Welp, the online community here at Slabbed managed to cause a major shitstorm as we rang-out the old year in style:
SRHS trustee Morris Strickland lives in Biloxi, despite Jackson County residency rule ~ Anita Lee
When the reporter went to Strickland’s office, he said: “Get out of my office. Get out of my office. This is private property. Get out, get out, get out.… Let me call the cops.”
Who is this man, Morris Strickland that personally oversaw a major financial catastrophe that now would have Hospital retirees bankrupted? Before I answer that we must visit with this:
Jackson County supervisors looking into SRHS trustee’s residency, replacement possible ~ April Havens
Anita was kind enough to credit Slabbed, something the Times Picayune in New Orleans regularly does when warranted because after all, Slabbed is considered an authoritative news source around these parts but this really is too rich. April’s story is political spin as the Jackson County Board of Supervisors try to make it appear they are actually in front of their illegal trustee problem. In the process they also admit they knew about the problem for months and did nothing about it. I’m personally reminded of the late great Molly Ivins because I think it applies over Jackson County way in spades:
As they say around the Texas Legislature, if you can’t drink their whiskey, screw their women, take their money, and vote against ’em anyway, you don’t belong in office.
So who is Morris Strickland? I think RFP nailed it in comments myself:
The bottom line here as we head into our 2015 Mississippi election season is in Jackson County, the Supervisors role is to contain the disaster, covering up as much as possible. In doing so they betray their disdain for the very people that elect them treating the voters like hayseeds when in fact everyone knows exactly who the hayseeds are in this disaster. Preserving the money train politely known as campaign cash that it takes for these pols to get reelected makes people do strange things is all I can figure. Commenter Pravda illustrated that concept in a John McKay fundraiser that was hosted in part by Morris Strickland. Per April Havens’ story linked above McKay:
Ross said he called McKay about the issue, and McKay indicated he’s known “for about six months” that Strickland moved.
Ross said he’s not sure if Strickland officially alerted the board of supervisors to his change of address.
If you are a SRHS retiree that is fixing to get screwed, my best advice is to not trust any politician in Jackson County government as their interest lies in covering the whole deal up as much as possible. The implications are terrible because my crystal ball tells me the only way people can be made anywhere close to whole lies with these same people.
Morris Strickland was right about one thing though because SRHS is not a DMR. Its worse in fact, far worse.
Sun herald reader comments miss something. They suggest he was appointed in 2008, which is true, but was reappointed Nov 5, 2012. http://www.co.jackson.ms.us/officials/board-of-supervisors/minutes/2012/2012-11-05%20BOS%20Minutes%20for%20November%205,%202012.htm
I believe the first attempt to “contain the disaster” failed when Paula Yancey, Jackson County’s board attorney since 1998, failed to unseat incumbent Judge D. Neil Harris for District 16 Chancery Court judge seat. SRHS employees appear to have dodged their first bullet on Nov. 4th.
http://www.co.jackson.ms.us/departments/county-administration/board-attorney.php
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/12/12/5965393/retirees-attorneys-gather-to-hear.html#
Thanks for being on the side of the retirees and vested employees. Please continue to dig as I know Anita is also digging. I am working on the CON (certificate of need) filed by SRHS for all the remodeling jobs. Kinda funny how Fletcher Construction was the general contractor for the remodels. Check out their website. Linda Holland is Kevin’s mom who started as a secretary and now vice president. Add up how much of those CON’s were. Then look at the area that states financing. I have 2 that were from bonds. The others were financed from the “cash reserve”. And we all know that Stephanie Barnes Taylor has already admitted to the BOS that they put the money to fund the pension plan in “cash reserve”. This is also their cash day on hand for bond requirement.
So if Roy Williams the board attorney knew that Morris was breaking the law, can he lose his bar license? What about celeste oglesby the hospital general counsel? She probably knew. Paula yancy the BOS atty? She know? John McKay admitted knowing he was breaking the law. Wtf? Who else knew? Rumor has it that the bot wants Kevin out.
