黑料社入口

Not many have had an impact on North Myrtle Beach like Mayor Marilyn Hatley has over the last few decades.

Hatley has led the transformation of the coastal city since she was elected mayor in 2001, then re-elected in 2005, then 2009, then 2013, then 2017 and finally in 2021.

Now, the longtime mayor has decided to call it a political career and let the people decide on a new leader for the city, Hatley confirmed to MyHorry黑料社入口 on Monday, July 7.

Turning 75 in a couple months, she felt it was time to turn the page.

鈥淚鈥檝e sought this position six times. It was time, in my mind, that I step down and turn it over to another generation,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of thought that went into it, a lot of input from family and friends, and a lot of praying about it.鈥�

Hatley was well-liked in the coastal city, never winning re-election by less than 37 percentage points.聽

Jean Boseman, 90, canvassed the city during Hatley鈥檚 first mayoral election campaign in 2001, knocking on doors across North Myrtle Beach in support of Hatley. Boseman said she has supported and voted for Hatley in every one of her election and re-election campaigns because she is a woman of her word.

鈥淪he does what she says she鈥檚 going to do,鈥� Boseman said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 honest.鈥�

Boseman had been getting her hair cut from Hatley, who owned salons in North Myrtle Beach before deciding to delve into politics. In the salon, like in barber shops, local politics was an often-debated topic.

鈥淚 was working with different people every day, 15 to 20 customers a day just myself. I was able to feel the pulse of the people, hear their voices, hear their concerns and hear what they liked and what they didn鈥檛 like for the city,鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淎ll those years in the salon really was a learning experience.鈥�

North Myrtle Beach has experienced rapid growth since the turn of the century and beginning of Hatley鈥檚 tenure.

In 2001, there were 15 square miles of land within city limits. Now, the city has grown to almost 24 square miles of land. The population has grown more than 75% since 2001 and business has increased, too. This year, there are 9,850 businesses registered in the city, almost 2,500 more than in 2006, according to city records.聽

鈥淚 have seen us go from a sleepy little town to a thriving city,鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to bring things here that we didn鈥檛 have that we needed.鈥�

North Myrtle Beach has adapted to the growth. Robert Edge Parkway is an example of one of the many infrastructure projects Hatley saw come to fruition, connecting Carolina Bays Parkway to Main Street.

鈥淚t was in the first RIDE. The committee decided not to fund Robert Edge Parkway because they were told by the mayor at the time that we didn鈥檛 want it. So when I became mayor, I went before the committee over the RIDE project and I had to convince them the need for North Myrtle Beach to have this connection,鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淲e were successful. They agreed to finance it, and it opened up a whole new world for the city of North Myrtle Beach.鈥�

Hatley said after the Robert Edge Parkway bridge was built, it led to the city being able to annex land west of the Intracoastal Waterway, a large part of the city鈥檚 growth in the 21st century.

Hatley put an emphasis on protecting the shoreline of North Myrtle Beach, pushing for grants for dune renourishment, dedicating two nature preserves surrounding House Creek and co-founding the South Carolina Beach Advocates group with Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin.

Hatley presided over every annual SCBA meeting, raising awareness of coastal issues and planning and discussing ways to protect the coastal Carolina environment for future generations.聽

Goodwin said before SCBA was formed, the two were talking about efforts each of their cities were taking to protect their coastlines. The discussion led them to create an organization where all the coastline communities can come together and learn about the issues their communities are facing and advocate as a united front for policies that would benefit beachfront towns and cities.聽

鈥淢arilyn was trying before to advocate for her area with her couple of representatives, I was trying to do it in my area with my couple of representatives. But now that we鈥檙e united all up and down the coast, we get more representatives, but we also get more attention paid to us as representing the coastline of South Carolina,鈥� Goodwin said.

Goodwin said Hatley was good at expressing to lawmakers the financial incentive of protecting the Carolina coast.聽

鈥淭hat鈥檚 our economy. That鈥檚 the golden goose.鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淭he main reason people come and rent our homes and eat at our restaurants and the reason we are able to provide jobs for people is because of that beach. So I鈥檓 passionate about it.鈥�

Apart from advocating at the state level, Hatley also pushed against offshore drilling, a federal decision. And at the local level, Hatley has used her political clout to push for North Myrtle Beach investment into protecting the shoreline.

