Commissioner candidate proves all child support paid

He says Precinct 3 swing votes are in Bellmead, Lacy-Lakeview, West and Gholson

If it ain't dirty, it ain't a Texas Courthouse race. - political adage, well-worn, wise and to the point

Six Shooter Junction – Traffic on the local branch of the American Autobahn affects life as much as weather, water – even football.

When the widening project reached the Ford store where Brian Scott worked in Bell County, he had to make a career change. The owners sold the lot; then they left town. It's that big a deal when they cut off freeway access at an I-35 commercial location.

A native of West with strong ties to the community and the car business, he went to work doing what he knows best – helping people find their way down the road, riding in style.

He joined his local Congressman's staff, learning what the people want and need and the key elements in that all-powerful art of the possible. He worked in the field for Representative Chet Edwards, a key member of the Water Resources Committee and the House Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs and Military Construction.

And then came the referendum on President Barack Obama. Chet lost in a landslide, and Mr. Scott went to work in a major insurance brokerage with headquarters in Waco.

All those elements of his career are professional. The personal is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

Supporters of his Tea Party Republican opponent have tagged him with the accusation that he refused to pay child support to a former wife.

He and his ex-wife negotiated, and the lawyers argued for them in court over the amount of money it cost Brian Scott to pay for his child's health insurance. All in, it was close to $1,700 when you added up the cost of the insurance and all medical expenses.

They finally made an adjustment that saved him hundreds of dollars per month. But the truth is, he never missed a payment. A downsized salary called for a downsized child support budget.

The only issue was how much the payments should be, and he's got the court documents and orders signed by District Judge Vicki Menard to prove it. He never found himself in arrearage.

He was proud to show those documents to The Legendary in a brief lunch time interview.

So Brian Scott came out of his corner swinging, but found his opponent, Tea Party stalwart Will Jones, refuses to meet him on a level playing field to discuss the issues in person.

True, Mr. Jones has made it abundantly clear that he is not the one talking about Mr. Scott's child support settlement. Those rumors are spread by his supporters and all their ways of talking, he was quick to tell local newsmen. After all, it's a free country.

He will talk on that level playing field, but he has to be the only one answering questions when he does.

“I can't get elected running against the Courthouse,” said Mr. Jones. “I thought you were my friend.” With that, he cut off all communications with this erstwhile scribbler.

He refused to appear with his Democratic opponent Brian Scott to talk it over on the Shane Warner “Talk of Waco” program, a popular drive-time show that airs five days a week between 6 and 9 a.m.

Mr. Jones has had an interesting professional career outside of his work with the Waco Tea Party. He won in excess of $50 million in the Texas lotto, went to Baylor and got a business degree, and manages his money full time from a home office on Windmill Hill off Lakeshore Dr. In 2010, he challenged Joe B. Hinton for the McLennan County GOP chairmanship – and got clobbered but good.

Not only does he not wish to discuss the non-issue of Brian Scott's child support payments, he does not wish to talk over any other issues of the McLennan County Commissioner's Court - or Precinct 3.

They include parity in the Road and Bridge Fund with other precincts. It turns out that Precinct 3, which covers northeast Waco and its suburbs of Bellmead and Lacy-Lakeview, West, and Gholson, receives a substantial percentage less than others.

It adds up to about a million dollars a year less with which to maintain an array of roads that is only one mile less than its nearest neighboring precinct.

It's a well-worn nugget of local political wisdom that County races are settled inside the Loop 340, Lakeshore Drive, and west Waco.

Brian Scott disagrees. He is working to wear out at least one more new pair of shoes working the Bellmead, Lacy-Lakeview, West and Gholson precincts, gleaning all the votes that will swing his election.

Stand by to stand by. This is going to get extremely real. It's a battle between working men and women and the sons and daughters of privilege, power and prestige.

These boys are ready for a full-court press, and raring to go.

Now, that's what I call a Texas courthouse race, the kind that displays heat, light, and stirs up a little dust.

- The Legendary