Linda Holland is Kevin Holland’s mom? I’m going to guess if Anita Lee asked John “fishing trip” McKay if he was aware of this CONflict his response would be: “I know noching”. You do have to be impressed with the voters that will be getting their roads graded soon. Sort of like when the Bob Byrd got the added benefit of having an entire city block hire at the DMR.
I’m busy with other things right now. Here is an easy pitch someone might be able to hit out of the park.
The reappointment date is important.
Let me suggest that anyone finding and posting links to an event (or images of any such event) at the Biloxi residence in question with the Supervisors or others who should have known that Strickland was not residing in Jackson county in attendance…
If it happens that there was such an event occurring BEFORE the reappointment, and if anyone on the Jackson County Board Supervisors was in attendance…
Bonus points for any links to Strickland fishing on the DMR boats.
RFP hit the nail on the head when speaking of finding and posting images. Photographic evidence can be the the most deadly type of evidence along side of a written email.
I mention this because for those who have followed the news in the past year may have noticed how Brice Wiggins has been at the “forefront” battling government waste. Along side of his old man out on a cannon chase which was aided by a government type grant,, Wiggins does this because he knows he was photographed on expeditions involving the DMR boats.
After reading all of the stories about Morris Strickland including the latest on his immediate resignation, the only thing we can conclude is he heard this message from the people “Get out,get out,get out of our hospital.This is public property,let us call the FBI !!!!” I think there is more to his story than has been told so far. His definition of “reside” does not mesh with the law, which would not allow for him to count all the hours he spends in Jackson County. His blaming of the press is not new. Every time one of the good old dudes gets caught doing what they should not be doing it is the fault of negative reporting. Now it is time to get the rest of the story into the hands of the owners of this mess he helped create. He now needs to also change his voting place to reflect where he resides instead of voting for his favorite supervisor in Jackson County illegally. Auburn 14 Wisconsin 7 @ Outback,Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. War Eagle
Strickland’s resignation letter here: stricklandletter.pdf.
Now, I still spend about 16 hours of every day, days a week there so I do ‘reside’ and work in Jackson County,” he continued. “Also, I own houses, several properties and vote in Jackson County; however, my official residence is now in Harrison County.
“Although I think it is an archaic, outdated and unnecessary restriction for someone to serve in a volunteer position that actually costs them money to do such work in an effort to give back to the county and coast which they love and try to make lives better for others, the law is the law and I have no intention of breaking the law.“
Delbert Hoseman:
HOW DO I REGISTER TO VOTE IN MISSISSIPPI?
Every United States citizen has the right to vote in federal, state, and local elections as long as he or she is:
A resident of Mississippi and the county, city, or town for 30 days;
I am so proud of all of our slabbed “investigators”!!! You fellas do a really super job!!! It is my humble opinion, that the pressure slabbed remarks put on Strickland is the reason that he resigned. Now if we could only be so lucky for that to work on McKay and cronies and the arrogant a$$e$ at the DMR. Maybe old Phillie and Billy the Boy Hewes are running scared??? Or maybe they are getting old Zeigler primed to start siphoning again???
This is definitely a step in the right direction and Doug – it is great that you have kept all of these wonderful photos of “dear friends and family” to remind us dumb public just who is draining the taxpayers of this state. Now we need to get back to work on Puh-l-ass-o and his clan. Just love watching this onion shed its layers!!! Keep up the good work!!!
The sunlight is starting to creep in. The Sun Herald article quotes McKay stating that Strickland “took the pension funds and invested them, which had a return of 8.5 – 9 % because of his expertise.” Kevin Holland, in an e-mail to the BoS, mentioned that the system was having some issues winding down the pension plan because of illiquid assets. With returns like those, the BoT should have nothing to hide. Lay bare all of the investments of the plan.
What are the investments Strickland made?
