Imagine yourself in a period of time that was in filled with generational conflict, the Vietnam War, and Nixon was president. Four teenagers, Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy are driving around in a van with a Great Dane dog looking to solve mysteries. Little did anyone know that a cartoon called Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? would become a cult classic and last for generations. Who wouldn’t want to be in a crime-fighting gang with a dog that says “Ruh-roh-Raggy” and has a decked-out van called The Mystery Machine?
I remember sitting on the couch in the basement watching my favorite cartoon Scooby Doo when my older brother and his two friends came down to join me. They wanted to hide out so they could smoke some dope aka marijuana. The episode had Shaggy and Scooby in the mystery machine with smoke pouring out the top. Inside they were grilling some munchies and the two started to freak out when detectives start banging on the van door. My brother and his friends were laughing hysterically at the television and I could not help but laugh hysterically at them because I thought they were idiots. There is no point in me telling you this other than I just loved watching the cartoon gang solve a new mystery in every episode and it had me hooked.
Reading this you are probably wondering what does this have to do with Frisco? Well on January 11th the City of Frisco and NBC Universal Parks and Resorts made a colossal announcement that a new park was coming to Frisco. To be honest, since my kids are grown I have not paid much attention to it because I am not visiting a park of that nature anytime soon. But in the last week I have received several notes through the site asking our opinion about Universal, some dropped tidbits on Universal to us, and then today, my wife comes running into my office saying I must read what is on the tweets about Universal. Tweets are her universal language for social media like Facebook. I read several different posts talking about the crucial meeting tonight and it was paramount that people show up to have their voices heard. Curious to know more, I spent several hours this morning doing some research looking at old posts, visiting the city’s website, and reading the agenda and documents for tonight’s meeting.
The January 11, 2023 announcement came across as this was a “done deal” which means a plan or project that has been completed or arranged and that cannot be changed. Truth is the project at that time had not been put before planning & zoning or the city council. It was truly misleading to the residents and the public far and wide in Texas. The result was a very mixed reaction, some being happy and some being downright angry. The city is offering $12.7 million incentive package which is generally normal but based on the split of how residents feel regarding this project I don’t think we should be offering an incentive package.
Representatives of the city on social media sold Universal to the public one way but when reading the Development Agreement attached to tonight’s agenda, they have not been transparent, and the truth is far from what they have sold to the public. Let me give you some examples of what I read on social media from city council members versus what is in the actual agreement being laid out this evening.
The city said the park was aimed at children 3 to 9 years old but the agreement says it was developed for young children 3 to 11 years old.
The city has said the park hours would be from 10 am to 6 pm and would not have late hours. The agreement states the “developer’s intent” is to primarily operate the majority of the weekdays with the posted hours of operation for ticketed users between the hours of 10:00 am and 6:00 pm local time. Residents read it again carefully as the highlighted words are key in this.
However the “actual hours will vary” throughout the year based on demand, seasonality, holidays, peak periods, and weekdays/weekends, but in no event shall the theme park opening time be earlier than 9:00 am (except for hotel guests and annual passholders) which the opening time may be as early as 8:00 am local time. The theme park closing time will not be later than 9:00 pm local time (except for up to twenty (20) days) during the calendar year when they are permitted to close no later than 10:00 pm local time. What this means is they can say “summertime” is a peak period and now they can stay open until 9 pm. They can use July 4, Thanksgiving, and Christmas as peak periods to stay open until 9 pm. They can stay open late on a holiday (defined as a Frisco ISD school holiday). Truthfully with the way it is written, they can be open all year until 9 pm if they just claim it to be based on demand, seasonality, holidays, and peak periods.
The city has said no dark rides, no big buildings, and no tall roller coaster rides (40 – 50 feet maximum). The agreement states all amusement rides, entertainment experiences and all portions of structures designed to be occupied by humans in Theme Park Area A shall not exceed a height of 80 feet. Structures designed not to be occupied by humans shall not exceed 100 feet. Just based on a simple google search I learned that 80 feet is equal to a 7-story building. I am guessing that is not what neighbors were expecting.
The agreement states all amusement rides, entertainment experiences and all portions of structures in Theme Park Area B shall not exceed a height of 100 feet.
The city has said no parades, no fireworks, an inward environment (not outside), and that noise level to the outside would be almost non-existent because the sound would be isolated even within the park. The city agreement states that permitted uses include parades, outdoor concerts, and shows, amusement rides, and permanent or temporary exhibits. It also says about the noise they must comply with the City Noise Ordinance (who knows what that is). I am old but I am pretty sure parades and outdoor concerts are not what nearby neighbors want near their homes.
After doing the research I told my wife I agree with most online users (which is rare) that this is a bait-and-switch to what most folks have been told. I also saw some other areas of concern that some may overlook such as asphalt parking. It says they must follow the zoning ordinance which requires parking to be concrete but temporary parking may be of an alternate material when approved by the Director of Engineering Services. My other area of concern is the delivery hours as we learned the hard way living in Grayhawk near a Walmart. You can hear the delivery trucks all night long. The agreement states the city cannot restrict public roadways or delivery hours and if residents have a problem with the noise they can call the police department. It also states Universal will work to reduce the impact on nearby residents.
One thing is clear, we are still having transparency issues, and it appears the public has been misled about what this project entails. There are many loopholes and all of them help the city and Universal. The city is hoping residents are too stupid to read the paperwork. Just one old man’s opinion, the residents are being bamboozled and should be extremely angry, especially those living nearby.
UPDATE: We watched tonight’s Special Joint City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting on FTVN. I am not sure if I would call it a train wreck, shipwreck, or victory. The meeting lasted several hours. Two residents spoke in favor of passing it but the remaining were all opposed. It was quickly apparent that many residents had many of the same concerns that we did and there was a lot of hostility toward the Mayor. Planning and Zoning passed it 5-0 and then the City Council passed it 4-1-1 meaning 4 yes, 1 no, and 1 abstained.
We were surprised only one resident mentioned the city’s right to free use of the theme park for an employee event on an agreed-upon date. Section 36.02 of the Texas Penal Code makes it a crime of bribery for a person to offer, confer, or agree to confer, or for a public official or employee to accept, agree to accept, or solicit, any benefit as consideration for a decision, opinion, recommendation, vote or another exercise of discretion. Ruh-roh-RAGGY! Clearly, the agreement states the city’s right to free use which could be seen as an offer or benefit for consideration for a decision. Hopefully, a resident will file a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission.
John Pavle, one of the opposed speakers spoke with passion, vigor and true concern. He pointed out how this was shoved down residents throats, and that the people of Frisco are being exploited for money. He went on to say the evening was a dog and pony show, and for Cheney and the council to stop telling residents what they want and instead listen to the residents who are telling them what they want. The best part was when he actually looked directly at the entire council and told them he would hold each of them accountable when election time came and he promised the Mayor if he voted yes that he would not be sitting in that seat much longer. Mr. Pavle thank you for speaking your truth and for those of us at Frisco Chronicles we agree with you. It is time for residents to make their voices heard at the ballot box.
Jon Kendall Chair of P&Z said this is a destination city and your right it is sir, but it is also our home and that is what you are forgetting. Jake Petras another commissioner spoke and said he spent quite a bit of time reviewing everything for this project and gave it proper due diligence to ensure he understands everything. Well, tonight FC was sent a Facebook post that clearly shows Mr. Petras had made up his mind about 5 days after the Jan 11 announcement which we find interesting since no one knew what the hell was being proposed yet. If that is due diligence we are screwed. Steve Cone another commissioner who is also a resident of one of the nearby neighborhoods spoke and had the most valid pros and cons of the evening. Hopefully, he has a friend named Wilson since he is about to be Cast Away by his neighbors.
