FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

CONTACT:
Brian Wilson / Info@VoteMcRae.com

Lynn Fitchs Rough Weekend

Geoff Pender of The Clarion-Ledger and Jim Prince of The Madison County
Journal expose Lynn Fitchs dereliction of duty

Ridgeland, MS

dereliction
derlikSH()n/
noun

the shameful failure to fulfill one's obligations. noun: dereliction of duty

synonyms: negligence, neglect, delinquency, failure

Incumbent State Treasurer Lynn Fitch had a rough weekend. First, The Madison
County Journal published an editorial revealing that Lynn Fitch refused to obey
state law by failing to publish lists of Mississippi citizens with unclaimed property.
Said Republican candidate for Treasurer David McRae, These kinds of failures
should be unacceptable to taxpayers. Theres no question that we can do better,
and thats why Im running. We deserve better. To think you cant inform
government agencies in the same building and others that youve recently met
with that youre holding taxpayer dollars and not returning those funds? Or that
you cant follow the law to properly inform our states citizens that the

government is holding funds that belong to them? Its unfathomable to me. All of
our elected officials should follow the law, but they should also follow basic
common sense. To think these funds have been out there and not being
returned is just the kind of bureaucratic nonsense and incompetence that
taxpayers are entirely fed up with, and so am I. Its time for a change.
From the editorial:
By not publishing unclaimed property notices, State Treasurer Lynn Fitch of Madison
blatantly defied state law for three years.
Under threat of litigation to "publish," Fitch finally did facing re-election.
Technically, state law requires the notices to be published every three years.
But now she can't wait to see people locate their money and promote herself over the
next few months it seems.
Interestingly, Treasurer Fitch has gained a challenger in the Republican Primary,
Ridgeland's David McRae.
We have to wonder about Fitch's leadership when her closest supporters and advisors
are now advocating a change.
Now that Fitch has an opponent, she conveniently decides it is a good time to follow the
law.
To be sure, Fitch is not alone in benefiting from state-funded advertising, but her
reversal on publishing is a flagrant political move.

Then, in an article detailing Fitchs failures Pender writes:

In addition to the thousands of Mississippians with unclaimed money, dozens of state
and local government agencies have nearly $586,000 in unclaimed money.
State Treasurer Lynn Fitch, as she is supposed to do by law, recently published in
newspapers across the state a list of people, businesses and agencies with a total of
$31 million in unclaimed money.
Fitch has faced some criticism for just now publishing the unclaimed property list
statewide as campaign season kicks off for elections including hers. The treasurer is
supposed to publish the list in newspapers statewide every three years, but Fitch failed
to do so on schedule her first year in office, 2012. After threat of legal action from the
Mississippi Press Association, Fitch agreed last summer to publish the list, but did so
only last week, drawing claims that she sandbagged to co-opt the program to help her
re-election campaign.
Fitch said she has done a lot of "outreach" with state agencies and local governments
telling them they might have unclaimed money.

But judging from some reactions from government people on Friday, the outreach hasn't
reached some.
The Mississippi Development Authority did not know it has a total of more than $117,000
in unclaimed money on the list, tops among government agencies.
"We looked in the paper and saw it," said Chancery Clerk Anita Greenwood. "We had a
meeting with (the treasurer's office) yesterday. We are going to check it out and claim it.
We need every penny we can get."
Eddie Williams, deputy director of the state Gaming Commission, said he was unaware
his agency had unclaimed money until called by The Clarion-Ledger, saying "We've
never been made aware of that."

But thats not all. Pender also wrote a column:

But Fitch failed to publish the list in newspapers statewide on schedule in 2012, and got
sideways with the Mississippi Press Association. They reached an agreement last year,
but Fitch published the list only last week, drawing claims that she sandbagged it so she
could use it to kick off her re-election bid this spring.
My friend Jim Prince at the Madison County Journal lit Fitch up pretty good in an editorial
last week. I quote: "Fitch blatantly defied state law for three years and launched
her re-election campaign last week on the state's dime."
That's just not the feel-good press typically generated by a program that hands out longlost cash to the masses.

Ironically, Treasurer Lynn Fitch publishes on her website the law regarding return
of unclaimed property, which she has clearly not followed. Treasurer link http://www.treasurerlynnfitch.com/UnclaimedProperty/Pages/default.aspx under
Unclaimed Property Act.
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