What are the illiquid assets that SRHS is having trouble with?
Analysis of Strickland’s resignation letter:
1. Joe Martin should now purge Morris Strickland from the voter rolls. Strickland appears to admit to voter fraud in his resignation letter.
2. “No one has been asleep at the wheel.” Whether that is an admission of incompetence or of intention, the reader can decide.
3. While there is the PR boilerplate about dedicated, hardworking employees, there is not a solitary mention of the plight faced by those same workers and retirees.
4. “We are not broken, just bent.” Using the British definition: informal dishonest; corrupt. “a bent cop”
5. The hostility that greeted the Sun Herald upon initial inquiries has been replaced with a PR effort. They are hoping this resignation will return the dogs to the porch.
I have heard rumors of Kevin Holland similar to Strickland. Lives in Pascagoula and has all his family business conducted within the OS school system. True/Not True go take a look RFP and while you’re at it, it is also being spoken of that Mr. Ezel was once Chief of security at the Hospital system. His opponent had a war chest of around $45,000 while Mr. Ezel is said to have had almost a million dollars. A quick public records check would reveal a very interesting source. Wonder who would be conducting the potential criminal investigation?
JC Voter, you are getting very bad intel. Kevin lives in OS and has as long as I’ve known.
Ezells campaign finance was a little over $100k, although he was chief of police for SRHS.
The More interesting thing about Holland isn’t his wife, but that it was his MOTHER’s construction company that built the expansion work for the hospital system – and did it with full knowledge that it was coming from the retirement system funds!!! This also the same carcinogenic legacy that gave David Harris a retirement from the OS YMCA as well when he was a board member. I also find it interesting that he refuses to send his children to public school in Jackson Co, and instead sends them to the local Catholic Madrassa at St. Alphonses
Not a fan of the SRHS BS going on, but I do know the Holland children all attend OS public schools alongside my children. I am 100% certain they live here too.
I was glad to see Slabbed mentioned in the SH. To have an online blog mentioned in the newspaper carries a lot of weight. More especially when it was noted that information was provided by a commentor. It shows that people are paying attention and they deem Slabbed as a credible resource of information.
I can understand how SRHS has made the forefront in the new community. We must also keep our minds guarded to the fact that major problems may exist elseware. Memorial Hospital may be fertile grounds for investigation also.
Clique….clique……clique….
Over the course of a year or better, we have seen many PHOTOGRAPHS of politicians posing with other gulf coast deviants. The PHOTOGRAPH on this blog disaplays our illustrious governor posing with another typical “fuck-up” that has screwed the people of Mississippi.
Let make 2015 the beginning of the end for the Radical Republican Regime.
Allen Cronier claims homestead exemption for the property at 17400 Stateline Rd, Moss Point, Miss.
He also claims exemption for the property at 6375 Fawn Cir, Grand Bay, Ala. Under the exemption code claimed in Mobile County, the home must be a primary residence.
http://www.mobilecopropertytax.com/tax_system.shtml?key=01936597 Property Assessment
http://www.mobilecopropertytax.com/faq.shtml?cid=3&fid=26#faq_26 Exemtion Listings. Some exemptions listed are outdated due to a change in Alabama law in 2012.
The home on Stateline Rd. appears to be a small cabin on a landlocked (no public road access) parcel. Access to the home is down a series of dirt roads branching from Stateline Rd. at a distance of over two miles.
Which is the primary residence?
Look at the sales history.
http://www.mobilecopropertytax.com/tax_system.shtml?action=2&key=01936597
Where has Mr. Cronier been voting lately?
If Mississippi wants to negate the Board of Supervisors’ spin on their claim that they knew of Srickland’s residency violations then all BOARDS OF TRUSTEES overseeing all county hospital should be checked for residency violations.
And if multiple violations appear then it will confirm that said violative disregard for the law is widespread and the state board appointees then need to be put on notice for their lack of oversight.
