Auditor to examine supervisors' $1M escrow account

STEVEN A. McCALEB
103 ALVERADO DRIVE
LONG BEACH, MISSISSIPPI 39560
PHONE & FAX: (228)-868-8428
E-MAIL: INFO@MISSISSIPPIWEBSITE.COM
WEB SITE: WWW.MISSISSIPPIWEBSITE.COM

He has asked A.G. for opinion on legality  

The word "examine" does not mean audit, and I believe the taxpayers and voters of 
Mississippi would rather see an audit rather than a examine.

HARRISON COUNTY SUPERVISORS

CHANCERY CLERK - MR. JOHN McADAMS

Harrison County Corruption

COUNTY DILUTES POLICY ON CARS

PLEASE VISIT 

www.mississippiwebsite.com

for more information

By PATRICK PETERSON and GEOFF PENDER
THE SUN HERALD

Tuesday, April 03, 2001

State Auditor Phil Bryant says he will further investigate the $1 million-a-year "escrow account" operated by the Harrison County Board of Supervisors.

I do not see why the State Auditor, Phil Bryant would even bother too reexamine the Harrison County Supervisors.

He is going to find the same finding as he did before. Even knowing that the Supervisors maintained a second set of books, it will not make a difference.

To ask the Attorney General, Mike Moore for an opinion on legality is just another way of say, " Mike I need you too back me up on this, the Mississippian's might believe you."

It is impossible for and elected official or state agency to find corruption on another elected official or state agency. They are all working in the best interest for themselves, not the people of Mississippi.

Bryant also has asked Attorney General Mike Moore for an opinion on whether the account is legal.

Let's take a look at this statement:

"Is the account legal" if you are a Mississippi attorney they will say yes the account is legal, because it is in there best interest to make this determination.

If you are, as Senator Trent Lott says, "a normal person" such as a voter and taxpayer of Mississippi, perhaps you would say this is not a legal account.

How can this be a legal account, go to my web page: www.mississippiwebsite.com/supervisorsspending.htm

and see just how your $1 million per year was being spent.

Bryant said he will investigate whether supervisors are abiding by state "unit system" and other laws that require supervisors to act and spend tax money as a board and not run their voting districts like mini-governments. Individual supervisors are prohibited from direct day-to-day control of purchases, projects and workers.

If I am not mistaken it has all ready been proven the supervisors were running a "unit system" when it was known they were keeping two sets of books.

Remember what I said about, "if you are a Mississippi attorney they will say yes the account is legal, because it is in there best interest to make this determination."

After a brief look at escrow spending several weeks ago, Bryant's office said supervisors appeared to be abiding by the law and not using the money as five political patronage funds.

I am sure the State Auditor, Phil Bryant, said too himself, this is the right statement for me.

The same as saying, this is a good political move on my part, I must protect the Harrison County Supervisors at all cost.

But former state auditor and Gov. Ray Mabus, who was known for his aggressiveness in enforcing state spending laws as an auditor, said Bryant should promptly put a stop to the county's escrow spending practices.

I watched one of the Supervisors being interviewed on television by WLOX 13, and Larry Benefield said that he would like to know what facts the Past Governor, Ray Mabus has on this matter.

Considering this is the first time in many years that the Sun Herald Newspaper has covered such a big and eventful story, it makes me pause on why. Perhaps "Knight-Ridder" had something to do with our only large local newspaper to pursue a large story. 

Perhaps our past Governor should run for Governor again.

"It's a little slush fund, that's what it sounds like," said Mabus, who runs a consulting firm in Jackson. "It has all the attributes. (Supervisors) split it up, and there's no accountability.

What Governor Ray Mabus is saying is true, but to get our Governor, Ronnie Musgrove to admit there has been Fraud, Waste, & Abuse and removing the Supervisors is all but impossible.

Remember: MONEY, POWER, & PERKS + FRAUD, WASTE, & ABUSE= CORRUPTION

And we have a lot in Mississippi.

"It's not OK to split any money up and spend it beat by beat, if the county has voted to go on the unit system," Mabus said.

Again, Ray Mabus is right, but from Governor, Ronnie Musgrove down too the Harrison County Supervisors it's politics, not what is right and wrong.

We the taxpayers and voters keep pouring out tax money into there system and they spend our money the way they want to spend taxpayers money.

"The auditor ought to say, 'Stop that. Don't do it anymore.'"

I believe past Governor, Ray Mabus has been in the sun it bit too long. To tell this auditor to stop protecting other elected officials and state agencies would be like admitting Mississippi is a corrupt state. (Which it is)

Records show Harrison County's five elected supervisors split the escrow account among themselves and spend it on people, groups and projects in their voting districts.

And our State Auditor, Phil Bryant has all ready determined that the Harrison County Supervisors have worked within the law.

