Former Myrtle Beach Mayor and 2009 mayoral candidate Mark McBride has yet to publicly confirm or deny the claim that he's Elmer Fudd, the alias used by an unidentified online commenter accused of making false and defamatory claims about the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce (MBACC) on a local news website.
Saturday, Ward Shepherd, the founder of the Grand Strand Chamber of Commerce where McBride currently serves as President, said that McBride was Elmer Fudd.
Shepherd was served a subpoena by the MBACC on Saturday in hopes that he might have information about Elmer Fudd. Soon after, he released a prepared statement claiming to know the identity -- McBride.
In August, someone using that alias posted comments on The Sun News web site, claiming the offices of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce had been raided and its computers seized. But that was wrong and the chamber sued Elmer Fudd for defamation.
Shepherd describes a conversation he had with McBride several months ago.
"I was told by Mark McBride that I needed to get on the phone and call every member of the press I know and find out why they weren't covering the biggest story of the year," said Shepherd, describing the recent conversation with McBride.
He continued, saying McBride said "that the Myrtle Beach Chamber was being raided and that they were being served subpoenas and that their computers were going to be confiscated... McBride told me he was Elmer Fudd but I did not see mark tap the keys and make the entry."
Shepherd claims McBride directly admitted to him that he was in fact Elmer Fudd and that he was the one who had posted the web comments that the MBACC claims defamed their organization.
"When he told me that he was Elmer Fudd and posted those comments I knew he had made a very bad choice," said Shepherd.
That's when Shepherd said he decided to contact members of the local media and "told them to come to the Chamber and that Mark was going to admit to being Elmer Fudd... or I would come out and tell everyone he was Elmer and that I would make a public apology to the MB Chamber. Then we could get to the bottom of the story if there was one."
Shepherd continued, "(McBride) refused to speak with them but agreed to step down from the (Grand Strand) Chamber so I didn't talk to the press either - a bad decision on my part. Then the next day he decided not to step down and said I would have to fire him if I wanted him gone."
Shepherd admits that led to behind the scenes turmoil between the two at the Grand Strand Chamber of Commerce, eventually causing Shepherd to step down from the chamber's board of directors.
But despite their falling-out, Shepherd says, "in all fairness I believe (McBride) actually thinks he is doing a good thing. I just wish he wouldn't use the Grand Strand Chamber that I founded, to be the tool for mayhem and destruction."
NewsChannel 15 made many attempts to contact McBride throughout the weekend but our calls have yet to be returned.
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