WHAT DID THE AUDITOR DO AND WHEN DID HE DO IT?
Bryant stonewalls and stalls on Partnership
JACKSON, MS – State Auditor Phil Bryant claims he served alongside former Democratic Attorney General Mike Moore on the board of the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi in order to bring accountability to the controversial $20 million per year agency. To date, Bryant has never produced proof that he did that and yesterday, his stonewall continued.
In response to Sen. Charlie Ross’s challenge to Bryant to produce documentation to back up his claim of bringing accountability to the Partnership, Bryant refused. Instead, Bryant suggested that Ross file a formal open records request to acquire the information.
“Phil Bryant misses the point,” Ross said. “He doesn’t owe me an explanation, he owes the taxpayers of Mississippi an explanation. The people of Mississippi should not have to file an open records request to find out if their State Auditor has been auditing.”
Ross renewed his challenge to Bryant to document the steps he took to bring accountability to the Partnership. “To date, Phil Bryant says he wrote Mike Moore a letter in June of 2005,” said Ross. “That was nearly two years after Phil accepted Mike Moore’s offer to serve on the Partnership board. We need to know what Phil Bryant did at the Partnership from day one. The Auditor claims that he brought accountability and the people of Mississippi have a right to know what he did to protect the integrity of the $20 million of taxpayer money the Partnership spent each year.”
Charlie Ross Campaign Release
6/19/7
Magnolia Tribune
