SC

Myrtle Beach SC: City Attorney Race Update

State lawmaker might wind up with $150,000-a-year post after all …

A few weeks ago, this news outlet reported on an alleged quid pro quo involving South Carolina state representative Alan Clemmons and Brenda Bethune, the mayor of Myrtle Beach, S.C.

According to our sources at the S.C. State House, Clemmons has been pushing his fellow state lawmakers to choose Myrtle Beach realtor Brown Bethune as the next member of the S.C. Real Estate Commission.

Bethune – managing director of Tideland Commercial real estate – is mayor Bethune’s husband and a key member of her political team.

In exchange for his advocacy, Brenda Bethune was reportedly supposed to back Clemmons’ bid to become the next city attorney for Myrtle Beach – a gig which pays $150,462 a year (not counting benefits).

A day after our story ran, though, we were told Clemmons was out of the running for the job.

Apparently not …

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According to reporter Janet Morgan of My Horry News, Clemmons remains very much in the mix for this post along with three other candidates – attorney Alicia E. Thompson, assistant city attorney Joi Y. Page and attorney William A. Bryan Jr.

Morgan’s report noted that there was “no consensus” on city council as to which candidate should fill the job – although we are told several lawmakers in Columbia are pushing Clemmons hard because they want to see him leave the S.C. House of Representatives.

Clemmons has represented S.C. House District 107 (map) in the General Assembly since 2003. Were he to be chosen by city council members to fill the city attorney post, he would have to resign his office.

We want to see Clemmons out of the legislature, too, however we believe his appointment to the city attorney position would be totally inappropriate in light of his advocacy on behalf of the mayor’s husband.

Furthermore, we are deeply concerned about Bethune’s stated intention to address this particular personnel issue during an “executive session” (i.e. behind closed doors) in the coming days.

Were Clemmons to emerge as the favorite following such a closed-door meeting, how on earth could anyone view his selection as being above boards?

Stay tuned … we will keep an eye on this unfolding situation on the Palmetto State’s “Corrupt Coast.”

-FITSNews

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