Finally if duplicative violations are found April and Anita Lee need to put a microphone in the face of the person in the above photo who looks so lovie dovie with Strickland and Mc Kay who can clean house – namely Gov. Bryant .
After much thought and study I think that most of the current trustees are trying to hold on to the appointed seat they occupied so as to be able to get stock picking tips and other investment advice from Morris “the market ticker” Strickland. Now he is gone. He has been running the investment side of the pension plan for some time according to John McKay with returns over 8% per year. Not bad but I would like some verification of this to see if it is true and how he accomplished this. Are we supposed to just take their word for it ?
In 1962, Katherine Anne Porter authored a novel entitled: SHIP OF FOOLS. It is an allegory whereby salvation is depicted as an illusion and evil is presented as inevitable. Oh boy—our ship is foundering on the shoals of DMR, Bay St, Louis finances, Harrison County Utility Authority, and Singing River Health Systems. One is reminded of the song lyrics: “Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right; here I am–stuck in the middle with you.”
One can begin to investigate this sinking ship, that is the SRHS, by letting some sunshine in on all the facets: 1.) the owners of this cruise line—meaning you, this writer, and all other taxpayers, 2.) the Captain and crew—meaning the Jackson County Board of Supervisors, the Singing River Health System Board of Trustees, and theoretically, a Trustee of the Singing River Health System Employees’ Retirement Plan and Trust, and 3.) the passengers—meaning those some 2,000 current employees and some 600 retired employees. With no attempt to be exhaustive, a cursive review of what is public knowledge shows some gapping holes in the hull of this fast sinking vessel.
Starting with the owners, one could safely state the taxpayers/voters of Jackson County remain vehemently opposed to the Affordable Health Care Act and one of its provisions for the inclusion of non-insured patients. Certainly, these same taxpayers/voters must be knowledgeable and acceptive of the fact that SRHS provided “free service, charity, and uncollectible care” in the established charges amounts of $152,860,000 in 2011and $138,459,000 in 2010. [KPMG audit of 2011 dated Feb. 29, 2012 page 44]. This writer has not reviewed subsequent audits, so if someone has, please add to these points. One wonders how one can be so opposed to federal government handouts, yet so eager to provide these handouts at the County level? Perhaps the Jackson County Republican leadership can explain.
Directing attention now to the Captain and crew, one can only exclaim HOLY LIGHTLY STAINED ENAMELED BEDPANS & SINGLE USE CATHERTERS!!!!! To keep things simple, this correspondence will refer to the Jackson County Board of Supervisors as “The Clowns”, and the Singing River guys as “The Jokers”. Head clown McKay stated that Trustee Strickland provided valuable investment returns of 8.5-9.0%. Does McKay believe it not to be the height of fiduciary irresponsibility to turn investment decisions of a $150,000,000 institutional trust over to an individual? Furthermore, does McKay not also understand that investment performance is irrelevant in a defined benefit trust (it merely reduces the funding requirement, which in this case seems irrelevant also). Two of the clowns do not seem to remember that they also participated in the so called “termination” meeting. Now it appears that perhaps two of these clowns did not even know where their appointees legally reside. Does one dare ask, who did the appointing? Stop the side show; provide the County Board meeting minutes whereby you reviewed the audited SRHS financials, you asked pertinent questions such as how does explain the differences in charity care of $74,760,000 for 2011 and $56,527,000 for 2010 [footnote (3) page 26 from same KPMG audit cited above and previously cited footnote (13) page 44],and then took appropriate action. Probably the real answer is that you had NO INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY AT ALL.
Looking for leadership from the Jokers, one finds such things as:
1.) who is independent interim trustee of retirement plan as required by paragraph 7 of the Memo of Agreement between SRHS and JC Board of Supervisors? What credentials criteria was used? Where are Board meetings of this action by either/both parties?
2.) KPMG audit previously cited states in footnote (9) there is publicly available financial report? Where is this information?
