Michael "Curly" Sumrall for State Auditor / object of political slander

[Guru]

I hope you folks get to read this before you go to the polls tomorrow. There was something I saw on the evening news that really disappointed me.
Apparently the political mud-slinging is running ninety to nothing.
I'm just going to wave all the tidbits aside and give you a representation of Mike, Curly to me.
I've known Curly all my life, all of it, I know each and every one of his family too and not just to make their aquaintance, we all grew up together and I still see them routinely.
Mike Sumrall, to the best of my life-long friends knowledge has never done anything but work, and in the fairest way you could ever mean and he has never done anything to anyone other than help them even if it took the shirt off his back or money out of his own pocket.
Mike is not a politician, he is just a working guy, knows his job and is above normal intelligence. He has no agendas other than to do the job before him and be a normal everyday guy like the rest of us.
Other than politics I can't even begin to understand the things that go on in this arena, I can assure you if the things I saw on WDAM this evening had one shred of truth to it I would probably know about it.
He and I throughout our life have shared many of the same friends and I have never known him to be anything other than himself to any of us whether white, black, male or female and what he has been is just what I said above.
How confident am I of him and his integrity? I'd plaster the walls of my office with his campaign posters. As a matter of fact I will more than likely put one in the office here at home to remember him offering himself for this duty to the state.
Mike Sumrall / State Auditor / he's a real deal, no kidding.

[mi_nombre_es]

I can't vote for him cuz I can't bribe him :cry: LOL just kidding! :bowrofl:

[HadItUpToHere]

I spoke with mike the other day and he's still a little tired from the past 3 weeks of crazyness. He was thanking everyone around him for their vote and support and was real proud of the way he carried south ms. Mike said some guy in jackson said he wasn't playing fair in that he was actually qualified for the job he's running for. Something that many of the political types aren't.

I'm sure we'll see him soon in Hattiesburg and I bet he's at the USM game tonight.:smt023

[Kitty]

I know Lamar County is considered "Republican territory," but I hope voters in my county will look beyond party lines and consider the fact that Mike Sumrall is the more qualified candidate for state auditor.

[True Believer]

Mike Sumrall seems like a nice guy. However, I have to disagree with you Kitty. I've heard both Todd Brand and Mike Sumrall along with Stacey Pickering speak at two functions this summer, talked to a few folks and I will be supporting Pickering.

I thought Mike's accounting degree certainly made him more qualified over Todd Brand and I even laughed at his remark that when you break a leg you see a doctor, when you need an audit, you go to a CPA. But the State Auditor does not do the audits for the state. He hires the accountants that do and oversees them. After talking to several CPA friends and a division chair in the Audit Department, the auditor is an administrator, having to handle human resources, traveling to Washington D.C., negotiating with the legislature to get more money for the department, manages several million dollars in funds and hundreds of employees.

I agree with Mike that if you want an audit, you should hire an accountant, just like you'd hire a doctor for a broken leg. But if you want someone to run the hospital you hire an administrator. Pickering's background seems more suited since he was a manager at Howard Industries, the Chair of Public/Privates that did the Toyota deal, not to mention the fact that he has relationships in the legislature that can get more money for salaries for auditors who were not paid what they should have been under Phil Bryant.

I'm glad to see that Todd Brand didn't win after all of the shenanigans, but Stacey Pickering will have my vote in November.

[Guru]

I think there are too many administrators in office already. To me it's time to put somebody in there that knows the job. How can you supervise what you don't know?

[True Believer]

Guru: I agree we probably need less administrators--in life. But I'd recommend everyone doing their due diligence to figure out who they want to support in the upcoming elections--and not just this one. Ask the Forrest County Supervisors what they thought of Mike's administrative abilities as County Administrator. In doing my little bit to find out who to support, there's a lot more to being State Auditor than doing audits. This is nothing personal. Mike's a nice guy, but I feel Stacey Pickering will do a better job running the $10 million dollar state-wide auditing division.

[HadItUpToHere]

could you name any job stacy has acutally ever had?

He's never really had a job so I don't see how you can judge his administrative skills as above mikes.

And as far as the forrest county bos many of them are very afraid of mike making it to jackson for several valid reasons. I would ask the people that worked for him not the 5 supervisors that may end up under his investigations.

[Guru]

Hmmm ... I had wondered about that ...

[HadItUpToHere]

If checking at the courthouse for mike's supporters try the sheriff, tax assessor, collector, circuit clerk, chancery clerk as well as the judges and district attorney.

[Judge Bustin]

I got an e-mail from Mike Sumrall two days ago. I'm sure it was one of those mass e-mails but the distribution list was not disclosed. Did anybody else get one?

[BlueDogDemocrat]

nah, I didn't get one. However, Curly seems to be trying to contact local officials from all over the state-- so I'd assume you received cause you are an esteemed justice court judge.

[TDaleBeavers]

I've been getting Mike's emails all during the campaign...I'm pretty sure he's sent them out to all members of the bar that he was able to obtain emails for.

