Most people wonder what is the point or purpose of the Human Resource department and who are supposed to be advocating for?  In simple terms, think of HR as an Agent, think of the City as the Principal, then remember the Agent acts on behalf of the Principal.  That means HR is just like the City Attorney in some ways, first and foremost they exist to protect the city from exposure and liability in its management of its workforce.

Little did we know when we published our Day 3: Case 64 & HR Malfeasance that we would get several emails from readers.  Some of the emails thanked us for exposing how the Human Resources Department in the City of Frisco operates.  Others from new “whistleblowers” who told us about their experience with Human Resources and specifically Lauren Safranek.  It left us with one question, is this a superficial issue or how deep does the dirt in HR go?

In Wes Piersons exit interview notes with Jeromy Porter it talks about “job description issues” between Preferred or Required.  Wes writes that Porter tells him there was a change to the job description without approval.  We have reached out to Jeromy Porter to ask further questions and we hope he responds.  When you read the notes you wonder, could this be true?  Then when you see the Case 64 Hotline Complaint with very similar complaints and accusations, it starts to validate what Porter said in his exit interview.  One is random but two we start to smell something fishy.

We wanted to know, what is the big deal between the two words, Preferred and Required?  With a little digging we learned that when working in a city you are extended certain benefits based on the job description.  In Frisco, Fire Fighters and Police Officers have additional benefit pay for Certifications & Education.  If the job description says Preferred Education, Experience, and Certifications that means they receive additional pay in the following amounts:  Certification pay for Intermediate, Advanced, and Master’s Certifications at $50, $80, and $120 per month.  Education Pay for Associate, Bachelor, and Master’s Degrees at $50, $100, and $150 per month.   However, if the job description says, “Required” then that means there is no additional benefit pay.   That simple change of one word can basically affect one’s income from what we discovered.  Now it makes sense why Porter and others might be upset, and we are currently looking further into this.

Then we received another email from a new whistleblower within 24 hours of publishing Case 64.  It said, I cannot tell you who I am as I do not want to get fired but I suggest you pull the HR files for a few folks who recently let the department in the last few years.  It gave us some names, so of course we filed our PIR requests and we are waiting for the city to process those.   We are filled with anticipation of what we might find!

Then we got another email of similar complaints in another city department.  The insider said reading Case 64 made them realize they are not alone.  They said we should file a PIR for a copy of all the complaints called into the Ethics Hotline for the last 3 to 5 years and to be prepared as it may be a shocker!  Well, of course we went right away to file a PIR for that, and we are waiting for the city to process it.

The email went on to say Human Resources is corrupt and they don’t follow through investigating the complaints received via the hotline.  They are known to look away because of the personal relationships they have with the employees mentioned in the complaints.  Also, they said the hotline is compromised because Lauren Safranek is crooked, and she is the one who gets all the complaints so you can easily make things go away and no one will know.  Lastly, is stated that HR has falsified records and job descriptions in order to demote or fire employees.   Wow, this is now the 3^rd complaint of that happening and in different departments.

We also received an email about how the HR Department uses the Nepotism Policy to their advantage when they don’t want to hire someone and then they change it or ignore it for others who are “their friends.”  We found this allegation interesting because we have a PIR into the city already about the reason they changed the Nepotism Policy two times already this year.  Rumor has it was to hire Fire Chief Lee Glover and the new IT Director.  

Then we received a tip through our website about multiple city employees having affairs with each other (and yes it named those involved).  Apparently some of those having affairs with their bosses end up getting promotions.  While that is a JUICY TIP, it is a bad place for the city to be down the road if a sexual harassment lawsuit were to come up.  Well, before we out anyone we will do our work to confirm if these “affairs” are true.

Lastly we learned that many Directors in the city may be abusing their city credit cards with personal purchases.  Well, to be honest we are not shocked by this one as you see it on the news every day.  However, we will be filing PIRs for records for many of these department heads. 

In closing, when you start to hear the same complaint from multiple people we have to believe that something smells like SHIT in Frisco.   What we do know is that several of the emails were from current employees and they are tired of the city looking the other way.  So, it makes you wonder, why won’t the news cover this?  Why has our new City Manager not investigated this?  How far does the bad and/or possibly illegal behavior go?  How long has this been going on?