The last portion was the council’s input and the one thing repeated over and over was how they all appreciated the neighbor’s professionalism and courtesy in which they approached the situation. It was a little condescending, to be honest, did you think they were going to behave like a group of wild monkeys in the Amazon forest? Cheney said if they had to do it all over again they probably would have rolled it out differently and would have asked for more liberty on what they could share. Really Sherlock? You don’t need to share more but what you do share needs to be accurate. Looking at your very detailed Facebook Post from Jan 20 we see 10 am to 6 pm & no late night hours (actually it is 8 am to 9 pm), 300 room hotel (which can now be up to 600 with a second phase), target audience 3 – 9 (actually 3 – 11), no tall roller coasters max will be 40 – 50 feet (actually 80 feet big difference) and several of these things you mention more than once in that post. Here is an idea, how about you stop grandstanding and trying to oversell a project and just get the accurate information to share? Now you want people to trust your traffic report, trust that the council is doing what is best for residents, and trust city leaders – why should they? It is very clear since Jan 11 that this has been a shit show of false information.
Pelham said we could have done this differently and did we give the impression this was a done deal when it was announced, “Perhaps, Lesson Learned.” She had no empathy in her voice or facial expression like it was not a big deal because they tried to course-correct the situation. With all due respect, not a good enough answer because that announcement traveled around the world far beyond the borders of Frisco. Then you have the audacity to speak to John from Universal about how he gave his word on some concessions to the residents that are not written in the SUP and you hope he keeps his word because you will remember if he doesn’t the next time he appears before the council. Residents remember too Ms. Pelham, they will remember being lied to and misled the next time you stand in front of them and ask for their vote. Telling him his integrity is on the line and that he should honor and respect our home, all the while you are not respecting or honoring the residents before you who are asking you to protect their home and qualify of life is very hypocritical.
Livingston said he liked the project but he could not support the location near Cobb Hill and therefore he would be voting NO! Rummel wanted to table it although we are not sure what that would have done. Keating cried and said how emotionally impacted he was by Commission Cone’s words that evening, wait what? Where was his emotion for the residents who have stood before him pleading to save their neighborhood, and maintain their quality of life? Oh yeah, he went to the beach on vacation and never meet with the residents. Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya, Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama, Key Largo, Montego Baby, why don’t we go anywhere other than Cobb Hill?
The conclusion, everything came back to the economic value the project will bring our city. Yet our city is flush today and will continue to be off the many businesses here so saying no to one business, is not going to destroy our city economically. Money is the best motivator and that is some shady shit!
If you are from the DFW area you may recognize the name Robert Tilton, an American Televangelist and the former pastor of the Word of Faith Family Church in Farmers Branch. His ministry peaked in the early 90’s and it has been reported his infomercial style church program aired in some 225+ American television markets. It has been reported that Tilton brought in $70 to $80 million dollars per year. The message he pushed upon viewers was the importance of “vows” aka financial commitments to the Tilton ministry. The minimum vow was $1000 but if you wanted to receive a personal “word of knowledge” from Tilton you had to “vow” anywhere from $5k to $10,000 dollars. If you sent a prayer request with a vow, then Tilton claimed to lay on top of the prayer request to heal the weak.
Tilton’s demise came in 1991 when word got out that he may be a fraud or over promising “blessings” to viewers. Some “garbologists” who worked for ABC’s Primetime Live spent over a month dumpster diving outside of Tilton’s many offices and what they found was shocking. Over 10,000 lbs. of prayer request letters cut along the edge with the vow removed and the prayer request still inside the envelope, untouched and discarded in dumpsters. Lawsuits commenced by followers, the Tilton’s headed to divorce court and many felt it was an attempt to protect their assets. Now, why am I reminding you of this Tilton character? Well, he was full of it, kind of like our city council.
For years, our city leadership has made grand promises when it comes to some projects, but then they vanish into a cosmic void, much like matter falling into a black hole. The city has been talking about Grand Park since before most of us were born. Well after several municipal bonds, environmental studies, we have a walking trail, but no grand park (remember like Central Park in NY) or lake as promised. Then there is Wade Park which later become known as Lake Lebanon which sat for years after the developer went belly up. It later became known as The Mix, which we have heard about for the last two years and yet…still nothing but a fence around the property. Then we had the Frisco Theater, a grand place for plays and as of late now Broadway style shows. Well 5 to 7 studies later over 8 years, still nothing! Oh wait, now they want us to buy into a $500+ million theater run by the city on taxpayer dollars. My point is, they council is much like Robert Tilton and his “Word of Faith” ministry who make grand gestures and promises, ask us to pass more bonds, potentially increase our taxes and yet nothing seems to actually be coming together.
Picture of Lake Lebanon (formerly Wade Park) before it rained and filled up with water. Note it is now supposed to be The Mix. Side note we had a lake here it was just not in Grand Park like they promised. Picture by Dallas Morning News
Another example, the city has been talking about the revitalization of Frisco’s Downtown area as far back as 2016-2018. Well, after spending at least $50 to $75,000 visiting different cities to “study their downtown areas” we finally broke ground to fix downtown. The city has dragged its feet since 2016, spending money on tours and trips but only now that FIFA is coming in 2026 is there a push for this project to be done in time so we can look good for the many “visitors” it will bring downtown.
The sad part is we have had Frisco locals take interest and invest in our downtown area way before this city or the council have done anything. While we may not always agree with Donny Churchman, he is one man who has had a passion for downtown and the Frisco Rail District. In a 2018 interview with Lifestyle Frisco, he notes the downtown area has been ignored during all the development. He talked about the name change of downtown Frisco to the Rail District has a lot to do with Frisco’s history and the BNSF railroad and we could not agree more with him on that.
He started investing years ago in the downtown area with The Patio at the Rails and Tower at the Rail, then came the Nack Theater. His overall goal is to “restore downtown Frisco” and it is a passion for him. We are curious how Churchman feels today, with the city bending over backwards offering tax incentives for Rollertown Beerworks, a venue that features a two-level taproom and 4,320 sq ft outdoor beer garden. Did the city break their back for Churchman’s investments. We don’t know but would be curious to find out more.
Along with Churchman, many residents who own historic homes downtown have spent time and money to meticulously renovate and update them while keeping that 1900s charm about them. All this local money and passion bringing life in to downtown, and yet our city has sat on it since 2016. Many of these locals have advocated for something to happen downtown for the last ten years as everything seemed to develop around it. If they can do it then why did it take FIFA coming here for the City of Frisco to finally do something.
