Messenger Intern

The competition of signs has begun.

Any resident of the United States is sure to know, with November just around the corner and campaign signs nailed to anything that will stand still, election season is here.

Like many other candidates Kay Ivey, who is running for state treasurer, has begun her campaign.

Ivey, who grew up in Camden, learned many lessons from her small hometown including a strong work ethic and high moral standards.

"My parents told me something when I was a little girl that has stayed with me to this day," said Ivey.

"They said ‘Your word is your bond and your handshake is your contract.’

I firmly believe in this statement. It is what I live by both in my personal life as well as in my campaign for state treasurer."

According to Ivey, there are two characteristics that make a good political candidate for State Treasurer.

The first is experience and Ivey’s resume speaks for itself.

A graduate of Auburn University, Ivey has a degree in education.

After serving in the school system and relocating a couple of times, Ivey found herself in Mobile without an opportunity to teach in the public schools where she wanted to teach.

Instead of getting down about the bad card that fate had dealt her, she decided to make her own fate.

She went to the Merchants National Bank of Mobile and made a marketing proposal that would change the bank’s marketing strategy, which at that time was not strongly emphasized, and the course of Ivey’s life.

Ivey began the Economic Education Program in Mobile, which spread from statewide to nationwide.

In this program, a banker will come to any school, kindergarten through 12th grade, and teach the students about bank matters from anything from writing a check to the process of taking out a loan.

Now, in any state, a teacher should be able to call a local bank and receive this service.

Her bank experience does not end there. Ivey also did extensive work with the first all time teller machines, a service that is offer at almost any bank, and served as Chairman of the Alabama Bankers Education Committee. With all this banking work under her belt, Ivey is the only candidate for state treasurer who has served as a banker, a fact that she is proud to say.

In Ivey’s opinion, the second characteristic for a good state treasurer is integrity.

"Experience is easy for voters to judge, but integrity is not so simple," Ivey commented concerning political candidates.

"So how is a voter to know whether the candidate is truly of integrity?

They must simply watch our actions.

"Part of being a political figure is following the law to the letter.

For instance, the law says that campaign yard signs are considered litter along the state highways and are forbidden.

No voter will see a Kay Ivey sign along these forbidden roads.

Even though this may be one of the smaller laws that affect our citizens, it is still a law and I will abide by it," says Ivey.

Some of the actions Ivey would like to take if she is elected as State Treasurer is to evaluate the electronic equipment in the treasury and make sure the technology is comparable to that of the treasury on a national level.

She would like to examine the investing instruments through which the state deposit is placed to make sure that the state’s money is invested in the most efficient way.

Ivey would work to promote of the PACT program among parents and grandparents by contacting these groups during prenatal care and through organizations to which they belong.

Kay Ivey has many long hours of campaigning ahead of her in the months between now and the election.

No matter the election’s outcome, Ivey’s creative ideas and impact on the banking world can not be easily forgotten.