Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Sun Herald sues Pickering, DMR

The Sun Herald filed suit yesterday against Auditor Stacey Pickering and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources in an effort to view public documents DMR claims Pickering's office took.

The Sun Herald is trying to shed light on the deals Pickering is making on behalf of DMR and Bill Walker to settle debts incurred due to the presumed mismanagement of DMR funds. You know - they want some sunshine and transparency. Apparently, these debts are being settled at a fraction of the $1M+ that is owed, allowing Walker, at this point, to walk free.

But, if you've been following Slabbed or coverage from The Sun Herald, the web is a lot more tangled. Part of what's going on at DMR included an audit by Horne CPA and Nicholson & Company (brought by new DMR director Jamie Miller with backing by Pickering), which, as a bonus included public relations performed by Frontier Gulf Cost - yes - that's the same Frontier group in Jackson that does all the political ads, etc. They were responsible for communicating Horne's work.

According to Slabbed, Joe Cloyd is part owner of Frontier Gulf Coast. Who's Joe Cloyd? The man who hosted a fundraiser for Pickering a few weeks ago. This was after Horne's 60-day audit concluded. Coincidentally, or maybe not, Cloyd lives next door to Bill Walker.

Apparently very little is being communicated by anyone, and The Sun Herald is determined to get to the truth.

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