The June 2024 announcement of the new grand downtown plan made us wonder, if we went back 5 to 10 years what “priorities” did the city have and which ones have been completed. We found a town hall video discussing the 2018 Top Ten Priorities, which include the following:
1) Implement Traffic Innovation
2) Increase Capital Expenditure Fund
3) Performing Arts Center
4) Downtown revitalization & finish the master plan
5) Grow and expand our Economic Development Corp to go after fortune 500 companies
6) Lower property taxes
7) Development of the North 380 Corridor & its Growth,
8) New facility expansion options like city hall or the library
9) Final master plan for our future parks
10) Legislative Plan to Protect Frisco
Awe, the dreaded word in this town…Traffic! Cheney said the first priority was Traffic Innovation because we have become more congested (DUH!!). The priority aims to use new technologies to help relieve that congestion such as adaptive signal control systems which communicate with cars and autonomous, or self-driving, buses in Frisco by this year, used in the private sector. Seven years later, if you drive Frisco – TRAFFIC SUCKS! Not sure the signal control systems are working, and we don’t have autonomous self-driving buses in Frisco but guess what we do have…ROUND-A-BOUTS and TRAFFIC! If we were grading the city on this priority, they would get a big fat F!
One of the other 2018 Priorities was the Performing Arts Center Strategy. Cheney told Community Impact in 2018 that he would like to see it as a public-private partnership. The article also said they were in the middle of a feasibility study to determine the size and needs of a potential PAC. Well in 2024, we are on our 6th or 7th study, they are proposing a city owned theater at the taxpayer expense, but they hope down the road could be a public-private partnership, and several discussions over the years for a PAC have failed and fallen flat. We would give this a priority a big fat F as well!
The 2018 Priority for finishing the downtown master plan started with them approving a contract with a consulting firm to update the 20-year-old downtown master plan. Cheney told Community Impact at the time that the council and city official plan to continue to work with the private market to explore old downtown Frisco options. Remember, the cool market with a beer garden that Frisco Market developers promised? Well, we have the market but no beer garden and downtown has not changed that much except for the private development by Churchman and residents.
What has the city done downtown? Not much, but now that FIFA is coming, we have a $70 million dollar renovation downtown happening and you can bet it will be finished in time for the visitors to come. We give them a big F for this too. Just look at what they finally say they will commit to in 2024.
The next big priority was the Northern Corridor and creating an identity for it. Cheney told Community Impact that their plan for 2018 was to attract more business and residential developments to the area. Well, they must have known something we didn’t, we are referring to the December 2018 announcement that the PGA of America was relocating its headquarters to the “Northern Corridor” of Frisco. This was a good win for Frisco, and we gave them an A+ for it! However, they get an F for the shady business dealings, friendships, and conflicts of interest that came from some of the development around the new PGA for Cheney and some council members.
As for the expansion of city facilities, we have a new 65-million-dollar library, new court building, city hall in 2023 started an expansion inside and facilities just opened a new building in the last year. As for the masterplan of parks well you can bet Bobblehead Bill got his bikes and trikes trails. As for Grand Park, well that is still…not Grand at all but if you want to see a butterfly you can walk the trail they put in.
Back to Robert Tilton, he was about big words, fancy clothes, and was about “putting on the show” to get your vow. He promised to pray for his flock, but he failed when money took over. What we have learned is that the importance of a project in the City of Frisco is determined by a select few who sit on council. We have also learned they love to talk about things and promise things for many years but the truth is they are failing us as residents. When those sitting on our city council run for office, they each run for their own purpose or passion project. That is okay but they should be representing all of us and the truth is our council only represents the WEST SIDE, which is where you have seen all the investment in the last 5 to 8 years. Why do we say that? Well just ask our council members where they live.
Not one person sitting on our council today lives on the East Side of the tollway or the Collin County side, maybe that has something to do with where all the money is going. They all live in the Denton County side of Frisco which is WEST of the tollway. That’s right folks, Tammy Meinershagen, Laura Rummel, John Keating, Jeff Cheney, Angelia Pelham, Brian Livingston and Bill Woodard all live on the WEST SIDE OF THE TOLLWAY. Maybe that is why they get the PGA and the Frisco Star, and the East Side is getting Universal and Business Warehouses Developments along PGA Parkway.
We are glad the municipal election season is over, and life is getting back to normal, or as normal as it can be. Proposition A which was for Civil Service was, came down to a difference of 665 votes. That is not a landslide win, and it should speak volumes to the Frisco City Council and City Management to do better. On Proposition B, which was for Collective Bargaining, it came down to a difference of 2,383 votes. City leaders and the Safety Frisco First PAC did a good job of scaring voters that if it passed our Firefighters would become a group of “Greedy Bastards” and bankrupt the city.
Residents spoke and while most conveyed their support to the Firefighters, they didn’t feel Civil Service and Collective Bargaining were the right way to go about it. According to several voters we talked to, they believe the residents need to help fight for change at city hall and demand more from our city leaders. WHERE ARE THOSE RESIDENTS NOW? Did any of those who came out to vote, go home, and take the time to email the city leadership? Probably not! Did anyone write an email to city leaders expressing concern about the City Manager who is the reason we ended voting on these issues. Probably not!
We still continue to think about the call for “more staffing” and wonder do we have a staffing issue? Did you know that over the last four years the city applied for several grants related to staffing?
What is a SAFER Grant? The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER) was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase or maintain the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available in their communities. The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local fire departments’ abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by the NFPA which stands for the National Fire Protection Association’s codes and standards.
At the 01/18/2022 council meeting the council voted on an agenda item #21 authorizing the City Manager to submit a SAFER grant application in the amount of $5,420,500 over a three-year performance period for STAFFING that would help fund 15 Firefighter/Paramedic positions needed to staff a fourth Truck Company assigned to Fire Station 9. The memo we found was from Mark Piland to then City Manager George Purefoy, Deputy City Manager Henry Hill and the entire council. The resolution says duly passed and approved on the 18th day of January 2022.
The application states “Due to this rapid growth, the City’s ability to build and staff new fire stations and apparatus is limited. The City has committed to building a new fire station, Fire Station #10 and additional apparatus, such as a fourth Truck and additional Medic, but needs federal assistance to on-board additional firefighters to staff this apparatus. Without this funding, it takes our fire crews longer to establish effective response forces according to NFPA 1710 standards which increases the likelihood of property damage and risk to the fire crews. Without this funding, our response times will increase due to the first due truck not being within close proximity to the rapid areas of development that would need an aerial ladder response.
It goes on to say, “During 2020, the city began construction on 13 multifamily housing and completed 7 multifamily housing units that were already under construction for a grand total of over 26,000 units. The City houses 22 specialty care facilities to include nursing homes, free standing nursing facilities and adult living communities. Within the last 2 years, we have had 6 new high rises completed and we have 3 high rise buildings currently under construction. This additional funding will allow for a fourth fire truck to be put into service which will increase our NFPA 1710 standards for response to a high-risk structure to include multifamily housing, specialty risk structures and high-rise buildings. NFPA 1710 recommends that an agency place 42 or 43 personnel on a fire at a high-rise structure. The department is currently staffed to respond with 34 personnel.”
Yet the City Council and City Management Say, “We don’t have a staffing issue.”
We were also surprised to see at the 04/04/2023 council meeting the council voted on an agenda item #23 authorizing the City Manager to submit a SAFER grant application in the amount of $8,894,880 for a three-year grant performance period for STAFFING. The memo written by Interim Fire Chief, Lee Glover goes on to say, “if awarded, the FY22 SAFER Grant Program would provide funding for 24 Firefighter/Paramedic positions consistent with the Fire Department’s current five-year staffing plan.”
