A 40-year banking legacy [Mississippi Business Journal, The (MS)]

Heller Search is busier than ever as companies look to refresh their technology leadership talent, particularly around enterprise architecture, mobility, cloud computing and global technology strategy.“ Every company needs talented technology executives who can set and execute strategy in mobility, social media and global expansion, but those executives are in short supply,” said Martha Heller, founder and president of Heller Search Associates.“ With our reputation for cornering the market on superior executive technology talent, we are growing very quickly. in search of a new challenge.

He found it at the state Department of Banking and Consumer Finance--industry expansions, contractions, booms and busts and everything in between.

Allison retires Friday and takes with him an institutional memory that accounts for the 40 of the banking department's approximately 100-year history. But he also departs with some advice for his successor:

Use "a lot of common sense, have a lot of patience."

And when judging a bank's condition. "Just go back to the old smell test--or is it 'too good to be true?' "

Keep in mind, he advises, that the commissioner has significant power and must use it wisely. "While we have a pretty big stick up here, I seldom use it."

That stick includes authority to fine banks a day for mis-actions. "I have threatened to use it to remove some directors which kind of gets their attention," Allison said of the big stick authority.

Often, he said, the action he would take came down to detecting whether the bank's officers and directors "have shown they want to be not be part of the problem but part of the solution."

Criticize as necessary, he advises, but be sure it comes across as constructive.

Coming off the road

Allison, an reappointed him in 2004 and again in 2008.

Maine GOP Doesn't Know When to Quit | Bear Market Investments

The Republican’s national voter suppression strategy took its first hit last week when Maine voters opted to keep their same-day registration laws. The day after that election, I wondered whether the state’s Republican majority would show greater hesitance before pursuing other restrictive voter laws. A photo ID law was considered last year, and had come close to becoming law; it passed the state House and was supported by Republican Governor Paul LePage, but lacked the votes to clear the Senate.

Maine Republicans had vowed to revive the measure when the next session commences early next year. I had assumed that after voters rebuked their first attempt at decreasing voter turnout, they would need to think twice before giving that law another try. Turns out I was wrong. According to the AP

Republican Gov. Paul LePage believes the issue needs to be revisited, notwithstanding Tuesday’s vote, said spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett.

GOP House Speaker Robert Nutting of Oakland does not believe Tuesday’s vote should have an impact on the voter ID bill, but it’s too early to tell whether it will, said spokesman Jim Cyr.

The voter ID bill should be considered on its own merits, he added. Nutting expects the bill to have a full review.

Five states have passed strict photo ID laws in 2010, and Mississippi voters opted to add voter ID laws to their constitution under a referendum last week. Study after study has shown that these laws will have the largest impact on the poor, people of color, young people, and the elderly—or in other words, the groups that tend to support Democratic politicians. As many as one-in-four African-Americans lack the identification required by these laws. Wisconsin is one of the states that changed their voter laws after electing Republican majorities in 2010, and according to one study, 78 percent of African American men and 66 percent of African American women between the ages of 18-24 did not have a valid drivers license. The Brennan Center for Justice looked at the new laws and, even before Mississippi is accounted for, 3.2 million eligable voters were set to be excluded by photo ID restrictions.