Auditor’s job includes setting tone for state’s fiscal integrity

The Clarion-Ledger, 9/20/7

If the person serving as auditor gains a reputation as an aggressive, no-nonsense protector of the public purse, that very fact has the potential of state and local officials being more wary of how every nickel is tracked.

Because Auditor Phil Bryant is the nominee for lieutenant governor on Nov. 6 ballots, the less-than-glamorous post he has held becomes open. The nominees are Stacey Pickering of Laurel, now a Republican state senator, and Mike Sumrall of Moss Point, a career auditor whose resume includes 23 years in the auditor’s office.

Both Pickering and Sumrall have offered assurances they’ll shoulder the “no nonsense” mantle.