The rats scurry as the ship goes down.

The blood is in the water with respect to Supervisor's Tim Johnson and Karl Banks, Engineer Rudy Warnock and now, Eric Hamer, who himself has not exactly been a good steward of taxpayer money during his time as Board Attorney. Johnson is under fire for his association with the now defunct FAIM charity (also see below article). Karl Banks is getting a close look for potential ethical violations, and Warnock's days are numbered as the State Auditor finally begins to look into his practices.

The best thing the other Supervisor Paul Griffin can hope to do right now is to join Supervisor's John Bell Crosby and DI Smith in ordering a full audit of Madison County's books, and hopes the voters reward him for his change of heart. Either that, or he can take the path of Administrator Mark Houston and jump ship. Otherwise, Griffin can expect to drown with the rest of the rats.

From the Madison County Journal:

Bill Murphy was the highest paid charity bingo director in the state until regulators determined he was operating the dump for personal gain and shut him down.

The Secretary of State ordered the charity shut and levied fines totaling $50,000 against the organization and Murphy.

FAIM paid Murphy $155,000 in 2008 and spent only $22,000 on actual charitable giving, testimony showed.

Murphy's actions are indefensible, but look who's lurking around the bingo hall, District 2 Madison County Supervisor Tim Johnson, the charity's PR hack and their former lobbyist.

Murphy's attorney, Eric Hamer, - who happens to be the attorney for the Madison County Board of Supervisors, Murphy's former employer, as it would happen - argued during hearings that Murphy's compensation shouldn't be in question, claiming there are no statutory rules governing such things. Perhaps, but decent people have morals and principles.

To make things even more interesting, an asset sharing agreement FAIM had with Lynn Johnson, Tim Johnson's wife, was the red flag for regulators, they said.

What kind of confidence can Mississippians have in charities - or our elected public officials (Tim Johnson is president of the Madison County Board of Supervisors) -with these kinds of shenanigans going on?

If bingogate wasn't enough of a scandal, Johnson has been threatening to sue the state Department of Transportation over the failed $37 million Reunion interchange the county was going to build and give to the federal government.

Nearly 300 Madison countians showed up at a regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors in January to protest "wasteful and misdirected spending" of county tax dollars, including Reunion.

Examiners from the State Auditor's Office are currently reviewing engineering contracts connected to Reunion. The real meat of that story will be found in the subcontracts the county engineer arranged.

Bill Murphy should be ashamed and so should Tim Johnson and Eric Hamer.

What kind of people stand behind the kind of fraud Murphy was committing?

Read the entire Editorial at the Madison County Journal

The wheels are coming off. Ain't it GRAND?