving campaign money and, in return, promising business favors," Brandon said. "That's not true."
Some area residents and business owners have criticized the donations, calling them payback for a tax increase that directly benefits private companies that get the marketing jobs and tourism-related businesses - such as Myrtle Beach hotels and attractions - that no longer have to spend their own money to advertise...
CAMPAIGN CASH
In several instances, the chamber is choosing to give its business to those companies that either made campaign donations or contributed money to a chamber-related political action committee called the Grand Strand Statewide PAC.
Miller Direct and its subsidiary, Visit Media, contributed a combined $21,500 to local and state politicians in the months after the tax increase was approved.
Miller Direct and Visit Media also contributed a combined $5,500 last year to the Grand Strand Statewide PAC. Miller Direct contributed another $3,500 to the chamber-related PAC this year.
Miller Direct has received $647,340 in public money from the chamber for work during the first nine months of this year, according to chamber reports.
It is not clear how much work Miller Direct or other companies did for the chamber prior to the sales tax because the chamber previously did not disclose how it spent marketing money.
However, the chamber's marketing budget has grown exponentially since the sales tax - Dean has pegged the year-over-year increase at $15 million - making more money available for companies such as Miller Direct.
Steve Miller, chief executive of Miller Direct, did not respond to a request for comments.
Jordan Investment Corp. gave $9,000 last year to the tax-raising politicians, according to S.C. Ethics Commission reports.
Since then, Jordan Investment has been paid $314,716 in public money by the chamber.
Stephen Jordan, owner of Jordan Investment, did not respond to a request for comments.
Another company - New York-based Corinthian Media, which purchases television ads for the chamber - has been paid more than $3.7 million in public money during the first nine months of this year. Like the Brandon Agency, Corinthian passes much of that along to media after taking a cut for commissions and fees.
Corinthian Media donated $3,500 to the Grand Strand Statewide PAC in 2008 and another $3,500 this year.
Larry Miller, the chief executive of Corinthian Media, did not respond to a request for comments.
In another case, the chamber has given $544,517 in public money to a start-up company called Visibility & Conversions LLC.
Visibility & Conversions was formed on Jan. 6, according to S.C. Secretary of State records. The company donated $3,500 to the chamber-related PAC on Jan. 29, according to the ethics commission.
The chamber's spending reports show the company started getting public money during the first quarter of this year.
Visibility & Conversions, an Internet advertising group, is owned by Bill Rosenthal. Another Rosenthal company - Beach Package Promotions - gave $3,500 to the chamber-related PAC in June.
Rosenthal did not respond to a request for comments.
The $5.9 million in public money given to companies that contributed to politicians or the PAC represents about one-third of the $18.1 million the chamber spent on marketing efforts during the first nine months of this year, according to the chamber's reports.
*************************************** CALLS FOR OVERSIGHT
The amount of public money the chamber receives each year is comparable to the budget for a small municipality. For example, the chamber's projected public money stream for next year is more than twice the budget of Surfside Beach.
During the first nine months of this year, the chamber has received $17.2 million in public funds. Nearly three-fourths of that amount - $12.3 million - has come from the sales tax. The rest comes from accommodations tax revenue and state grants.
The lack of public oversight of how the chamber spends all that money has some legislators considering an amendment to the tate law that created the tourism-related sales tax...
...Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes said the chamber's quarterly reports and regular updates to council provide enough accountability.
"It's all there - what they are spending and what they are spending it for," Rhodes said. "There are always going to be questions with anything that has to do with public money, but I think it's fine the way it is."
John Crangle, director of Columbia-based Common Cause of South Carolina, said giving public money to the chamber without oversight "is an open invitation to abuse."
Crangle, whose group advocates for open government, said he questions whether the sales tax legislation is constitutional because it designates a government function - spending tax dollars - to a private entity.
"I don't think that there's any question there needs to be more oversight of how that money is spent," Crangle said. "This is the kind of thing that cries out for reform."
LOBBYISTS AND CORPORATIONS
The Grand Strand Statewide PAC is operated by a political lobbying group called the Grand Strand Business Association.
The chamber contributes $3,500 per year to the PAC and gives the business association money to pay for state and federal lobbyists. Those lobbyists cost the chamber a combined $253,299 in 2009, according to the association's tax return.
The chamber also provided an office and administrative support for the business association until this year.
One of the lobbyists the chamber provides funding for is Mark Kelley, a Myrtle Beach business owner and former state legislator.
Kelley and Dean delivered some of the campaign donations to politicians in the months after the sales tax was approved.
There are strict rules that forbid lobbyists from facilitating campaign donations for statewide candidates; however, a spokeswoman for the S.C. Ethics Commission has said it does not appear any laws were violated in Kelley's case.
"Just being in the same room is not a violation, it happens all the time," Cathy Hazelwood, the commission's general counsel, told The Sun News. "He [Kelley] is not supposed to touch the envelope or hand over the envelope."
Myrtle Beach lawyer Shep Guyton was president of the business association until late last year when Mike Wooten, president of Myrtle Beach-based DDC Engineers Inc., took that role.
Guyton, a former chairman of the chamber's board of directors, now is vice-chairman of the business association.
Part of the FBI and IRS investigation focuses on $239,500 in post-sales-tax-increase political donations made by 14 corporations for which Guyton was a partner, the registered agent or both.
All of the Guyton-related donations were made with cashier's checks purchased on the same day and in sequential order at South Atlantic Bank, where Guyton was a board member.
Guyton resigned from the bank's board of directors earlier this year.
The Guyton-related donations have drawn scrutiny because some of his partners in the corporations have said the businesses did not have any money to give to politicians. Another corporation was dissolved nearly two years before it purportedly made the donations.
Also, at least four of the corporations have land that is in foreclosure, and chamber critics question why Guyton was giving money to politicians instead of paying corporate debts.
Those critics also question how Guyton got the money to purchase the cashier's checks.
Dean has said none of the money that passed through Guyton's corporations came from the chamber.
All told, the chamber acted as a clearinghouse for $324,500 in campaign donations after the sales tax was approved.
Those donations were given to four City Council incumbents, seven state legislators and gubernatorial candidate Gresham Barrett, who lost to governor-elect Nikki Haley in the Republic primary....
The sales tax was approved on May 26, 2009, and the Guyton-related corporations purchased their cashier's checks on June 8, 2009. The politicians who approved the sales tax increase received those checks and other donations over the next few months and the tax started on Aug. 1, 2009... Contact DAVID WREN at 626-0281 mbteaparty.org/home/news/Entries/2010/12/31_Donors_profit_from_Myrtle_Beach_sales_tax.html
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Post by Purple Pan on Feb 27, 2011 13:40:49 GMT -6
Range, Thank you for posting the above. I had not seen that report by David. Wow..and double wow. I know you can't divulge anything, but I hope everyone of the arrogant, thieving, conniving, lowlifes are going to be brought down to their knees by the FBI/IRS investigation. I always look forward to reading the info you can share with us, so I hope it won't be long before we all find out that they are going to become VIP members of the "Bumping With Bubba" PAC.
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