Horry County taxpayers foot bill for Gilland Dubai trip
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Gilland to Dubai
Gilland to DubaiPublished: March 11, 2009
Updated: March 12, 2009
Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland will leave the country March 20 for an eight day trip to the oil-rich Middle Eastern country of Dubai.
Gilland is one of 24 people from South Carolina who will make the trip with the South Carolina Department of Commerce, including a Murrells Inlet company, according to the state commerce department.
The county paid Gilland’s registration fee of $1,000 and another $1,131 to cover flight accommodations to Dubai, according to Horry County Public Information Officer Lisa Bourcier.
The state commerce department will not cover any other expenses, according to communications director, Kara Borie.
As county council chairman, Gilland is allowed a $5,500 expense account, which runs from July through June.
Other council members receive $4,000 for operating expenses, according to Bourcier.
The county has not paid any hotel accommodations as of this posting, according to Bourcier, but once Gilland returns, there may be more expenses paid by taxpayers stemming from the trip.
“I’m not going to be stupid about it. We are going as economically as possible. I’ll be sitting in one tiny little seat for 15 hours. It may sound like a glamorous trip, but I’ve done those 15 hour trips and they hurt,” Gilland said.
According to some one council, Horry County taxpayers will feel the most pain, “Why are we paying an economic development corporation here in the county $400,000 a year? It would seem to me he might be the one to make the trip,” councilman Gary Loftus told News13.
Loftus, a Princeton University graduate, is a widely recognized economics expert and professor at Coastal Carolina University.
“I have no problem with using travel money to foster economic development, relationships, but I think they need to be realistic ones,” Loftus said of the Dubai trip.
Gilland, who said the state commerce department, invited her on the trip, disagreed with Loftus, “There’s just no telling what kind of doors will open, but if you don’t go, you don’t have any opportunity. This is within my travel budget and hopefully it will result in some significant investments in the Horry County region.”
The trip named, “South Carolina Trade and Investment Mission to the United Arab Emirates Dubai, Abu Dhabi,” pairs South Carolina businesses and officials with potential trade partners in the foreign country, according to Borie.
Gilland is one of 24 South Carolinians making the trip; but the only elected official in the News13 viewing area, according to the commerce department.
There is one Murrells Inlet business making the trip, but the state commerce department declined to name the business.
The state commerce department will not fund the trip, according to Borie, but is working through an agency within the United States Department of Commerce to organize the trip and meetings with Dubai businesses.
The state commerce department will also not cover any hotel, meals or travel, according to Borie.
Horry County taxpayers fund a county economic development corporation at some $400,000 a year, but according to the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation chairman, Jimmy Yahnis, no one from the county’s economic development corporation is making the Dubai trip.
In its Dec. 15, 2008 issue, Newsweek magazine published a story on the financial crisis in Dubai headlined, “Financial Paradise Becomes a Mirage: The world’s economic woes finally have reached the nation-state of Dubai, and fortunes are crumbling.”
In the article, reporter Christopher Dickey quotes a senior official in one of Dubai’s largest real estate development companies as saying, “A lot of people are going to get hurt. A lot of dreams are going to be shattered.”
The article went on to say that foreign workers in Dubai are jobless and being turned away from the country and that “Skyscrapers remain unfinished,” Dickey wrote.
Gilland said the financial crisis in Dubai won’t stop her from looking for investors there, “At issue here is jobs over here for our people. While their economy is having the same struggles that everyone in the world is having, but there are still companies over there that are looking to invest and the United States looks really, really good right now.”
In recent years, Gilland took heat from fellow council members over foreign trips including two trips to Japan, two trips to Germany, and China in hopes to bring industry back to the area.
Gilland points to the Hitachi Corporation deal she said she helped bring to Horry County when the company created 25 to 30 additional jobs at its Metglas facility’s $20 million expansion in Conway.
Loftus said the economic benefits of a Horry County relationship with Dubai are limited, “About the only think I can think of is establishing some sort of a capital investment in tourism. I don’t think that we can go to Dubai and expect tourists from Dubai to come to Myrtle Beach. I think that’s a stretch.”
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Reader Reactions
I really don’t think that all of you should be critizing Jody Barr at WBTW for reporting the news. I feel that the news he reports is reputable.
The issue is not with Jody Barr and how he reports the news - but the news with Liz Gilland and her trip!
Was this trip approved or is it funded by taxpayers monies?
Will this trip help? Will it improve the economic conditions? I have heard of the job losses and he deficit. I undersand your concerns. I know that people are suffering from job losses and are looking to find a job of any sort to make ends meet. I feel your feelings completely.
Just look at your local state and government and you ask the questions and ask for answers!
Hi Mary,
Thanks for your comments and my bad on not realizing Jody was a man. I just read the article and couldn’t view the video due to my slow connection. However, from reading the article, it just upset me to see the first line mention the oil-rich country of Dubai. I know we are talking local politics, but as someone who also likes to follow a lot about what is going on in the world, I cannot let Mr. Barr write such an article that is so misleading on basic facts. And like I said, go Google Jafza and Orangeburg County and you will see that Dubai is sending lots of money and jobs to this state. I remember reading they bought over 1000 acres to develop this huge project. Since it is such a high-profile investment, I can’t believe the reporter didn’t mention that.
The biker issue is a whole other issue, and it is fine to have your issues with Gilland. But on this particular Dubai story I think the reporting should be more accurate and fair with regard to the facts so that we can all then make our own decision as to whether or not Gilland is making a good decision to spend her travel budget to go to Dubai. Thanks!
Your right wolf but when someone cheats playing the game its time to eliminate some players!!! put them both in the buick!!