[just-Wynn]

Hands down Sumrall is the best qualified person for State Auditor. Hands down. Pickering will try to ride his name and connections to the top, and it may very well work, but we'll end up with a sub-par state auditor that will start out very green in a high position. I just don't think MS really needs another "name brand" administrator right now, trying to figure out his job for the first several years he's in office. imo.

[True Believer]

This office does not need a micromanager to look over the shoulders of a staff of accountants, it needs a leader who can work with the legislature to get much-needed raises for the audit employees to bring them up to par with others in the field. Pickering has the contacts from Day 1 to make this happen. In addition, the State Auditor is an agency head who goes to Washington once a month to meet on the behalf of this department with HUD and many other federal agencies, the position requires HR experience that Pickering has, too....it's not a pencil-pushing position in Mississippi.

Just because someone is a nurse doesn't mean they can run a hospital.

It seems the Hattiesburg American agrees. (http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071023/OPINION01/710230331)

[wilebill]

This office does not need a micromanager to look over the shoulders of a staff of accountants, it needs a leader who can work with the legislature to get much-needed raises for the audit employees to bring them up to par with others in the field. Pickering has the contacts from Day 1 to make this happen. In addition, the State Auditor is an agency head who goes to Washington once a month to meet on the behalf of this department with HUD and many other federal agencies, the position requires HR experience that Pickering has, too....it's not a pencil-pushing position in Mississippi.

Just because someone is a nurse doesn't mean they can run a hospital.

It seems the Hattiesburg American agrees. (http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071023/OPINION01/710230331)Ah, but if you have the above quoted skills, AND the auditing experience to go along with it, then it seems like there shouldn't even be a contest.

And the HA is known for backing people who receive less than 30% of the vote, so their endorsement is not really important, IMO.

[Guru]

When I look around at who holds a lot of political positions and the sad situation most things are in coupled with the discontent of the masses how could we go wrong to just put some people in office that actually know how to do what the job is named for?
State Auditor: Auditor.
If you are looking for somebody that can do the job and can get along with people then Curly is the man. Since the age of 3 I have never known anyone that he didn't get along with, most just love him, that goes a long way toward networking and getting those that might need to show you the ropes as for the big politics elbow rubbing to take you under their wing and help you out.
From the bottom of the totem pole to the top of the totem pole how wrong could we go by flipping some channels and getting some fresh meat in some jobs. I don't see how they could do any worse than the majority of people we have in office.

[HadItUpToHere]

The state auditor does not go to washington once a month to meet with HUD. Never has to my knowledge. Look at mike's web site under certifications. Ever state aound us has a qualified accountant or CPA as state auditor. I'm not saying the person should be a R or a D but he or she should be an accountant. Why should MS settle for a career politicial that only wants to run for a higher office.

I heard mike on some talk show tonight as I was headed home from Jackson 92.5 I think. He said stacey has a $150,00 error on his latest campaign finance report. That stacey reported income of about $180,000 but the detail pages only listed $29,000. Do you want a person as state auditor that can't even file a correct campaign finance report? Even the rep talk show hosts where shaken by this news. I've gone to the secretary of state's web site after getting home and sure enough Mike is right and stacey has a big Make that HUGE error in his latest report.

I'm not gonna settle for a politican I'm gonna vote for an accountant to watch my tax dollars.

[HadItUpToHere]

Oh and for the record the clarion ledger and the greenwood paper endorse mike sumrall for auditor.

[The_Sleeper]

Why do newspapers endorse political candidates? Are they not supposed to be unbiased reporters?

[HadItUpToHere]

I saw mike at the Forrest County Christmas party last friday. Seems he personally donated two turkeys for the event and dropped by for the meal. I as well as many spoke with him and he said he was looking over a few job offers. Said he had a county administrator job or two and both paid 25 to 40 K more than he made in Hattiesburg. Not that surprised because Forrest County doesn't pay anyone very well. Also was looking at a job or two in jackson with two different state agencies.

He's happy drawing state retirement but said he wanted to go back to work by January 2008 just to stay busy. Mike said the county jobs actually paid more than the state auditor's salary. So he may have lost the battle but won the war. Not sure if he'll run for anything again but he gave it a hell of a try on very little money against a well known political name. Nothing to hang your head over for sure. I hope he does run but I know this past year had to be hard.

[Tully Mars]

I thought that was you I saw there last Friday. I had a chance to visit with Mike also. What a great guy...I have no doubt he will land on his feet.

I saw mike at the Forrest County Christmas party last friday. Seems he personally donated two turkeys for the event and dropped by for the meal. I as well as many spoke with him and he said he was looking over a few job offers. Said he had a county administrator job or two and both paid 25 to 40 K more than he made in Hattiesburg. Not that surprised because Forrest County doesn't pay anyone very well. Also was looking at a job or two in jackson with two different state agencies.

He's happy drawing state retirement but said he wanted to go back to work by January 2008 just to stay busy. Mike said the county jobs actually paid more than the state auditor's salary. So he may have lost the battle but won the war. Not sure if he'll run for anything again but he gave it a hell of a try on very little money against a well known political name. Nothing to hang your head over for sure. I hope he does run but I know this past year had to be hard.