Madison County Lobbyist won't answer questions until you answer some questions first, and prove your "special"

Madison County Lobbyist and Wise Carter attorney C. Stephen Seale fancies himself a political player. He must, or he wouldn't have the job of lobbying the federal government on behalf of the county to the tune of $75 grand per year. The voting bloc on the Madison County Board of Supervisors must fancy him a lobbyist as well. They gave him that job. And despite the fact that Seale took a sitting Congressman to task over a pledge to place a moratorium on earmarks (not smart), the board still thinks he will be effective enough a lobbyist to give him an additional $2500 per month to lobby at the state capitol, too.

Seale had a short-lived stint as a state senator alongside BOS Prez Tim Johnson, and an even shorter-lived stint as an adviser to then Senator Trent Lott.

That's it. A total of five years. According to his own bio, that's his experience in both federal and state government. Does that qualify someone to lobby? Maybe. But should Mr. Seale, or any lobbyist, have the autonomy to determine what projects Madison County should lobby for? Is there a list of projects Mr. Seale hopes to get money for? Where is it? Where is the measurement? What metrics do the taxpayers have to measure Mr. Seale's performance?

There aren't any. At least, that is, Mr. Seale won't provide any. Because, according to Mr. Seale anyone asking the question must first prove they have "special expertise" to ask? The fact that you may be a taxpayer, and that he works for the public apparently isn't enough. In a response to THIS POST, Mrs Seale writes the following:

I'm interested to learn what your basis is for your statement that I'm overpaid. Do you judge that based on some return on investment criteria? Do you have some special expertise on the work of lobbyists that allows you to opine as to which are paid too little, just enough or too much? Or are you just like many others who make charges and accusations and offer opinions without any evidence or basis? You answer those questions, Harvester, and I'll be happy to answer yours. Steve Seale

The unmitigated gall of a taxpayer expecting a return on the investment! How dare we!

If that isn't enough of a red flag, Mr. Seale's incessant defensiveness should be. Lobbyist are effective when they work behind the scenes, not when they make themselves the center of attention. Like THIS .

And if Mr. Seale's original tirade against Mr. Dawson wasn't enough, he responded to the MBJ story by going on yet another tirade HERE, complained about not being treated fairly to the North Mississippi Commentator HERE, gets even more defensive over the report that he wrote a letter in support of convicted felon Zach Scruggs HERE, and takes the writer to task over the fact that he commented on Seale's support letter without first asking his permission HERE.

Are you noticing a pattern?

While we're discussing good judgement, or the lack therof, we should also note that Seale apparently thinks that Madison needs only one state senator instead of the four we have. But, maybe that's not so much bad judgement as a good way to maintain a job as a lobbyist. With the lack of representation at the state capitol, Seales job becomes important all of a sudden. Where as now? Well, not so much.

When Mr. Seale "Googles" himself . . . ahem, I'm sorry . . . "Googles" his name, he may see this and respond. So, let me say here to Mr. Seale: I'll give you a guest column spot here on The Flora Harvester site to write about anything you care to write about. Just email it to floraharvester@bellsouth.net .

You can write about the hard lives of lobbyists, the ridiculousness of Congressmen attempting to cut federal spending through earmark reform, or how the recent auditor's report was really not a rebuke of the mismanagement of the Madison County Board of Supervisor's leadership. You can write about how Supervisor's who are paid in excess of $45,000 a year don't make enough for taxpayers to expect them to lobby for county projects themselves, or how you have the "expertise" to do a difficult job while we "po lil unedukatid Madison Countians" should defer to your breadth of knowledge without asking silly questions like, "How much is this costing us?"

Write what you will, sir. The floor is yours!