Political Complications Plague Dist. 22 State Senate Race

Complications, the kind of tangles and snarls that come when
wheels run within wheels in circles within circles, have
reared their ugly heads in the District 22 State Senate
Race.

Comes now prominent Waco lawyer Chris DeCluitt, who is
triple-hatting as a Brazos River Authority board member and
State Republican Party committeeman and ventures his opinion
that Republicans should draft Senator Kip Averitt for
another term, whether he wants to serve, or not.

Why?

This way, the County Republican Chairmen of District 22
would get a crack at appointing a candidate to face the
Democratic Party's challenger in the General Election in
November.

In firm opposition we find former Senator Joe Sibley who is
at present a lobbyist working the legislative floors of the
House and Senate in Austin.

When this year's redistricting comes, he told a political
blogger, "McLennan County could get cut up like a boarding
house pie," he said. "I've seen it happen before..."

He says it always takes years and years of lean times to get
over the resulting shakeup.

But the wheels don't stop turning there.

The Brazos Electric Co-Op is suing the Brazos River
Authority in the 414th District Court of The Honorable Judge
Vicki Menard over an alleged breach of contract. It seems
the Authority has failed to honor an obligation to sell
electric power to the Co-Op in spite of a nearly half
million dollar contract to do so.

So far, the Co-Op is claiming that the Authority must
forfeit its local governmental immunity from a suit because
of the provisions of Texas Local Government Code Sec.
271.152. Numerous holdings disallow any immunity for a
governmental entity that is involved in a suit over a breach
of contract with another corporate entity, government or
otherwise.

The sticking point seems to be this. Mr. DeCluitt was the
campaign manager in Judge Menard's first campaign.

Some people in Republican circles are muttering that a
change of venue out of Waco is in order in the matter - at
least.