We pulled up the application and pulled some highlights. The first one states, “Over the past year, our department has seen the 90th percentile response times for first arriving fire/EMS apparatus in these areas increase to nearly ten minutes and NFPA 1710 single-family dwelling full alarm assembly time increase to over 20 minutes, well beyond the NFPA 1710 recommendations.” The second highlight states, “Without the assistance the city will likely be unable to simultaneously bear the cost of constructing two new fire stations and staffing/equipping firefighters, which would negatively impact Frisco FD’s ability to provide appropriate and timely emergency response and assembly of the recommended effective response force.”
The application goes on to say, “The Frisco Fire Department continues to experience increasing call volume and faces new risks. The total call volume for the department has increased by 76.7% since 2015.” It continues, “The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of America relocated to Frisco in 2022. While Frisco has experience with large special events, these attendance numbers are more than double the size of current venues in Frisco. In addition, Universal Parks and Resorts recently announced the opening of a new theme park scheduled to open in 2026. A new 2,500-acre development in northern Frisco is underway, with 14,000 homes and apartments planned, as well as commercial and retail development. These developments, events, and venues are new risks for the Frisco Fire Department in an area not close to an existing fire station which have resulted in significantly increased response times over the past few years.”
Fire Chief Lee Glover now says, “we don’t have a staffing issue.”
On a side note, we hope all the developers who donated $10,000 to fight the firefighters now realize the city is not prepared, they flat our said so in a federal grant.
As a resident, why do I feel like I need a shower and we are being blatantly lied too somehow! During the election Mark Piland said as the former Fire Chief he advocated over and over for staffing. Then we see this application by Lee Glover in 2023 which talks about how all the new development has put new risk for the FD and resulted in “SIGNIFICANTLY” increased call times. Most glaring is his statement “we have seen NFPA 1710 single-family dwelling full alarm assembly time increase to over 20 minutes, well beyond the NFPA 1710 recommendations.” Less than a year later we are hearing the complete opposite from Chief Lee Glover and every single member sitting perched up on the city pulpit.
For the last few weeks, we watched the Safety-First Frisco PAC scorch any ground left between the city and the firefighters. They implied they were Greedy Bastards, basically attacked their character, willingness to work, called them lazy, liars and power hungry. It was a nuclear response to an already tense relationship. Meanwhile over at the police department, Chief Shilson’s wife Jana Shilson is advocating with the PAC on social media. At the Fire Department, Chief Lee Glover’s wife Jamie Glover is also advocating with the PAC on social media.
On the other hand, the firefighters are scared they will suffer repercussions for being on the front lines of this fight for the propositions. The firefighter’s message has never changed which centers around staffing and the fact they have no confidence in city leadership or their Chief to do what is right. City leaders continue to try and blame this on former leadership which has nothing to do with it. The former leadership fought with them and for them at the polls, right next to them. Come May 5th, the firefighters said win or lose, if you the resident calls, we your Frisco Firefighters will answer that call and risk our own lives to make sure you the citizen is safe.” We ask again, what’s next? Where do we go from here?
A starting point is every resident should be asking the following questions of our City Leadership: The City Council, The Mayor Jeff Cheney, City Manager Wes Pierson and his staff and Fire Chief Lee Glover:
If we don’t have a staffing issue, then why did you “THE CITY” apply for several SAFER FEMA grants specifically for STAFFING?
Were you honest on the FEMA Safer Grants? If yes, then you have been lying to residents.
Were you honest to residents and lie on the FEMA Safer Grant? If yes, who thought it would be a good idea to lie on a federal grant application?
The 2023 SAFER grant says without assistance the city will likely be unable to simultaneously bear the cost of constructing two new fire stations and staffing/equipping firefighters, which would negatively impact Frisco FD’s ability to provide appropriate and timely emergency response and assembly of the recommended effective response force.” If that is the case, then why does the city continue to offer developers incentives to do business here, why did we build a 60+million-dollar library, and why are we considering a performing arts center? It sounds like we are broke or destitute.
The fact is only after the grants were denied did the city say we are fully staffed, trust us everything is okay, just trust your city leadership. Well, I don’t trust you….AT ALL! Will residents really get involved and express their concern to city leadership about what is happening in our city and demand they find a resolution to these issues or will we see the Fire and Police Association back on the ballot in two years fighting for Civil Service, again!
“Let no man’s ghost return to say his leadership and training let him down.” – A Firefighter
It is election time in Frisco! Different groups and organizations over the next two months will hold candidate forums which are an excellent way to help voters learn more about the candidates on the ballot. It gives Frisco residents a chance to learn more about key issues and allows us to ask hard questions of those who want our vote. The truth is that democracy works best when we “ENGAGE” with it because it fosters important dialogue about the everyday issues that affect our lives.
The first local forum of the season was the Islamic Center of Frisco (ICF) Candidate Forum. The forum was for both City Council races and ISD races. Our kids are grown, and we don’t pay as much attention as we should to the ISD races so this was the first time we got to hear about ISD issues. We couldn’t watch the debate live because of streaming delay issues so my wife and I caught it the next day when it was uploaded to YouTube. There were some moments worth talking about so if you have not watched it, get some popcorn and buckle up!
Each candidate got an opening statement. John Keating, The Statesmen, started by asking who was in charge of the time because he could go on for 10 minutes right now. Sir John, while we know you like to hear yourself, others don’t. Then he said the most dangerous intersection in Frisco is standing between John Keating and a microphone. While I am sure he practiced his opening icebreaker joke at home in front of the mirror while flexing it was not met with laughter by the audience.
John Keating said his job is to be “available to you” and he has done that time and again for the citizens. We would beg to differ, remember that little Universal Kids Park that came before the council from Jan 2023 to March 2023, we do! The night of the vote, Keating cried and said how emotionally impacted he was by P&Z Commissioner Cone’s words that evening. Wait, what, Commissioner Cone’s words? Where was his emotion for the residents who had stood before him pleading to save their neighborhood, and maintain their quality of life? Oh yeah, he went to the beach on vacation and never met with the residents of Cobb Hill. Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya, Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama, Key Largo, Montego Baby, why don’t we go anywhere other than Cobb Hill? AFTER THE VOTE he asked to meet with residents of Cobb Hill in the cul-de-sac to hear from them, but we are curious how it helps to listen to those you serve “AFTER THE VOTE?”
At one point, the city council candidates were asked about the discussion of unionizing our police and fire departments and where they stand on the issue. John’s response to this question is he served 13 years in the military; we are curious about what job he held the other 25+ years. Oh, that’s right he was a househusband. He said these are the men and women who wear our city’s uniform and go into harm’s way every day and unionizing that oh my God just seems awful. Then he turns to John Redmond who is running against Angelia Pelham and says if you are not sure John, if you are that uninformed then you must reach out to someone, call your Fire Chief. Then he said the reason we have all these problems is because the prior Fire Chief didn’t do his job properly and the unions saw that and said the door is open and we can run into Frisco. He said this push is from outside of Texas, this was not an internal ask, and it happened because of the perceived weakness in our fire department left behind by our former Fire Chief. Then he said the new Fire Chief Lee Glover is amazing.
Where do you begin to break his comments down? Again, I thank Keating for his service to our country and I appreciate all Veterans but that still does not exempt him from being called out. Maybe someone who has been a househusband most of his life served as a member of his kid’s PTA and on his HOA board and spent many of his days working out to build his big-boy muscles, might not be the best person to ask about unionization. While I am sure he liked the single PTA Moms, he has never had to be the breadwinner of his family. Our former Fire Chief whom Keating defamed and ridiculed has spent 40+ years in the Fire Department and has an impeccable record (we know because we filed PIRS), Porter who left to go to Little Elm FD has had a lifetime of service, and Cameron Kraemer who they wrongfully fired spent 27+ years in the fire service. That means they have worked and run into harm’s way and risked their lives a lot longer than John Keating has.
