SITE HISTORY

This site has been evolving for nearly 15 years — first, as a blog to continue my All Along the Watchtower newspaper column; then as a web-platform for my consulting practice — and today, it is an online legacy that I am leaving behind for my grandson. Enjoy!

The Early Days | How it all started

In 2006, I gave up my gig as editor of the Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier and jumped into a new career as a policy consultant for one of New England’s most respected strategic communications firms.

Although I did my best to stay connected to my hometown, I truly missed the hip and sway of Biddeford’s political machinations while I kept busy working on a variety of land use issues, renewable energy projects and statewide political campaigns.

My friend Alan Casavant asked me to serve as his campaign manager and help him defeat a popular two-term incumbent Biddeford mayor. We won that race with a 63 percent margin. A few months later, I was hired by the owners of the controversial MERC waste-to-energy incinerator to develop messaging that would support a city buy-out of the facility. I also ran a local referendum campaign that thwarted efforts to close Biddeford’s airport. Another big win.

And then it occurred to me; why not reignite the newspaper column that launched my career and defined me in my hometown?

. . .

A new blog is launched

I began blogging about a variety of topics, including the intricacies of Biddeford’s political landscape; hot-button national topics and sharing updates about the challenges and successes of living with a bipolar disorder.

In 2017, I left my job as a senior associate at Barton & Gingold and launched my own strategic communication and public policy consulting firm, Randy Seaver Consulting. This site was again renamed.

Although, I still do sub-contracting for several firms throughout New England and maintain a select cadre of my own clients, I am no longer actively marketing in search of new business opportunities.

In 2022, I was approached by the publisher of Saco Bay News to begin some local freelance reporting. I continued blogging but after a while it became clear to me that something had to be done about Biddeford’s city manager and his arrogant mismanagement of our city.

. . .

Standing up to a bully

FORMER BIDDEFORD CITY MANAGER James Bennett unwittingly became the catalyst for the creation of a new, local media organization.

In the summer of 2024, I finished my gig at Saco Bay News and created a special section on this site called THE BENNETT FILES.

I leveraged my local political connections, my experience as a strategic communications consultant and my journalism instincts to launch a coordinated and grassroots campaign to remove Jim Bennett from his office. It took me less than 90 days. Bennett knew his back was against the wall. He had no choice. He announced his pending departure during an Oct. 14, 2024 City Council meeting.

In fact, two months before he was scheduled to complete his “phased retirement,” the city finally found the courage and wisdom to give him the boot. Jim Bennett — who has drifted like a herd of locusts from town to town throughout Maine over the last 40 years — had finally found his match. He was shown the door and forced to turn in his keys on Feb. 20, 2025 — a day of joyous celebration in Biddeford.

. . .

LOCAL NEWS | A new idea and approach

Just a few weeks after Bennett announced his pending departure, I decided to launch my own non-profit media endeavor. I decided it was time for Biddeford to have its own dedicated, professional news source. I envisioned a collaborative, hyper-local and embedded approach to community news.

The Biddeford Gazette was almost immediately embraced by the community, a city nearly starved of local news coverage by the Portland-based daily newspaper. The Gazette became Biddeford’s paper of record and was moved to its own site on Jan. 14, 2025.

Who knows what’s next?