The city has invested tens of millions, largely from state grants, into constructing ocean water outfalls, stormwater pipes that are built underground to send stormwater more than 1,000 feet into the ocean. The outfalls increase water quality at the shore, lessen flood risks and reduce shore erosion from stormwater drainage.聽

Hatley鈥檚 24 years in office are a record for the city which was founded in 1968. The second longest-serving mayor was Phillip Tilghman, who held the position for 13 years and who Hatley succeeded. Hatley defeated Tilghman by 13% in that election and then ran unopposed in the 2005 race.

Back when she first ran for council in 1996, she attributed her victory to an outpouring of support from women 鈥� not only in the ballot box but from volunteers getting the word out through letter-mailing and door knocking.

鈥淲omen were basically the workers on my committees for all my elections. I did have a few men, but the majority are women,鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淚 went door to door. I went to every door when I ran for the first time for city council. Mind you, that was 29 years ago. But I would knock on doors and most of the time, the woman of the house would be there and we would talk and I鈥檇 tell them why I was running, what my visions were and that type of thing. And I got to know just about everyone in this town.鈥�

Hatley moved to South Carolina in 1971, spending time in Columbia working for the assistant attorney general in the wildlife department and later moving to the Grand Strand where she set up a hair salon. She moved to North Myrtle Beach in 1974, running the salon for years before deciding to run for city council in 1996 because she felt some residents鈥� concerns were being ignored.

鈥淥ne of the main issues of that time was that all citizens and all people should be treated equally, and being on city council, I noticed that that was not happening. That was the drive that really made me decide I can do better than that,鈥� Hatley said, adding that the former mayor would sometimes turn his back while being addressed by some constituents. 鈥淵ou can be compassionate with people, and you may not be able to always give them what they want, but you can always be compassionate, and you can always explain your decisions.鈥�

In her tenure, Hatley oversaw the opening of the city's aquatic center, the expansion of city limits across the Intracoastal Waterway and, perhaps most consequentially, the opening of the North Myrtle Beach Parks and Sports Complex. Hatley said that project has been transformative, with economic impacts estimated in the tens of millions per year from the 160-acre facility which can host soccer, baseball, lacrosse, watersports and much more.

鈥淭hat project was probably the most successful project that we have done under my leadership. First of all, sports tourism is so popular. It is a tourism that keeps a lot of small cities going. We needed to diversify our tourist industry, so we built this park knowing we were going to build it to bring spring training and all these different tournaments,鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淭here are hundreds of thousands of people who have been to that sports complex. I can鈥檛 tell you what an impact it has made for our community. Not only for our youth who get to use it any time, but also to the adults.鈥�

She says one of her proudest moments as mayor came when the ribbon was cut for the aquatic center, which happened in her first term. There was pushback at the time from residents who said the center wasn鈥檛 something the city needed, and convincing council members the project was a good idea took some doing.聽

鈥淚鈥檒l never forget as we were going into council chambers before the vote that night, one council member told me 鈥業 am going to vote for the Aquatic and Fitness Center, but I want you to know that none of us are going to get elected again.鈥� I said I appreciate you feeling this is the right thing and voting on it not based on whether you鈥檒l get re-elected or not. It鈥檚 funny that every one of them, including myself, were re-elected,鈥� Hatley said.

She said she鈥檚 proud of getting it across the finish line and that it is of great benefit to the community to this day.聽

State Sen. Greg Hembree (R-Little River) said he remembers serving as Hatley鈥檚 city attorney while she was on council and then as mayor. Hembree said Hatley's humility made her a good leader, giving an example of when she first started as a council member when she requested to sit down and talk with him about what his job as city attorney entailed. That wasn鈥檛 the only time early in her political career that she sat down with city staff to learn more about how the city operated.