The Sun Herald obtained records that show these spending habits after filing a public records lawsuit against the county. Previously, the county had supplied only an "official" set of books that indicated centralized management of the account. Supervisors had denied they split the escrow tax dollars and denied that any district-by-district accounting records existed.

So, the Supervisors lied a little, according too our Governor, Ronnie Musgrove they have done nothing wrong.

One has to assume this, he has never came out and stated that our Harrison County Supervisors have committed and wrong doing. The State Auditor, when completing his audit on the five (5) Supervisors, said they had worked within the law. And the Supervisors themselves have stated that they have done no wrong.

So, it is safe to say that our Governor does not intend to take any action towards this corruption here in South Mississippi.  

Some taxpayers have been angered to learn that supervisors spend escrow money on parties, food and trips for their constituents, expensive office furniture, cars, sport utility vehicles and any number of odds and ends, including thousands of dollars a year worth of Mardi Gras beads.

Ask any Harrison County Supervisor too admit he or she has committed fraud, waste, & abuse and I am sure they will tell you they have done nothing wrong.

And the sad part about this whole thing is that next election these same people will get re-elected. I am talking about from the Governor on down.

Bookkeeping not questioned

But Bryant appears unconcerned about the county's second set of books on the escrow account, and he has apparently already accepted one version of the county's story about how it operates the escrow account.

The only way that I can see for the corruption to stop is for the Governor too remove the Secretary of State, Eric Clark, State Auditor, Phil Bryant,  Chancery Clerk, John McAdams,  and all five Supervisors.

This would be a good start for Mississippi!!

In his letter to the attorney general, Bryant explained that supervisors use the "unofficial" set of books to track, after the fact, how much escrow money has been spent in each supervisor's district.

Duh - that makes it a "Beat System" which the Federal Government has all ready investigated several years ago. They prosecuted something like 57 people in Mississippi during the "Beat System" being used.

Why were the Supervisors hiding the second set of books, and did our State Auditor know about the second set of books.  

But this contradicts recent court testimony from County Administrator Pam Ulrich, who keeps the records on her computer. She testified, in a hearing on The Sun Herald's records lawsuit, that the records are used to track requests for escrow purchases, not to track what has already been spent.

I would say the County Administrator, Pam Ulrich is between a rock and a hard place. Either way she goes she will be in deeper trouble than she all ready is.

Once you change your story on exactly what happened, it is call perjury (lying under oath.)

This indicates the unofficial records are used by supervisors to split the money, not to simply keep track of how it was spent.

You don't have to convince the voters and taxpayers of Mississippi on this fact. 

But you do have to convince our elected officials and state agencies of the facts.

You have us, "normal people" and then you have our, "elected officials and state agencies."

Our government in Mississippi does not work to serve the people

But our government does have the people of Mississippi working (taxpayers money) for them. 

The Attorney General's Office says it will thoroughly examine escrow spending.

What a joke, and on which side do you, the voters and taxpayers, of Mississippi believe Attorney General, Mike Moore will side with.

I am betting he will side with the State Auditor, Phil Bryant, his buddy and long friend.

But it is smart to have Attorney General, Mike Moore come into this matter, it legitimizes the State Auditors actions.

 "We'll look at the laws that provide for this fund and the laws that direct spending out of this fund," said Deputy Attorney General Mike Lanford. "We're going to look at it and give it a thorough analysis. We're going to look at the whole thing."

I can tell you right now that when the Attorney General, Mike Moore says, "We'll look at the laws," the taxpayers and voters of Mississippi has lost this fight.

Mike Moore will go back through all of Phil Bryant's first audit and that will be the thorough analysis.

If you for once think that family blood if thicker than political blood you have another thing coming.

Mabus also said the county should end its practice of keeping a separate set of books for supervisors.

I did not know it was a practice of keeping separate sets of books.

In fact, I would think it would be against the law, to keep two sets of books in order to hide how $1 million of our tax dollars are being spent each year.

"Any funding should be open. It should be wide open," he said. "It's not their money. It's taxpayer money."

Now, now, past Governor, it is easy for you too say that now that you are no longer the Governor.

You must convince our elected official and state agencies of who owns the taxpayers money.

Splitting the escrow account into five separate funds could encourage inefficient spending.

Could - did and has been that way for many years.

But if you ask an elected official if any law were broken, they will tell you no, they have acted within the laws.

Purchases also questioned

Apparently, the Attorney General's and State Auditor's offices will also investigate whether Harrison County is abiding by state purchasing laws that require counties to seek the best prices when spending tax dollars.

Why, the end results will be that they acted within the laws set fourth by Mississippi law.

State law says counties must get at least two written quotes, and accept the lowest price, on purchases more than $1,500. On purchases of more than $10,000, governments must advertise for competitive bids and take the lowest that meets specifications.

And of course we the people will be able to get our hands on all of these bids.

I would bet most of the purchases were below $1,500.

