State Auditor's Department about Auditing

We should all appreciate the fact that the Democratic candidate for State Auditor, Mike Sumrall, is committed to improving and promoting the State Auditor's office.

Staffing is Sumrall's main concern because he says some of the more experienced auditors have resigned. "Staffing is the key problem," Sumrall said. "The staff they have is young and inexperienced."

Sumrall also said he wants to make sure auditors know how to do a complete audit, not just parts of one, and he wants employees to be trained in different departments.

"I want to create a cross-training program so we can use people in different areas," he said.

Sumrall added he would like to see employees in the auditor's office get extra pay when they get an advanced degree or certification. He said those incentives are added to and taken away from the budget, but he wants them to be restored.

While fraud prevention and prosecution is important, if auditors aren't trained to find fraud, we'll miss a critical piece to that puzzle. Mike Sumrall proves, once again, he's got the experience and not just the rhetoric to be our next State Auditor.

Click here to read the complete story.

Democratic Candidate For Auditor Mike Sumrall

Mike Sumrall in Downtown Jackson on Labor Day

Mike Sumrall is the only candidate running for State Auditor who is qualified.

I said so before the primary, I said so before the runoff and I'm saying so now.

He's a good man with experience in state and local governments in auditing and bookkeeping.

He's the only one with an accounting degree. He is the only one with experience. He is the candidate we need.

Hopefully his qualifications will outweigh the Pickering name in the general election.

John Goodman Details The Differences Between Sumrall and Pickering

From PearlMississippiCPA:

Stacey Pickering is totally unqualified to be State Auditor. He is a media consultant and a part-time public relations person (Wonderful. That is really one bippy of a great qualification--making people look good and saying groovy sound bites.). He knows as much about accounting and auditing as my cat Bueller does. If he is elected, he'll be bored stiff as State Auditor. And you can rest assured he'll play politics with the job just as his predecessors after Hamp King have. In four years, he'll be looking to move up the political totem pole. (That should be interesting, since his cousin Charles plans to run for governor in 2011. You can get two of them for the price of one. Goody goody.)

Mike Sumrall recognizes the need for drastic changes in the Office of State Auditor. The number of staff is at an all-time low. He wants to have cross-training of auditors so that they can do school audits, agency audits or county audits. The investigative division has more staff than any time in the history of the agency yet it takes more than three years to complete investigations. (You can thank Phil the Pill Bryant for the surplus of investigators. Bryant used to be a fire investigator but knows as much about accounting and auditing as my cat.)

Read the full post at PearlMississippiCPA.

Rickey Cole Rightfully Rips Spell in Greenwood

In addittion to hammering Lester Spell on the culled cow beef plant that he engineered and sold to legislature with a final price tag of $55 million dollars Rickey Cole found other failures in Lester Spell's recent history.

"Lester Spell spent $4 million on a Farmer's Market in Jackson," Cole told the group. "And it isn't taking in enough money to pay the light bill."

In his speech at the Neshoba County Fair I heard Spell defend his farmers market saying that there was a waiting list of folks wanting to have space at the market. A good question in response to that would be to ask why it is only open 3 mornings a week if the demand is so great.

Cole went on to say that Spell claims to have conducted 4,500 supermarket inspections in 2006.

"You know how many inspectors he has?" Cole asked the crowd.

After one man guessed 100, Cole told him the correct answer is 10.

"(Spell) is telling us with a straight face they did a thorough inspection with those 10 people," Cole said. "That means if those 10 inspectors worked 225 days last year, they did two stores a day. He might have done it, but he didn't do a very good job."

People expect that the food they buy at the grocery store will be safe. It is the job and duty of the Commissioner of Agriculture's office to do so. Has he accomplished his job? I don't think so.

Cole, a native of Ovett who now lives in Utica, said that while 16 people will be running for state offices in November, he is the lone candidate with rustic credentials. He also is the only one who can claim to be a farmer.

"I tell people I never did fall off the turnip truck," Cole added. "I just kept on driving.

"My home is 18 miles from the nearest incorporated town," said Cole. "When I leave, the population goes down by 10 percent."