鈥淚t was a monthslong process of doing a deep orientation into city government functions and really made herself kind of a jack of all trades on all these different topics she鈥檇 be considering policy on,鈥� Hembree said. 鈥淚 remember at the time thinking that was smart and a show of determination and self discipline. And we hit it off right away. I was impressed with her and we got along great and I enjoyed working for her and it led to a long friendship that we鈥檝e had for decades now.鈥�

During her years of political service, Hatley has become well-connected 鈥� and not just politically. Vanna White of Wheel of Fortune fame, who was raised in North Myrtle Beach, once had Hatley, her husband Michael, and two friends Wanda and Terry White over to her California home during a trip.

鈥淲e went over to Vanna鈥檚 house and spent several hours with her and just had a wonderful time,鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淰anna is one of the nicest people you will ever know, and we鈥檙e real proud of her here in North Myrtle Beach. She鈥檚 been so successful and a great role model for young girls.鈥�

Hatley also knows S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster well. She said she makes it a point to reach out regularly to federal, state, county and local officials.聽

One of the state officials Hatley has called upon while advocating for the interest of North Myrtle Beach citizens is Hembree, who has since become a state senator.聽

鈥淪he鈥檚 quick to pick up the phone with any kind of question, concern or advocacy,鈥� Hembree said. 鈥淚 know that she鈥檚 gotten a lot of money for the stormwater outfalls. She has worked so hard to get that money for that stormwater outfall project which they鈥檝e been so smart about doing it in bits and pieces. Environmentally, aesthetically, it鈥檚 been a huge project that鈥檚 made a huge difference in North Myrtle Beach.鈥�

Hatley spends many hours involved in the North Myrtle Beach community, and not just in the political sphere. Her association with the North Myrtle Beach Woman鈥檚 Club began in 1974, the same year she moved to the city.聽

Kathy Heagan, president of the club, said Hatley is a highly valued member.聽

鈥淚n her role as mayor, she has also been a powerful advocate for our causes, graciously providing proclamations for important issues such as child advocacy, elder abuse, and domestic violence,鈥� Heagan said in an email. 鈥淪he has often presented these at city council meetings, lending her voice and visibility to the matters we care deeply about.

鈥淗er dedication and leadership have made a lasting impact on our club and our community.鈥�

Hatley served as club president from 1978-1980 and has contributed her time and talents to nearly every committee within the organization over the years, Heagan said.

In 2013, Hatley was honored with one of the highest distinctions awarded by GFWC 鈥� the Jenny Award 鈥� in recognition of her outstanding service and commitment.

鈥淢arilyn has consistently supported our club and its fundraising efforts with great enthusiasm and generosity,鈥� Heagan said.

Hatley has attended Risen Christ Lutheran Church for years and was a founding member of King of Glory Lutheran Church.

鈥淢y faith in God is the most important thing in my life,鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淚 have always trusted in God. I鈥檝e always had a lot of faith, I believe in prayer, and my faith has been the cornerstone of who I am and how I have been as mayor.鈥�

Hatley lives in Windy Hill with her husband, David. With more time on her hands, Hatley said she will focus on spending more time with family, including her 95-year-old mother who lives in North Carolina.

鈥淓ver since I鈥檝e been mayor I have been limited in how many times I can see her,鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淎nd my two sisters. I have two sisters that have been supportive of me all my life. We are very close and I would like to see them more often. And I would like for my husband and I to be able to take some trips together.鈥�

But Hatley says she still sees a future for her in politics. She鈥檚 been speaking with McMaster about serving on a state committee.

Asked what Hatley鈥檚 political legacy will be in North Myrtle Beach, Goodwin said it will be her dedication and care for the city. 鈥淚f she didn鈥檛 care about the city, she wouldn鈥檛 have put up with being mayor for so long.鈥� Goodwin said.聽

鈥淗atley loved the city and was an exceptional leader who did things the right way,鈥� said Hembree.

Hatley said she wants to be remembered as a person who loved North Myrtle Beach.

鈥淚 hope that my legacy will be that she loved this city,鈥� Hatley said. 鈥淭hat she gave everything to make it a better place and that I leave it in a better place than when I first began.鈥�

The local North Myrtle Beach election for mayor and three open council seats is set for Tuesday, Nov. 4.