EDITORIAL/Supervisor Gerald Fauci
District 3 Supervisor Gerald Steen spoke to the Madison County Republican Women last week and, predictably, talked out of both sides of his mouth.
Wishy-washy is a polite way to describe Mr. Steen, elected District 3 Supervisor as a Republican but who is in practice a Democrat.
At the gathering, Steen compared this newspaper to CNN’s fake news and urged the Republican women to trust him and the government, not a free and independent press.
If citizens want to know what is going on in the county they should trust him, Steen said.
He runs for office with an “R” by his name, but Steen is Liz Cheney with a beard.
And without any challengers, Steen has gone full-donkey.
So we decided to compile Steen’s Top 10 List of donkey moves. Ladies and gentlemen, Democrat Supervisor Gerald Steen’s Top 10 Donkey Moves:
10.) This past Friday, Steen, president of the board, seconded the motion — when nobody else would — to give himself and other county supervisors a pay raise. This as the two Republican supervisors were absent. Grab that money, you earned it, Gerald!
9.) In 2019, Steen voted in favor of hiring the fourth-best-ranked engineers for the Reunion Parkway project. Not the best, the fourth best. Oh, the firm’s principle happens to be a campaign contributor of Mr. Steen’s, documents show. Grab that cash, Gerald!
8.) In 2017, Steen was against lowering taxes despite epic growth and support for the tax cut from Republican supervisors.
7.) In 2017, Steen rammed through a
$13 million pork paving deal financed over 20 years. Only 12 of the roads included were on the top 200 worst. Do those political favors, Gerald.
6.) In 2015, Steen helped push his former campaign manager, Heath Hall, into a cushy $40,000 per year contract job to provide public relations services for the county.
In 2017, after being fired, Hall rejected a $30,000 contract, but in 2019, was fine with a $60,000 per year contract. In 2020, Steen pushed through approval of a $175 per month fee to pay Hall to make Facebook posts. Never mind the Constitution and a check on government, Gerald. Write your own news!
5.) In 2013, he was a proponent of Sulphur Springs Lake, first billed as a $1.5 million good thing that quickly turned into a multi-million dollar boondoggle with former County Engineer Rudy Warnock — currently awaiting trial on federal bribery and wire fraud charges — leading that charge.
4.) In June 2012, Steen voted with another Democrat and one Republican to hire former Bill Clinton Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy as Board Attorney in a surprise move, ousting Board Attorney Eric Hamer.
3.) In 2020, Steen hired Espy back at a $55 per hour higher pay than before and $110 per hour higher than his predecessor. This was at the same time Espy was challenging U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. And we wonder why the Reunion project didn’t get funded by Congress.
2.) In February 2022, Gerrymandering Gerald help turn a 50-50 supervisor district into a 60-30 black majority district by carving out the predominately Republican Lake Caroline assuring another solid Democrat seat on the board.
1.) In September 2012, Steen made the motion and voted with the other two Democrats to raise taxes for only the second time in two decades. Sorry, there wasn’t a pay raise there, Gerry.
Mr. Steen has the credibility of Dr. Anthony Fauci with the same delusions of grandeur and hunger for power and control.
Steen’s Top 10 List is factual and he doesn’t like anybody telling the truth, just like the other good ole boys over the decades. He prefers to have taxpayers funding a propagandist to spin the news in his favor.
Steen calling an independent newspaper fake news is a badge of honor because even the crooks know he’s wrong.
Thankfully, we still have fair elections, and a real Republican should challenge Mr. Fauci in District 3.