Since we have now found out that our Harrison County Supervisors have been keeping two sets of books, I would think they can also fix a bid on government purchases of $10,000 of more.

But I would like to have a copy of all these bids over $10,000 and I am sure the State Auditor will be more than happy to give the taxpayers a copy. (But not in his life time)

It is illegal for governments to intentionally break purchases into smaller pieces to sidestep the quote-and-bid requirements. When this happens, competitive bids are avoided and officials can send business to whoever they want. The illegal procedure is known as "invoice splitting."

I would say every city along the Coast practices, "invoice splitting."

But even if it is found that this practice is happening the outcome will be, "they worked within the law."

Most escrow purchases fall below the quote and bid limits. For instance, the county last year didn't buy all of its nearly $20,000 worth of Mardi Gras beads at one whack. The trinkets were bought on numerous shopping trips spread over several months, with separate purchase orders and invoices.

But I would say they knew the amount they would be spending which means they worked outside the laws of Mississippi.

$20,000 is more that $1,500, and a lot more that $10,000 wouldn't you say.

Many county purchases of sporting goods, computer equipment and other items are split into multiple purchase orders. Sometimes, the county has made multiple purchases on the same day or over a few days at the same store, for the same type of equipment, but split the purchases into separate purchase orders and invoices.

Since this is true, why didn't our State Auditor, Phil Bryant catch this during his audit of the escrow account.

Perhaps all of the auditors in the state of Mississippi needs to be replaced, what do you think Governor, Ronnie Musgrove.

Mardi Gras beads an example

Rhuel Dickinson, who works in Bryant's office, said recently that "Mardi Gras beads could be a very good candidate for having a split purchase."

But exactly what did the State Auditor, Phil Bryant say when told this.

But the big question is, what were our Supervisors buying Mardi Gras beads in the first place with taxpayers money. And they said, "it's not a slush fund."

"Mardi Gras only happens once a year," Dickinson said. "If the county bought all its beads for purchases under $1,500 every two weeks or once a month ... that would be suspicious, I would think."

Once again, lets look at the big picture, the other people which ride the floats on Mardi Gras have to purchase there own throws.

But if you are a Harrison County Supervisor, the taxpayers get to pay for there throws, t the tune of $20,000.

Yes, I would say all five (5) of our Harrison County Supervisors need to be replaced, right Governor, Ronnie Musgrove.

Bryant said his office has 300 open cases. Since he took office in 1996, his nearly 200 employees have been responsible for the arrests of 65 public officials while recovering $3 million.

The below is the email I have sent to the State Auditor, Phil Bryant.

Any bets on weather I will get an answer or not.

Bryant said state laws give "broad leeway" to supervisors in how they spend money. He said his investigation would focus on any loss of money by taxpayers.

I believe the Mississippian's have all ready decided on what the outcome should be for the five (5) Supervisors and others.

Since state law gives, "broad leeway," to supervisors, stated by State Auditor, Phil Bryant.

I take it that, " broad leeway," too mean, how ever our Harrison County Supervisors spend our taxpayers money is within the laws of Mississippi.

What Phil Bryant is saying, lets tell the people of Mississippi that we are now going to split our investigation into small pieces.

This will take forever and that is exactly what they want to happen, out of sight out of mind.

"I'm not aware, personally, of any other county using that method," he said. "This may be a more common practice than we realize."

What does that have to do with our five (5) Harrison County Supervisors.

Lets stay on track with this investigation, knowing the outcome will favor the supervisors anyway.

Right, Governor, Ronnie Musgrove!

Bryant is a former Republican state representative from Brandon, appointed in 1996 to fill the unexpired term of Democrat Steve Patterson, who resigned after pleading guilty to lying on documents to reduce his car tag payment. Bryant was elected to the office in 1999.

Let me get this right, Phil Bryant replaced Steve Patterson, after Patterson pleaded guilty of lying to reduce his car tag payment.

So now we the taxpayers are to believe Phil Bryant is a straight and narrow elected official.

I think this is like a wrong way of thinking, since Phil Bryant has all ready found that our five (5) Harrison County Supervisors have done no wrong.

Bryant says he wants Moore's office to be thorough and "be careful the questions are sufficient for everyone."

"Be careful the questions are sufficient for everyone." Just what is this suppose to mean, and why has our State Auditor, Phil Bryant requested help from the State Attorney's Office anyway.

It is the State Auditors job to audit, it is not the Attorney General's job to audit anyone.

"I believe we're covering it very thoroughly," he said. "If we get any more in the thick of it, I'd have to be down there personally."

We wouldn't want that, (to be down here personally).

You did not cover it thoroughly the first time, if you had you would have known about the second set of books.

Geoff Pender can be reached at 896-2329 or at glpender@sunherald.com. Patrick Peterson can be reached at 896-2343 or at pfpeterson@sunherald.com

STEVEN A. McCALEB

COMMENTARY