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The Growth Impact Action Committee GIAC Portion

The Growth Impact Action committee portion of GIAC provides information and views from a homeowner/community association perspective.  To the extent that you agree with the opinions on this portion of the web site, you are part of that committee. 

In a nutshell, a few of us met to explore the idea of forming a Growth Impact Action Committee, but decided against forming yet another formal organization. Instead, this web site promotes our point of view and provides information. I'm the webmaster.

My name is George Edwards. My wife of 50 years and I live in the Southwood community abutting the 17 bypass and the Wicked Stick Golf Course and along the south side of 544 between Kings Highway and the Bypass. Very briefly, most of my professional life was spent as a design and development electronic engineer/engineering manager in defense electronics. I have also worked as a technical and free lance writer, and as a residential real estate broker.

I am probably best known locally (if known at all) as "the tree man," because I spearheaded a modest Horry County tree preservation ordinance that was enacted several years ago and is now incorporated in the tree portion of the Landscaping, Buffer and Tree ordinance. My local public service (as simply a concerned citizen) has been concerned with the aesthetic aspects of the Horry County quality of life on citizen overlay committees (tree preservation, landscaping, sign control, etc. along Horry County transportation corridors).

I chaired the citizen committee for the Socastee Boulevard Overlay and a group that proposed an East 544 Overlay, following as a citizen representative on planning commission committees for each -- the second forming selected portions of what became the overall 544 Overlay. Then I served as a citizen representative on the Planning Commission committee that originated the Landscaping, Buffer and Tree ordinance. I am the founder, editor, scribe, author and webmaster of the Growth Impact Action Committee and George's Information and Comments Web site.

Initially, a few Horry County community leaders met to discuss forming a Growth Impact Action Committee with the objectives, positions, and concepts described on the web site. The group agreed on the described principles. Wesly Gray, then president of the Socastee Neighborhood Coalition, was one of those in the group. Others were concerned that -- because GIAC, by its very nature, would oppose (or champion the competitors of) candidates who were or might become incumbents --- being named could hurt their negotiating position for their associated Home Owner Association. An association president opposed forming yet another formal organization. We certainly did not want to become a tax exempt action committee that could not promote named candidates.  We parted with the thought that instead of forming a formal organization, we just present our views and provide information on a non-partisan web site.

I implemented the web site that was initially most concerned with the 2002 (hence, www.giac2002.org) primary and election campaigns of candidates, primarily for Horry County Council, and, to a more subdued degree, the Horry County delegation to the South Carolina legislature. .

The site would benefit if there were other volunteers willing to provide more frequent and perhaps entertaining or thought provoking items over their own bylines. As it is, I hope that people at least check it out for information, and informed opinions, when Horry County candidates are running for office.

The big plus of this Web site, to me, is that it is a vehicle to, perhaps, have some influence in the election of candidates whose perspective is that of homeowner/community interests -- as I am a concerned member of that group who feels that the big landowners/big developers have largely controlled the county for decades. They have the advertising/marketing money, but we have the votes if we are just informed and vote.

Thank you for your interest. I hope this has adequately answered your questions.

George

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