Cole told the crowd he feels not enough is done to promote Mississippi's rural atmosphere and blue-collar culture, something he feels is the state's real strength.

I've advocated the election of Mike Sumrall partially do the regional diversity he'd bring to state government as a candidate from South Mississippi; Cole is the only candidate who would provide a rural voice in state government and I think you'd have to agree that that is a voice that is very much needed.

"There is no easy way to fix all our problems," Cole said. "But we can't fix it with one huge project. Economic development is small businesses opening. It's the people who need $10,000 or $50,000 to start a business that my office will come to work with."

Huge economic development projects (usually) look good and help politicians of both parties win re-election, but it is the Viking Range' of our state that really create jobs and support communities and if we strive to find and support home grown businesses we will be able to benefit the state far more with far less effect on our state budget. For no more irresponsible investment in failed projects while being open to supporting expanded local business a vote for Rickey Cole is the right one.

The Greenwood Commonwealth Article

Your Democratic Nominee for Auditor

Congratulations Democratic Nominee Mike Sumrall



Check this out for a few good reasons to support Mike Sumrall for State Auditor

Todd Brand's Attack Ad on Mike Sumrall

I disagree with the ad, but feel folks should be able to see it. You can see why I support Mike Sumrall in the post directly below.

Vote for Mike Sumrall

There are many reasons why you should vote for Mike Sumrall including but not limited to his long and deep experience doing the kind of work that is necessary for the job of State Auditor.

Dr. Todd Brand is a very intelligent man and I'm sure that a doctorate in Community College Leadership will help him get about any job he'd like to have, but I really think now is the time to choose Mike Sumrall. Allow me to spell out some reasons.

1. He is very, very qualified. The web page details his pertinent work experience He is the most qualified out of the 3 remaining candidates (Sumrall, Brand, Pickering).

2. He not only has experience, but has shown competence and vision. Years before computers became the norm he saw where technology was going so he went back to school to study computer science so he would be prepared to meet that challenge. Between his knowledge of audits at various levels and his knowledge of automating processes using technology he would be an excellent fit for State Auditor today.

3. He didn't say the following:

"(Bryant) has done an outstanding job leading the audit department, but he has faced a shrinking budget for the last three fiscal years."

Defending the current Republican candidate for Lt. Governor's failed tenure as Auditor is not a quality I want in a Democratic nominee. The Auditor's office was given money to investigate the beef plant fiasco and he gave most of it back. With people (finally) going to jail, shouldn't they have been a little more thorough?

4. He's from South Mississippi. This may count against him elsewhere, but I'd like you to think about how few of our statewide candidates are from the Coast. I think he is one of two running statewide from the Southern region. We deserve representation too.

Mike Sumrall is a man of good character and a friend to the people of Mississippi and seeks the office so that he may serve the people just as he has done for the last 20 years. He deserves your vote and support. Vote for him tomorrow, Tuesday the 27th.

John Goodman on the State Auditors Race

Let's look at the record since 1984, when long-serving State Auditor W. Hamp King stepped down. He was the last State Auditor who kept politics out of the Office of State Audit (hereafter abbreviated as OSA). His successor, Ray Mabus (1984-1988), used it as a successful launching pad for Governor. After him came Pete Johnson (1988-1992). He was elected as a Democrat, became a Republican in late 1988, and unsuccessfully ran for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 1991. After him came Steve Patterson (1992-Nov. 1996), who was going to use it for an eventual run for Governor or Lt. Governor. And finally, Phil Bryant (Nov. 1996 to present) used the OSA as a launching pad for his run for Lt. Governor. All of those four auditors used the OSA as a political fiefdom.

Mike Sumrall knows the inner workings of the OSA. It is true he is NOT a CPA. But he is the ONLY candidate with an accounting degree. He has twenty-three years auditing experience with the OSA, three years as County Administrator and CFO of Forrest County and two years as business manager of Pike County Schools. As you can see, he has experience in state, county and school audits and financial accounting. Add it up: That's twenty-eight years of accounting and auditing experience of government.

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If you are a Democrat, please vote for Mike Sumrall on August 28th. As a CPA, I can tell you he is the most qualified man to run for State Auditor in decades. At long last, the man and the office have met. Mississippi desperately needs Mike Sumrall as our State Auditor.

