Before I get started with some links how about a nice picture from yesterday’s retiree protest at Ocean Springs Hospital:
It appears the lawyers representing the pension plan, finding no joy on their manufactured recusal motion here on the coast expects the State Supreme Court to stop next weeks hearings on the retiree suits:
SRHS wants hearings stopped in pension cases ~ Anita Lee
They are doing this to avoid having to produce documents that would help everyone get to the bottom of things. You wonder what kind of skeletons are buried in those docs as I am reminded of something I wrote last month:
By their actions SRHS has demonstrated a preference for keeping a law firm with major conflict questions involved in the pension litigation and using that firm’s support of Judge Harris’ opponent in last year’s election as a lever to force Harris off the case. The heart of the Harris recusal motion is predicated on that fact. Remove Dogan & Wilkerson from the equation and the Harris recusal motion they filed goes up in smoke. Simply put, the powers running SRHS must fear Judge Neil Harris more than they do their own legal conflicts. The implications of that fact are stunning and foretell a tale of major muck still being hidden.
Once those documents are produced, my prediction is the SRHS pension plan’s law firm, Dogan and Wilkinson will not be long remaining on the case.
Next up:
Jackson County, SRHS leaders to get together over finances, pension
So now we have Jackson County spending big money on the Laporte CPA firm while SRHS spends big money on their own actuary. The price of getting religion at SRHS sure is steep folks.
In other news the fallout from Supervisor William Martin’s indictment and suicide continues. I have been told by sources in Jackson that the Martin indictment is related to the MDOC corruption probe. The timing of former MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps guilty plea and the Martin indictment are not coincidental in my opinion.
And this brings me to the continuing HCUA/Sean Anthony corruption investigation as the list of potential participants has grown. Before that investigation is played out, it is likely to carry statewide ramifications. Every construction project to which S. H. Anthony Construction participated, either a prime or subcontractor has drawn scrutiny. It will be interesting to see what shakes out when it is all said and done.
Moving right along today the Sun Herald ran a letter to the editor from our own Lana Noonan of the Hancock County Alliance for Good Government:
Bay-Waveland still locks out the public ~ Lana Noonan
What we have here is a rogue school district with a preference for conducting the public’s business behind closed doors to go with a municipality that no longer gives its own City Council financial information. Even worse, sources are telling Slabbed the City is no longer responding to financial related public records requests. Its beyond pitiful folks but Mayberry by the Sea earned that nickname honestly.
Finally in this election year I’m wondering if I am the only voter in Supervisor Lisa Cowand’s district that crossed her off the “deserving re-election list” after witnessing her performance on WLOX earlier this week?
Special Report: Behind closed doors part 2 ~ Doug Walker
The arrogance and contempt Cowand shows for her own constituents is astounding. Thankfully Diamondhead City Councilman Blaine Lafontaine is running for the seat as well so voters will have a choice come primary election. I intend to vote for change (barring a live boy/dead girl scenario)
There is more folks but I am out of time this morning. Add you own links in comments.
It’s well known in the legal community that Roy Williams is still telling SRHS’ general counsel what to do. We all know that Amy St. Pe is doing legal work for SRHS even if she’s not on the record. And then there’s Brett, what can you say about that!
We are hopeful that the new sheriff on the BOT, Mr. Scott Taylor, is going to finally show Dogan Wilkinson the door and cease paying these people for their unethical behavior and hostile attempts to continue kicking the can down the road.
What is SRHS hiding from their OWNERS, The TAXPAYERS, of Jacksoncounty?
Why are they so desperate to remove Judge Harris? Can you imagine how this would be going down if Dogan & Wilkinson et al pick for judge had won?
I for one am tired of waiting. The delays just keep piling up. The taxpayers deserve an answer as well as the Employees and Retirees and those vested former employees. They deserve what was promised to them! Not a penny less.
It is time for Discovery and the chips fall where they may! Just my opinion….
Lisa’s arrogance is beyond comprehension. She has been in office too long. Time for her to go. BTW…who has the time to take off on MONDAY to go sit through and arduous and mind numbing BOS meeting? We elect officials to REPRESENT us not hide the facts and truth. Much less, tell us what a bunch of dumba$$ do nothing’s we really are.