3.) The Retirement Plan and Trust in paragraph 9.04 calls for Employer (SRHS) to establish funding policy and shall review such funding policy and method periodically. Show the minutes whereby compliance has occurred?
4.) Paragraph 10.04 of above Trust Calls for DUTIES OF AN EMPLOYEE COMMITTEE of at least seven members to assist in the administration of the plan. Who are these seven employees? How can it be fiduciarily possible for a Board of Trustee member to be an EMPLOYEE? Where are the minutes of this committee?
5.) Paragraph 11.04 Distribution on Termination (c) Procedure if funds insufficient to provide full benefits calls for a six level payout, with the highest level “fully” funded before moving to the next tier. How can these jokers be talking about giving everybody their contributions back?
6.) Paragraph 11.04 Distribution on Termination (d) Liquidation of fund call for payout in the form of annuity unless committee deems it inadvisable to purchase annuity. So what is fiduciary standard for inadvisable? Kind of sounds like a Court Directed STRUCTURED SETTLEMENT—not any cash refund.
7.) Paragraph 15.15 of above Trust calls for Trustee to operate under Mississippi Code 91-9-101. SRHS itself states a strong case for Mississippi court jurisdiction.
This is enough for now. Next correspondence will have more “joker” concerns along with some comments regarding the passengers (employees) actions or more appropriately stated inactions.
Unless we voters replace ALL the Jackson County Board of Supervisors in the November 2015 General Election, we have accomplished NOTHING!
Mr. Rodgers,
I agree 100% and to add to your list for people who should be voted out in the future:
Phil Bryant
Stacy Pickering
Brice Wiggins
Sean Tindell
Please keep in mind that the key is to educate voters as the Regime thrives off of the ignorant. We don’t need another Palazzo type victory as seen a few months ago.
I am straddling the fence on Brice Wiggins. I must say he has been the only vocal elected official who has spoken out against the corruption in Jackson and Harrison Counties.
Old Watson is mouthing off about Common Core to make a name for himself. He needs ‘common sense’ instead of ‘Hoof & Mouth Disease’ which he appears to show to the public. Our elected officials need to let the educators and teachers run the schools instead of listening to Bryant, Reeves, Watson, etc. who only want to keep Mississippi ignorant and stupid with their renditions on how to operate our schools.
Wiggins is just laying down cover fire for damage control purposes.
All I can say is last labor day he offered to meet with a few of us including Slabbed to talk about DMR and we took him up on it. Leaving aside political differences he was interested to hear what we had to say.
Fast forward to the SRHS fiasco and once again Senator Wiggins is there Johnny on the Spot sponsoring legislation to fix that mess.
Just going strictly by his actions I’d posit he is a keeper. The rest like Michael Watson who prattles on about Common Core and drug testing welfare recipients while his political buddies rob hospital employees and the taxpayers blind – I’d throw them back and start fresh.
Perhaps we should ask Wiggins in public if any member of his immediate family has collected government funding channeled via the DMR since he has taken office.
I hear you about Watson and I expect the same behavior from the majority of the Radical Regime of Mississippi this upcoming election year. They know they are at the bottom of the list in education because they helped create the current situation. They reject Common-Core but want to make the same mistake again with the same group of people.
At the least we all earned the right to hunt. 😉 I think Bryant is still rock hard after that great accomplishment.
The JCBOS are attempting to cover their butt by today’s motion to appoint a new Board of Trustees. Seems Supervisor Barry Cumbest disagreed with the majority since his appointee Allen Cronier would be involved. Cronier is the SECOND trustee that should have already been gone! Strickland was the FIRST!
Who in their right mind would want to be appointed as a trustee to the embattled pension plan? Maybe the JCBOS are looking for some ‘fall guys or gals’ to take the heat off of them where it certainly belongs.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade web site post from you in the upcoming also. Actually your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own site now. Actually the blogging is spreading its wings rapidly. Your write up is a good example of it.