Next, Keating went after John Redmon (Angelia Pelham’s opponent) saying if he is concerned call your Fire Chief. We have done that in the past and we have been told we have to file a PIR for such information and then the city sends it to the AG to delay turning over the documents. Yes, they are very TRANSPARENT as a city! To think any citizen could call the Fire Chief and Police Chief for a meeting and they are going to talk to them about the inner workings and issues within their department is just downright ridiculous.
Lastly, he said the reason the Fire Association is doing this is because of “OUTSIDE FORCES” due to a bad former Fire Chief. Didn’t the Fire Association just endorse that former Fire Chief last week over you? We took Keating’s advice and just asked several firefighters why they were doing this and guess what it has nothing to do with their former Fire Chief. The reason given to us over and over for why they went this route for civil service and collective bargaining, is because the city management and city council hired a new Fire Chief even though that candidate (Lee Glover) had a 90% ‘NO VOTE OF CONFIDENCE” by those he would be managing.
Remember in 2011/12 when the climate survey showed the “CULTURE” of the Fire Department was horrible and the only way to fix it was to get rid of the management and start over with a clean slate. The city council at that time forced George Purefoy, our City Manager, to remove Borchardt. George Purefoy turned in his resignation letter threatening to leave if the city forced him to do that. The consolidation made was to retire Borchardt as Chief of the Fire Department, but then George Purefoy hired his best buddy as a “CONSULTANT” for the city and he is on the payroll making over $200K per year, driving a city vehicle and consulting for other cities making money on the side. I am a taxpayer, and I would love to make $200k after being forced out of a job because I was such a bad leader. As for Lee Glover the Assistant Fire Chief at the time he remained in his position under the new Chief Mark Piland. The city kept him even though the 2011/12 study said he was part of the problem.
Then they promoted Glover in 2022/23 right after the Association had just taken a survey showing Lee Glover had a 90% plus “No Vote of Confidence” from the fire department.
This was not an external force, Mr. Keating, the local fire association pulled the trigger because of the city’s constant slap in their face. It is because of Wes Pierson the City Manager, Lee Glover the new Fire Chief, and the City Council that this is happening. Keating considers himself a man of integrity, a veteran, and a champion for others, but the reality is he had no educated answer to the question, no facts to spew, so to deflect the fact that he doesn’t understand the issue, he attacked two other candidates. The last person who should be hanging someone out to dry or judging someone is John Keating who likes to go in the pool with women who are not his wife.
The next question for the candidates was “National and international politics have had an increasing influence on local elections, how do you address issues outside of your authority but are top of mind and concern for residents of this city.” Keating again stands up and talks about his 13 years in the military and how he has seen firsthand the devastation of warfare. He went on to say he could not be more proud of the young people who have come before the council and shared the emotion in such an articulate fashion of what they are experiencing through their loved ones overseas. The young people he is referring to, are those at the meeting to speak out on behalf of Palestinians and want a proclamation to condemn Israel.
He continues that the best peace treaty and proclamation is prayer. And that the Council could issue a proclamation, but it is not like it is a big deal. Then he says he doesn’t want to belittle the proclamation process; however, he just did. In a nutshell, if you got a proclamation from the city, Councilman John Keating thinks IT’S NO BIG DEAL. Pray on that!
The next question was, with all the development recently focused on tourists, what are we doing to prepare for the traffic and what projects coming up are focused on or for residents? Keating pointed out we had 7 million tourists visit Frisco last year and yes there is a little traffic congestion, but he thinks traffic runs pretty smoothly in Frisco.” He also said we used to be reactive to traffic, and today we are proactive to traffic, with over 200 million dollars going into roads. To point out the obvious, Keating has never worked an 8 to 5 job which means he has not had to spend countless years facing rush hour traffic in Frisco. He does not spend over 30 minutes at DNT/Main or DNT/Eldorado trying to get through the lights so in his mind traffic runs smoothly. I am not sure where Keating has been for the last 5 years, but traffic is horrible in every part of this city, and it gets worse every day. In summary, he listed nothing specifically being developed for residents which means the 7 million tourists are more important than the 230,000 residents who call Frisco home and pay taxes here.
Keating was asked, if you are anti-union, why do you ask for the Fire Association’s endorsement every election? Keating quickly responded he does not ask for the endorsement every election and he is not sure where that notion comes from. He said when talks of collective bargaining and civil service began, he stepped away or stepped back from that. He continued; that he still fills out the questionnaires sent out by the association to keep communication open, but he put on there “THAT HE IS NOT SEEKING THEIR ENDORSEMENT.”
We reached out to the Frisco Fire Association to ask for a copy of the questionnaire and a copy of all the candidate’s responses. The email we received back said the board would have to review that request but we did find a copy of one on Facebook that been posted in 2021. We also asked if Keating clearly stated that he was not seeking their endorsement as he stated at the forum. The association’s email stated Mr. Keating “DID NOT PUT ON HIS QUESTIONNAIRE ANYWHERE THAT HE DID NOT WANT TO BE CONSIDERED FOR AN ENDORSEMENT.” We also asked the association if it is clear to candidates that filling out the form is part of the endorsement process. The association responded, “The email to all candidates regarding the questionnaire is very generic. It says hello our time to gather questionnaires for a potential endorsement and to fill out the questionnaire if you want to be considered.”
Another audience question was related to how many years he has served on the council. The terms are typically three years in duration. Keating served on the Frisco City Council Place 4 from 2010 to 2016 for 2 terms or 6 years. After a short break, he ran and was re-elected in 2017 for an open seat that had one year left on the term. Then in 2018, he ran for Place 1 where he has served since 2017 to the present. Keating is now running for his final 3rd term (3 years). That means by the time Keating is done serving he will have been on the council for 16+ years if he is reelected. He noted he will be the longest-serving council member. No wonder Keating does not want to come right out and say how long he has been on council.
It was finally closing time for the forum and Mark Piland called Keating out and said if they were giving out Pinocchio’s Keating would have a basket right in front of him. Keatings face turned red and was hot to trot to respond to his opponent. He stood up buttoned his jacket, huffed and puffed, and said “You were fired as the former Fire Chief. Two independent investigations, not by the city council, not done by the fire department. This man cannot be trusted, he does nothing but lie, and blame others as you’ve seen him demonstrate tonight. It is absurd and I am going to move past that and say my record speaks for itself.” He talked again about his military time, his 7 years on the PTA and time on the HOA board, and 16 years on council and that politicians don’t last, leaders do. Men and women of their word last, people who lie, cheat, steal, and blame others don’t last.”
We sent a PIR to the Fire Association and asked if they believed Mark Piland, the former Fire Chief, was fired. We also asked if they felt the investigations mentioned by Keating were “Independent’ and fair. Per the email we received, from a representative for the association, “No, I do not believe Piland was fired. I believe clearly he RETIRED.” As for the investigations, the representative for the association said, “I believe the investigation into the Mayday report was independent. I do however they took liberties and investigated many things that were not involved in the complaint. As for the second investigation, I would not call it an investigation, when you only talk to one party and not the person that’s the source of the investigation. In this case Piland!”