Sorry mary..
That’s not the way the game’s played..
right ..wrong..or indifferent..everyone should be allowed their say..
please wbtw scnow.com who ever has the authority to delete things ...please DELETE (KEEPINEMSTRAIT)book she wrote its horrible!!! Does everyone remember the old lady that claimed her and her grand kids cant sleep 3 days out of the year because her kids and grands come down for vacation same time the bikers do..well thats the little grouchy, old woman that paid off Liz Gilland to vote against the bikers!!!The bottom line is Liz Gilland is a waste of our tax dollars..
First of all (keepinemstrait) Get your facts together before writing a book…Jody Barr is the reporter and Jody Barr is a man..Taxpayers of this county needs to know that Liz Gilland does spend your money any way she wants to beneifit her.She needs to be audited and horry county needs to know how dishonest,crooked,and takes advantage of her position and your tax money ..Along with taking this trip that is going to do nothing but beneifit her ,she made Paul Whitten postpone the safty commitee meeting that was scheduled for March 23 until March 30 and those animals will continue to suffer under the counties care she is selfish old bat that needs to come off the county council she should be ashamed of her actions and still smiles in the camera like Kate Philips these women are a disgrace to this county..she would not even let those men vote they felt honest about the bikers,she wont let Paul whitten make honest decision about the humane society,and now shes using our tax money to go around the world I dont think so ..READ TAXPAYERS WORDS NO YOU WILL NOT USE TAXPAYERS MONEY ANYWAY YOU WANT..BETTER BELIEVE YOU WILL HAVE A CROWD AT THE NEXT COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING..YOU NEED TO GO FROM COUNTY COUNCIL..by the way Liz Gilland how much of the money did you get that the Horry County school board member stolen..
Jody Barr, the reporter, needs to get her facts straight before posting this nonsense to get everyone so stirred up about Ms. Gilland’s trip.
First of all, Dubai is not a country. It is one of the seven emirates (similiar to a state, but run by its ruler, or emir) that belong to the country of the United Arab Emirates.
Second, Dubai is not “oil-rich.“ As a matter of fact, Dubai’s oil reserves are dwindling and they now produce only 250,000 or so barrels a day. Oil revenues account for way under 10% of Dubai’s GDP; Dubai is a financial, tourism and services Mecca, not an oil giant. If 250,000 barrels a day qualifies Dubai to be “oil-rich”, then the United States is super oil-rich. According to the CIA World Factbook, the U.S. produced 8.457 million barrels a day in 2007, which is almost three times the daily production of the entire country of the UAE (the UAE does have more oil in other emirates like Abu Dhabi, just not much in Dubai)!
Third, Dubai is a huge source of investment potential for South Carolina. According to the CIA World Factbook, “In April 2004, the UAE signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with Washington and in November 2004 agreed to undertake negotiations toward a Free Trade Agreement with the US. The country’s Free Trade Zones - offering 100% foreign ownership and zero taxes - are helping to attract foreign investors.“ As a matter of fact, one of those Free Trade Zones, Jafza International, just announced last December that they will invest $600 million in Orangeburg County and has plans to hire 1000s of SC citizens. Orangeburg officials made similar trips to Dubai in the past and look at what they landed! The Jafza project is one of the largest foreign investments in South Carolina ever!!! It looks like Orangeburg is taking advantage of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement that our country has with the UAE, and definitely beating Horry County to landing the opportunities that can be had. Shouldn’t Ms. Gilland and Horry County try to make contacts in such promising forein markets and try and attract the same type of investments to our area? Sure, we may not be a direct beneficiary of the Jafza project, but our area could end up attracting other UAE-based companies to come here in the future. The better question is, knowing what a big deal the Dubai-based Jafza project is, why didn’t Jody Barr and coucilman Gary Loftus, the “so-called” economics expert, know that (or just fail to mention) a competing SC county has already successfully landed a major investment from Dubai!
Horry County needs more than just tourism to create jobs, or at least high-paying jobs. As soon as you get away from the beaches, there is plenty of space and land that would be perfect for new investments in factories, distribution hubs, etc. It is a time like this, when things are looking down for our economy, that we need to invest in diversifying our economy for the future. If a trip to the UAE will allow us to build contacts now, these’s no telling how we may benefit once things do perk back up again. I think Ms. Gilland knows more about the potential that this trip offers than Ms. Barr was willing to write about.
I would also like to ask Ms. Barr to please revise her article to correct some of the basic facts she got wrong. Misinformed readers cannot be expected to make a reasonable judgment on Ms. Gilland’s trip if the reporter can’t get her facts straight before going to press with such a story.
Well, now Danny Knight (retired from Horry County) wants to come back and double dip into Horry County’s retirement and insurance and salary as the new executive director of the Solid Waste Authority. Rumors are they are considering doing away with the current TERI program, but this would be a new job and he would not have to participate in the TERI program - it would be like a new hire! When does this corruption stop? I think he and Liz need to board the plane together to Dubai and stay there!
Being a professional woman in todays business world, Im sure Ms Guilland has
an agenda with an itinerary to make the most of her time,while there.
I think we all would like to here about her plans and what meetings are scheduled and who she will meeting with from that country to achieve her goals. Im sure she wont mind posting it or giving you a copy, so you can alieviate our concerns about the investment we are making. Just because the money is there doesnt justify the trip.
Wolf - great comment - Come on 13 News send Jody along to photo and report just how much “work” actually takes place on this “trip.“ I think Fox News needs to report this so everyone would know it is just not Washington that has all the nuts and crooks wasting hard working people’s money. Maybe they could show the photos of Liz lounging around the pool of her expensive hotel!
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