Hardball: Democrat using DMR investigation against GOP opponent in Ocean Springs mayors race.

During an April 16 press conference in Biloxi, (Auditor Stacey) Pickering responded to a question about public officials using the Dept. of Marine Resources boats at taxpayer cost. At the time, Pickering said if any public officials were found to have “violated the public trust, they will be held accountable.”

(Ocean Springs mayoral candidate John) McKay told The Mississippi Press that same day he was upset with Pickering’s statement and was innocent of any wrongdoing, suggesting he and others had been mislead by Walker.

“We stood by a mud hole and we got splattered,” he said at the time and has repeated several times since.

It was later learned the person who asked Pickering the question during the news conference was a campaign worker of Mckay’s opponent, incumbent Democrat Mayor Connie Moran.

McKay alluded to that fact in his press release last week, stating “This was a phony issue to begin with started by an employee of Mayor Moran’s campaign…”

Monday, (Pickering spokesman Brett) Kittredge gave no indication that any statement from Pickering would be forthcoming prior to the June 4 election.

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Gov. Bryant to announce choice for next Director of DMR Tuesday morning.

Gov. Phil Bryant will announce his choice for the next Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Tuesday morning during a 10 a.m. press conference in Biloxi, spokesperson Mick Bullock announced Monday afternoon.

The Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources sent three candidates to the governor last week for his consideration. Under Mississippi statutes, Bryant must select one of the three chosen by the MCMR.

The MCMR began a search for a new director after the dismissal of former director Bill Walker on Jan. 15 amid allegations of misspending by the DMR under his watch.

An abbreviated search led to 17 applications for the position. From those, the MCMR narrowed the field to five who were then interviewed and from those five the three finalists were culled and forwarded to Bryant’s office last Tuesday.

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On again, off again Herrington finally bows out

Officials are letting Democrats put a different nominee in south Mississippi’s 4th District congressional race.

State election commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to let Michael Herrington of Hattiesburg withdraw and Matthew Moore of Biloxi take his place.

State law says if a party nominee withdraws for a nonpolitical reason such as illness, the party may put a substitute on the ballot.

HA

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Vitosky to Mississippi Dems: I want my money back!

English: Logo of the Democratic Party of the United States. Light blue D inside a darker blue circle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Sun Herald is reporting that the Mississippi Democratic Party has nominated Biloxi’s Matthew Moore to run against U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo in November:

Moore replaces Democrat Michael Herrington of Hattiesburg, who recently dropped out of the race because his mother was sick. Moore’s nomination has to be submitted to the state election officials for approval before he can appear on the ballot. The Democratic Party also announced Thursday that Vicki Slater, of Madison, would be the nominee for the third congressional district race.

“We are pleased that Vicki and Matthew have stepped forward to be our party’s standard bearers for the fall,” Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole said in a statement. “They will give the voters of the third and fourth districts an opportunity to elect much better representation to Congress on Nov. 6th.”

Mississippi PEP posted a link to a report by the Hattiesburg Patriot on Monday that Herrington was expected to step down and the names of two former and one current Democrat legislators were being tossed around as possible replacements. The second place finisher in the District 4 Democrat primary, Jason Vitosky, commented on the post and then called our office. He had this to say in the comment:

“If the Democratic Party does not even RECOGNIZE the second place finisher, then I, the only other person that qualified for the position, would like my $200 back that I paid in order to qualify as a candidate. To NOT recognize me would seem to be a fraud on the democratic process.

I am every bit as viable of a candidate as those who were thrown OUT of office.”

In a phone conversation with Mississippi PEP Managing Editor Keith Plunkett on Monday, Vitosky reserved further comment until he had an opportunity to talk with Democrat Party Chairman Rickey Cole.

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Blueprint aims to boost Miss. economic prospects – Forbes.com

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi can improve its economic outlook by investing in research, reducing government regulation of businesses and developing incentives to attract and retain highly educated workers, particularly those with strong skills in math and science, a new report says.

Blueprint Mississippi 2011 also recommends expanding the health care sector, decreasing the teenage pregnancy rate and creating a high-quality early childhood education and development system.

And it recommends strengthening racial reconciliation efforts.

Hank Bounds, chairman of the Mississippi Economic Council’s Blueprint Mississippi 2011 effort and current state Commissioner of Higher Education, said a main emphasis of the report was on improving Mississippi’s economy.

“We still have lots of work to do … great progress has been made but we still have miles to go,” he said.

Bounds said the long-term goal is to ensure the economy prospers so people’s children and grandchildren can stay in Mississippi and find good jobs when they grow up.

Mississippi Economic Council President Blake Wilson said that over the past eight years Mississippi has greatly improved its work force training and economic incentive programs that it offers to companies to move to the state or to expand existing operations.

“Mississippi has moved into a place of great promise. You’ve got to continue to make sure your edge is sharp,” Wilson said.

On Jan. 5, at the Mississippi Economic Council’s Capital Day, Wilson said they will release a more detailed set of data. He said an action plan to be presented to the new governor and lieutenant governor of what the business community thinks needs to be done to reach Blueprint goals.

Blueprint 2011 was released Thursday during events in Jackson, Tupelo and Biloxi.

The report comes from a $1.25 million, privately funded research project sponsored by the Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Partnership for Economic Development and Momentum Mississippi.

Work on the project started in January at several of the state’s universities.

A previous Blueprint Mississippi was released in 2004.

via Blueprint aims to boost Miss. economic prospects – Forbes.com.

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