As for the “Two Independent Investigations” Keating mentioned, it was the head of HR Lauren Safranek who oversaw those. The same head of HR changed the FD job descriptions and failed to have the department head; Chief Mark Piland sign off on the changes. Instead hoping no one would notice she used his previous 2017 signature on the document. She didn’t expect a firefighter to ask questions which brought to light her and her department’s forgery. To hide her fraud, she used the investigation to find something about the current Fire Chief at the time to use it to fire him or make him retire. However, after she spent over $100k of taxpayer money to fund a false investigation she didn’t like the results too much. If you want to learn more about the whole cover up just read our blog Day 12: Tangled Web of Lies.
Mr. Keating let’s talk about your record. Yes, you served in our military, and we are all grateful for your service to our country. In the same way, we are grateful that Mr. Piland has spent 40+ years serving as a first responder. Your website says Promises Made, Promises Kept, but have you? In an email we received from a pet advocate, you stated if an animal shelter made it to the bond by the citizen’s bond committee, then you would support the residents having an opportunity to vote for it. However, that night you agreed in lockstep with your 4 other council members to remove the animal shelter from the bond. Promise Broken!
Then in 2021, you filled out the questionnaire for the firefighter’s endorsement, which we wrote about in our blog Jammed-Up John Keating, and you said you supported more staff (4 men trucks). You wrote Frisco is growing and we need to plan accordingly. You wrote we must budget for a new 14-day pay cycle, benefits, Fire Station 10, and personnel and equipment. Since being elected in 2021, you have not supported any of the items you wrote about and promised on the questionnaire. You signed your name to this document and turned your back on the first responders you said you supported. You are part of the reason the fire association today is going for collective bargaining and civil service. Promise Broken!
You have a total disregard for rules such as using the City of Frisco logo while campaigning. Do you believe the LEADERS OF ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING CITIES IN AMERICA (in your own words) should post a picture of himself implying he is naked and holding a sign that reads “Get Naked!” Your judgment on that one sir, was way off for this conservative.
Before you stand at your pulpit and shout, “People who lie, cheat, steal, and blame others don’t last,” you might want to look in the mirror. You lied and cheated on your wife in the most public way possible, at the forum you blamed Redman for being ill-informed. You lied and said Piland was fired when even the city website says he retired. You lied about writing on the 2024 Fire Association questionnaire that you were not seeking their endorsement. You had total disregard for a whole neighborhood concerned about their homes due to a new theme park and felt your time was better spent on a beach somewhere. You continually blamed Piland at the forum when you didn’t have an answer for something to deflect your shortcomings.
Mr. Keating, you were right about one thing, it is time for a leader, and YOU ARE NOT IT!
Extra, Extra, Read All About It! Let the fireworks begin. If you have read our blogs some of this might seem familiar but stay with us because this explains it all. If you have never read one of our blogs then this is the one you DO NOT WANT TO MISS!
When we started down the path to uncover corruption within the city we never thought we would come across some of the things we have. The 12 Days of Malfeasance is a real page-turner and if you asked my wife she would say it is better than one of those cheap soft-back romance novels on the shelf at Walmart. It involves forgery, lies, questionable relationships, questionable tactics, and revenge. In the end, you will learn someone had $178,000+ reasons to lie and stab people in the back to protect their job! To top it off, we have the evidence to prove it!
It started back in 2014 when Fire Chief, Mark Piland updated several of the Job Descriptions for the Fire Department. When working in a city you are extended certain benefits based on the job descriptions (also called JD’s). In Frisco, Fire Fighters and Police Officers have additional benefit pay for certifications and 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. The Education Pay for Associate, Bachelor, and Master’s Degrees is at $50, $100, and $150 per month. However, if the job description says, “Required” then that means there is no additional benefit pay.
Fast forward to 2017, HR identified that there was no job parody in the job descriptions between the Fire Department and Police Department as it relates to Education Requirements. HR suggested to then Fire Chief, Mark Piland to change all the job descriptions to bring parody to the Fire Department job descriptions. The education requirements for all FD positions, Assistant Chief and below were changed to Preferred to match that of the Police Department as requested by HR.
Piland was concerned about this change as he was in the process of hiring and it could look as if some or all the candidates received special treatment which was acknowledged by Shannon Allywn in an HR email. Regardless of the concern the change was made to all of the positions to keep uniformity between departments.
July 19, 2017: An email from Shannon Allyn to Tracy Stiles (HR) talks about how when Chief Piland originally did the updates with HR to the job descriptions he had the Public Safety Certification and Education Pay descriptions listed as “required.” In 2017, HR approached Piland and asked him to change the job descriptions to “Preferred” to match the other departments. We were told by an insider at the time Piland protested and did not want to change it because it could cause issues. Shannon Allyn confirmed his frame of mind when she displayed the same concerns that Piland had in the email to Tracy. A reply from Tracy Stiles is sent the same day back to Shannon Allyn that reads, “They will all be changed to Preferred.”
Little did we know Job Descriptions would be the KEY to this story. Jeromy Porter served as Battalion Chief from June 2014 to September 2020 and during that time he received the additional Certification and Education Pay. Then in October 2020, he received a promotion to Deputy Chief and was told Education Pay was removed as an incentive. However, the position description listed a bachelor’s degree as a “Preferred” education, not “Required.” While a promotion is nice, the cut in what he thought the position paid was not. Ask yourself, would you take a promotion if it meant you were going to make less than your current salary?
January 25, 2021:Memo from Deputy Chief, Jeromy Porter to Fire Chief, Mark Piland regarding Education Pay and a request for a formal review of the Public Safety Certification and Education Pay Plan. The review got put on hold because things got hectic with an impending storm.
February 17, 2021: Circa Frisco Apartment Fire Reported, Wednesday @ 1:12 AM broke out in Apartment 158.
The Circa Fire was the largest fire 5-alarm that the Frisco FD has had to fight in recent memory and under the worst winter storm conditions in the last century. The Circa Fire happened over 48 hours in a winter storm nicknamed “Snowmageddon.” It knocked out power and caused a massive number of water breaks and fire alarm activations which led to an extraordinarily high call volume that taxed the resources and stamina of the Frisco FD.
Approximately two hours into the fire, a Mayday event occurred on the second floor of the Circa Building when Captain Christopher Beck, who was the Division Two Supervisor at the time of the Mayday event, fell through a hallway floor outside apartment 258. Captain Beck was trapped in the subfloor and had to be rescued by other firefighters. The Frisco FD Procedure Manual defines a Mayday in Procedure 303 Mayday Operations as “a message used to signal a life threat to any firefighter.” Beck went to the hospital and after being released he was back on duty.
The Circa Fire was much larger than it would have been under any other circumstance because the required automatic sprinkler system was taken out of service by the building landlord before the fire without the Frisco FD being notifiedor the building being put on Fire Watch. Fire department witnesses interviewed almost universally indicated that had the sprinklers been in service, it is believed this would have been a simple room and contents fire. Due to the high level of fire department emergency activity in the Metroplex, the mutual aid response was limited. Essentially, the Circa Fire was a five-alarm fire that was fought, for more than 24 hours, with the resources of a two-/three-alarm fire that were inadequate for the complexity/scale of this incident. The lack of resources led to an inability to designate a formal Rapid Intervention Team (“RIT”) by the incident commander.
RIT is defined in the Frisco Fire Department Procedure 303 Mayday Operations as “a dedicated crew of at least three firefighters with four firefighters preferred, one of which is an officer, fully equipped and trained who are assigned to provide assistance or rapidly deploy to rescue lost or trapped members.”