Read the entire post at PearlMississippiCPA

Republican Dirty Tricks In State Auditor Race

Todd Brand of Meridian, who is vying for the Democratic nomination for auditor, said Monday he believes automated phone calls from an unknown source might have influenced his election and others in the Democratic primary….He said some of his supporters had affidavits from African-American voters saying they received automated phone calls near the election with the message that Sumrall was the black candidate in the race.
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The "black" candidate in the race.
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Brand said the company doing the calls was "Grassroots Out of Virginia." On Republican Gov. Haley Barbour's campaign finance report is a $50,000 expenditure to Grassroots Targeting/Microtargeting of Alexandria, Va.

Ryan Annison, a spokesman for the Barbour campaign, said automated phone calls "is not what that company does. Like all campaigns, we did some polling with them."

The Daily Journal Article

Justice is (partially) Served

Richard Hall (not the highway commissioner) was sentenced today.

From the Clarion Ledger:

The former owner of a beef processing plant that went belly-up, costing the state $55 million, was sentenced today to eight years in federal prison.

Richard Hall Jr. pleaded guilty in January 2006 to state mail-fraud charges and federal money-laundering charges.

He was given the maxium eight years during sentencing before U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers.

...

Biggers also ordered Carothers to pay a $40,000 fine, $250,000 in restitution to the state and the costs of his imprisonment, which will be determined by the Bureau of Prisons. The sentence was the maximum allowed under federal guidelines. Carothers is president of Carothers Construction Co., which built the 140,000-square-foot facility in 2003.

The most a judge can do is make these guys in the private sector do is pay a fine and make them do some time.

Voters can make their voices heard by voting for new watchdogs over agriculture and money by election the very capable Rickey Cole as Agricultural Commissioner and the very qualified Mike Sumrall as State Auditor.

How I Will Vote In The Democratic Primary

Governor: Though I have said that "Louis" Fondren is the hardest working candidate out there and I respect that, I would like to have a candidate who has a chance against Barbour. I will happily cast my vote for John Arthur Eaves and watch the fireworks as he further gets under Haley Barbour's skin.

Lt. Governor: This is simple. Vote for Jamie Franks as the Democratic nominee. He's a good man and an excellent candidate.

Secretary of State: Rob Smith has more experience and expertise, but a man who won't raise money on principle is also a man who will lose in November. John Windsor is an excellent candidate and he has a good campaign team. They can win this and I'm voting for him.

State Auditor: We are lucky in this race to have three good candidates and I suspect it will go to a runoff. Brand and Ray are both good campaigners and are able. One of the two will end up as the nominee. Mike Sumrall is the only candidate in either party with experience in the Auditor's office and if the position were appointed he would be selected. As a candidate who is so clearly qualified and able I must cast my vote for Mike Sumrall.

Attorney General: Jim Hood has done an outstanding job and I'm looking forward to 4 more years.

State Treasurer: Write in William Winter. He likely doesn't want it, but there is likely no better man in Mississippi politics.

Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce: Rickey Cole is a personal friend and the only candidate that qualified. I'll gladly cast my vote for him.

Commissioner of Insurance: "Politicians and diapers need to be changed frequently, often for the same reason." George Dale has been in office since 1976. Now that he is waist deep in insurance company contributions it is time he is retired and replaced with new blood. I will vote for Gary Anderson.

(I've brought this up again for people who said they had trouble finding it)

Mike Sumrall At The Neshoba County Fair

I apologize for missing the first 1/3rd of the speech. I started recording as soon as I got close enough. This was the first "Neshoba County Fair" speech I'd seen.

Mike Sumrall is the only candidate with experience running for State Auditor. He is a Democratic candidate for the open seat.

July 10th Update: State Auditor Edition

Candidate's Name: New Donations This Period : Expenses This Period : Current Cash On Hand

Stacey Pickering (R): $25,100.00 : $22,870.55 : $169,135.42
Jacob Ray (D): $900.00 : $7862.27 : $$2,414.06
Mike Sumrall (D): $6,925.97 : $4134.89 : $3,122.49