Just about the time Grand Strand residents think that common sense is about to break out in Atlantic Beach,  something even more bizarre blows up.  This time it’s word that Mayor Retha Pierce is suing to have the May 22 town election, overturned.  She lost the election as did council member Windy Price.  In fact, they didn’t just lose, they were clobbered.  Pierce got only 5 out of the 84 votes cast, and Price managed only a single vote. Unfortunately, this means that the winner of the mayor’s race, Jake Evans, has to sit by and twiddle his thumbs while the court decides whether to order a new election.

The May 22 election was ordered by Governor Haley because the results of the regular November election were declared invalid. Pierce is claiming that the governor doesn’t have the authority to order an election in the town.  It appears the governor will await the court’s response to Pierce’s appeal before taking any more action. So for now, it will be a sit and wait process for the citizens of Atlantic Beach.  If the court rules against Pierce, she still can appeal to the state supreme court and that would keep town business in knots for a lengthy period of time.

Pierce doesn’t seem to realize that the vast majority of people in her town, at least the people who vote, don’t want her in city hall.  Her escapades with police have been an embarrassment for the entire Grand Strand and if that weren’t enough, she turned up Thursday night on a national television show called “World’s Dumbest Motorheads” on the truTV channel.  The program showed her failing a sobriety test given by Conway police.  The DUI charge was dropped by the state, allowing her to remain in office since the November election was declared invalid leading to the special May 22nd vote.