February 18, 2021: Circa Frisco Apartment Fire “Put Out”, Thursday @ 10 AM
February 2021 (End Of Month): Following the Circa Fire,Fire Chief, MarkPiland called for a Mayday Report to be put together to help the FD learn and better understand the event. Assistant Chief Kraemer assigned the job of preparing that report to the Battalion Chief in charge of Health and Safety, BC Hutt. This was the first Mayday Report done during Chief Piland’s tenure and the first such report any of the witnesses interviewed could recall ever being done in Frisco.
Important Note: While it is arguably a best practice, there is currently no specific requirement, standard, or template in any fire service to prepare a Mayday Report given the relative infrequency, and significance, of Mayday events.
March 16, 2021: Scott Vetterick, Deputy Chief sent an email to Lori Rutland (HR), Lee Glover (Assistant Fire Chief), and Mark Piland (Fire Chief) with a revised Fire Marshal job description. Lori responded to Vetterick and asked him to review the highlighted areas in yellow. She told him once he sent the changes or comments back to her she would send them to the Chief for approval (signatures).
March 17, 2021: Vetterick sent back the revised redlined edits and asked for approval for the changes. Once approved, he sent it back to HR. Evidence Note: In one of our PIR requests, we learned that the updated Fire Marshal job description had the required updated signatures from Mark Piland and was dated 3/17/2021. Why is this important? It shows that HR knew that if they changed anything, they would need to get updated signatures.
March 17, 2021: At 10:43 am and 11 am, THE JOB DESCRIPTION FOR DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF WAS MODIFIED by Lori Rutland who directly reports to Lauren Safranek.
March 18, 2021: At 11:22 am the FRISCO FD JOB DESCRIPTION FOR DEPUTY CHIEF WAS MODIFIED again by Lori Rutland for Education, Experience, and Certifications. The modification included removing the word “Preferred” from the title, but the bullet points still cite that a combination of education and experience can be used to satisfy the position.
Why is this a big deal?The document was changedwithout approvalfrom FIRE CHIEF, MARK PILAND, and HR DID NOT GET AN UPDATED SIGNATURE which is REQUIRED. After HR modified the document in 2021, they published the document with the unapproved change and more importantly with the 2017 signatures from Fire Chief, Mark Piland. Piland and others in the FD did not even know the change had been made until July 2022 when Porter submitted a second request for Education Pay.
Now many may say, who cares that HR changed it and didn’t tell anybody, but it is a VERY BIG DEAL. It affects the educational pay for several employees in those positions which creates a drastic pay cut in one’s salary.
April 9, 2021: BC Ryan Hutt delivered the original draft of the Mayday Report related to the Circa fire via email correspondence to Chief Piland, Assistant Chief Kraemer, and Assistant Chief Lee Glover. BC Hutt noted in his email “If you see any changes that need to be made or any recommendations you may have to improve the document, please let me know.”
According to the final report on 8/5/22, the original draft of the Mayday Report was incomplete, and it failed to give a full description of the Mayday event. Had such a complete description of the Mayday event been provided either in the first draft or even in any subsequent draft, the approach to the Mayday Report and the editing process moving forward for the Mayday Report would likely have been done differently.
The report also said that based on interviews performed during the investigation, BC Hutt did not obtain critical information about the Mayday event and the events leading up to the Mayday event because he did not speak with certain witnesses and because he performed incomplete interviews of other witnesses.
April 19, 2021: Valve Report Requested by Purefoy & Hill related to the damage of the valves on fire trucks due to “Snowmageddon.”
May 17, 2021: Assistant Fire Chief Lee Glover sends an email to Mack Borchardt his former boss and says “Enjoy The Read” regarding the initial Fire Apparatus Valve Damage. The email shows Lee Glover had no respect for Mark Piland and that Glover was still reporting to his old boss Borchardt.
May 27, 2021: BC Hutt submitted a third draft of the Mayday Report via email to Chief Piland, Assistant Chief Kraemer, and Deputy Chief Carpenter.
June 25, 2021: BC Hutt submitted his 4th draft of the Mayday Report via email to BC Britton DC Owen, Assistant Chief Kraemer, and DC Carpenter.
August 2021: BC Hutt left the Health and Safety Position and was replaced by Battalion Chief Charles Marts (BC Marts)
In the final report from Adams, Lynch & Loftin P.C. on 8/5/22 it was documented BC Hutt was moved to a new shift assignment because he was not successful under DC Carpenter and it was believed he would have a better chance of being successful under DC Porter. Ironically, one of the few areas where all of the Executive Staff interviewed were in agreement was on the fact that BC Hutt was moved to a new shift for his benefit and that move was designed to help him be more successful. There is a lack of trust in BC Hutt by his contemporaries as evidenced by the interviews with the Executive Staff and Command Staff during this investigation. This lack of trust has almost certainly been evident to BC Hutt. However, the fact that his contemporaries don’t trust him is not evidence of retaliation and reprisal.
October 5, 2021: Official Mayday Report released via email along with a copy of the Winter Storm 2021 AAR
It’s a new year and a lot is happening in the City of Frisco!
January 2022: The City of Frisco approved hiring Affion Public to conduct a national search for a new city manager. Ron Patterson and Fire Chief, Mark Piland applied for the position.
February 9, 2022: Matt Sapp, President of the Frisco Firefighters Association delivered a letter to George Purefoy, Frisco City Manager detailing concerns of how the department handled the reporting of the MAYDAY EVENT at the Circa Fire (Feb 2021). Sapp has repeatedly said publicly that the Association felt the Mayday Report should have been handled by a third party. The Sapp Letter contained several allegations regarding actions by Mark Piland, Frisco Fire Chief, and his “direct subordinates.” The allegations related to improper interference with the preparation of a Mayday Report that was analyzing their tactics and decisions at the Circa fire. Sapp asserted, “Fire Department Director and Executive Staff made a concentrated and concerted effort to place their professional careers over the current and future safety of the firefighters. This was done by suppressing objections, changing information, and attempting to withhold information for review vital to improve training.”
According to the final report released by Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C. on 8/5/22, there is insufficient/no evidence to support the allegation that Chief Piland or Assistant Chief Kraemer hid or altered critical information of the Mayday Report by moving the factors to another section. The information remained in the report even if it was in a separate section. Some of the information removed from the report (e.g. weather) was included in the AAR and other information removed (e.g. flow path) was subject to actual factual disputes and analysis that suggest subject matter experts could legitimately disagree about it as a factor.
March 30, 2022:Email from Matt Sapp, President of FFFA to Assistant City Manager, Henry Hill regarding their upcoming scheduled meeting for the following week. He detailed some concerns he had about how he was being treated and feeling threatened after filing the grievance back on 2/9/22.
According to the final report released by Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C. on 8/5/22, there is insufficient/no evidence to support a finding that Sapp or BC Hutt have been retaliated against because of the complaints filed related to the Mayday Report.
April 4, 2022: Henry Hill forwards Matt Sapp’s email directly to Lauren Safranek (HR Director) with no commentary. Why is this important? There was a secret plan in place to build a case to get rid of Fire Chief, Mark Piland by Lauren Safranek and her HR department who were on borrowed time before the “changing of the documents and falsifying records would come to light.”