Thank you, Ms. Cowand.
Looks like you’ve had enough. Might be time to start thinking about retiring from pubic service. Your “smarts” are sorely needed elsewhere.
Sincerely,
Your uniformed disinterested tax paying public
Sick and tired: Scott Taylor said he is Brett’s friend for 21 years in another article yesterday. Sounds like the only door he is showing is the back door.
Justice: the only way everyone will get what they were promised is if the taxpayers vote for people willing to implement a huge property tax increase to bail it out. The property owners will stop that from happening, they aren’t going to bail this thing out. And the most they can increase it is 5 mils, and even then that only produces probably half of what they need to make it whole, and they have to give it to the bondholders first because they are out of compliance with their bonds because they spent all their cash. So making it whole is highly unlikely unless someone develops a plan to come up with like 10 to 15 million dollars per year. Making it whole is the most unlikely scenario. That is the inconvenient truth. If the judge orders it whole, they will sell it or file bankruptcy and retirees will get a lot less. And employees will get nothing. Someone needs to talk to the retirees and lawyers because this is going to get worse if someone doesn’t figure out way to make a deal. Next headline: SRHS sold and retirees AND employees get nothing. Be careful what you wish for. Sometimes a fast nickel is better than a slow dime and somebody better tell retirees that before they get only a penny. Mark my words. Somebody better stand up and tell the world to swallow the ugly bad truth. The only lawyer that can fix this one is one with no self interest willing to tell the truth, even though it hurts. Do they make that kind?
Doug: I must say the picture is nice but I hear the protesters are running patients away in droves and if their patients go elsewhere what about all those people that are going to lose their jobs because of less patients. Where is the retiree going to go when they have a heart attack if they close down the hospital. The retirees need to keep those people working so they can at least pay out something. The retirees better start thinking about the employees, they are the ones that have the best chance to save it. They should protest at the homes of the jackasses that high tailed it to Jackson New Orleans Florida and Atlanta, and on Capitol Hill and the board of supervisors and all the lawyers offices instead of the very hospital they need to remain open to make them some eggs. They need to be talking about why the hospital is important to their town, not trying to close it down.
County Mounty tho your words ring true, what are the people effected by this suppose to do? Just sit idly by and say “ok”?
The hourly workers present and past do not have unlimited resources to fall back on. Unlike the folks who are skipping town as we speak, they don’t have multiple savings and investment accounts. By the time they paid soc security tax, Medicare tax, state tax, fed tax, health insurance, and the mandatory 3% retirement, there was probably enough to keep them afloat until the next payday.
The employees hired prior to 10/1/2011 and retirees were REQUIRED to participate in this pension plan. It was not an option. After working many long hard years, there was a payoff; you got to retire and draw a certain amount of money based on your pay and length of service. All the rules were made up by someone else. They, the employees and retirees, never had a say in any of it.
The books need to be opened for all to see. And if it is not against the law to defraud employees it should be because in my humble opinion, that is exactly what happened here!
As a former SRH patient, I have no problem with the retirees protesting. Most of us understand the problem is not the employees; former and present day workers. As far as protesting against CEO Anderson and others, how many can drive to Jackson weekly and wherever else former cronies live to protest? Some retirees protesting are on canes, walkers and wheelchairs. How sad!
We also see what the SRH Trustees lawyers and SRH administration lawyers are attempting to hide. So like DMR, our state did nothing except try to hide and destroy records and they succeeded. Now, Pickering will use Epps and Martin as his campaign strategy of ridding Mississippi of crooks. What about the big ones that got away at DMR? They are still around and if things continue to play out with the aforementioned lawyers, SRH retirees will suffer the consequences of our corrupted state.
And only Senator Wiggins appears to be helping these people. Where are other elected officials?
interesting
Hancock County from the Supervisors to BSL are about as below board as you get. In Bay Saint Louis the city has raised taxes and fees while the mayor lets city employees moonlight with City Equipment! They even supplied that same service to the City Attorney’s Event “Pirate Day”! At the last council meeting they were questioned about it and the Mayor said they shouldn’t bring it up in a public forum and the City attorney replied when asked about the legality of it he replied “it is prohibited ” joey boudin said in other words illegal! Nothing was done after that! Very sad we just gave to endure it!