April 4, 2022: Lauren Safranek, Director of Human Resources sends an email to Asst Chief Kraemer and cc/d Chief Piland and Asst City Manager, Henry Hill letting them know of the impending investigation by Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C. and that they would be under a “Confidentiality Warning.” They were to refrain from discussing the complaint and subsequent communications outside of the investigation process.
April 22, 2022: City of Frisco, Lauren Safranek, and City Attorney Richard Abernathy opened what is now being called the investigation into the Mayday Report. It would be conducted by an outside firm named Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C. out of Grapevine, Texas and they reported to Lauren Safranek.
We looked at the law firm’s website and we were curious, what experience do they have that would have qualified them to lead the investigation? According to the site, they list multiple areas of practice, but nothing related to firefighting. In fact, under municipal experience, it says they help with contracts, procurement, construction law, and ordinance drafting but nothing related to a fire department. So why this firm? Did I mention they do Real Estate Law.
May 23, 2022: City of Frisco announced the new City Manager, Wes Pierson who topped a candidate pool that included 55 applicants from 17 states, before being narrowed down to four finalists. His first day on the job will be Aug. 2, 2022
May 23, 2022: Matt Sapp Interview with Adams, Lynch and Loftin, P.C. for Mayday Investigation where he reasserted his allegations stated in the complaint and letter sent to Henry Hill.
Sapp went on to say During his interview, Battalion Chief Ryan Hutt (“BC Hutt”), the author of the Mayday Report, stated that he felt he was being retaliated against for his involvement with the Mayday Report and for not making certain changes to the Mayday Report. Specifically, BC Hutt asserted that (1) he was removed from a health and wellness committee that was setting up a city clinic, (2) he was moved to a different shift, and (3) he was reprimanded for insubordination. BC Hutt and Chief Piland indicate that they met in March of 2022 about BC Hutt’s retaliation concerns.
According to the final report released on 8/5/22 by Adams, Lynch & Loftin, there is insufficient/no evidence to support a finding that Sapp or BC Hutt have been retaliated against because of the complaints filed related to the Mayday Report.
May 31, 2022: Fire Chief, Mark Piland was interviewed for the first time by Adams, Lynch, and Loftin. At the beginning of the interview, Piland was asked to sign an Administrative Warning Letter.
June 3, 2022: Chief Piland contacted Mayor Jeff Cheney and asked for a meeting, and they subsequently met the same day at a local Coffee Shop. The report says Piland raised concerns he had with the investigation. Piland stated there was a lack of trust between the FFD and the City Manager, George Purefoy, and Assistant City Manager, Henry Hill. Piland stated Safranek misrepresented the investigation and she had not been honest about the investigation’s intent throughout the process. Chief Piland informed the Mayor that both he and Assistant Chief Kraemer were considering filing a complaint against the City Manager for how he handled the complaints.
June 10, 2022: Fire Chief Piland was interviewed for the second time for the investigation. He was told the previous warning letter was still in effect.
The investigation revealed that Chief Piland was unaware of the true severity of the near-miss that caused the Mayday until he was interviewed in June 2022. At that interview, Chief Piland indicated that had he known how serious the Mayday event was he “probably” would have had the Mayday Report prepared by someone independent of Frisco FD.
June 26, 2022: APPLETON TRIP: Assistant Chief Lee Glover, Battalion Chief Jeff Morrison, Captain Alan Wyatt, and Driver/Operator Philip Bur traveled to Appleton, Wisconsin for an apparatus inspection. Glover gets drunk and starts to talk about how when Piland leaves he will be the new Fire Chief. HOW DID GLOVER KNOW PILAND WAS LEAVING OR WOULD BE LEAVING?
July 8, 2022: Mark Piland sent a memo to Assistant Chief Lee Glover with a copy of the letter of complaint regarding possible actions and possible statements that may have been made by Glover during an apparatus inspection trip to Appleton, Wisconsin during the week of June 26, 2022
July 10, 2022: Fire Chief Mark Piland sent an email to Henry Hill that he had received an informal complaint from one of the Deputy Chiefs on some statements Glover may have made in front of a couple of members while in Appleton, WI. He let Hill know he was currently treating it as an informal complaint and is conducting some fact-finding from those present during the statements. He will send Hill an update.
July 12, 2022: Lauren Safranek, HR Director sends an email to the City Attorney Richard Abernathy and Mari McGowan. She says attached is notice of complaint that Lee Glover received. This is related to the item HENRY AND I DISCUSSED WITH RICHARD LAST FRIDAY. We would like to discuss it further tomorrow (Tuesday) morning if possible if one of you are available. Let me know if there is a time that works for you.
Mari McGowan from the law firm responds how about 9 A.M. Lauren Safranek responds that works for her but she is not sure about Henry. She says let’s go ahead and schedule for 9 and we will call you. Henry Hill then responds he can do 9 A.M. Mari McGowan responds to call Richard’s office.
QUESTION: What do you think Lauren Safranek, Henry Hill and the City Attorney’s office talked about a week prior? First we thought maybe it was the Glover Complaint, but that had not come up yet. Plus, it made no sense they would meet to discuss an Informal Complaint that has not even gone through the FD process. They were obviously talking about Mark Piland, and we are guessing it is about his meeting with Mayor Jeff Cheney on June 3, 2022, to discuss the initial law firm’s investigation.
July 13, 2022: Henry Hill sent an email to Mark Piland and CC’d Lauren Safranek (HR) to let Mark know that Lee had reached out and asked to talk to him and Lauren about the documents left on his desk Monday morning regarding the complaint. He asks Mark if he will be addressing this when he is back in town and if there is anything else he should know.
Later that day Piland replies he has one more person to talk to and is still considering this informal but as a point of clarification these statements if said as stated in the complaint are serious. Making possible statements about replacing the Fire Chief and asking for members to pick sides is detrimental and distributing to the good of the order of the department. While “currently” considering the process as informal I don’t want to downplay the seriousness and cause of what is being looked at. Again, just fact-gathering at this point.
July 28, 2022:2nd REQUESTMemo from Deputy Chief Porter to Fire Chief, Mark Piland regarding Education Pay. Jeromy recently opened the position description again to review the Essential Job Functions and he noticed a modification where the word “Preferred” had now been removed. When he turned his second request, Mark Piland was alerted to change that was WITHOUT HIS APPROVAL. This is the first time Piland learns HR had modified, falsified or forged the job description.
The screen shot shows thatAugust 1, 2017: Job Description was modified by Shannon Allyn at 2:44 PM, and Fire Chief Mark Piland signed this version of the job description on 7/31/2017. Then on March 17, 2021, at 10:43 am and 11 am, the job description was modified again by Lori Rutland. Then on March 18, 2021, Lori Rutland modified the job description again at 11:22 am.
THE GIG IS UP! HR (Lauren Safranek and Lori Rutland) HAVE BEEN EXPOSED! WOULD HER JOB BE ON THE LINE? COULD SHE LOOSE HER $178,291 INCOME?
August 5, 2022: Confidential Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C released a 480-page “Confidential” Investigation Report. The first 33 pages detail the investigation and offers a few key points:
A Dallas Morning News Article said Mark Piland committed malfeasance because he changed the report. However, the actual report says: There is also some evidence that the changes to the Mayday Report were suggested by individuals who had either a perceived or an actual conflict of interest when they suggested edits to the Mayday Report. It also said, there is insufficient/no evidence to support the allegation that Chief Piland or Assistant Chief Kraemer hid or altered critical information of the Mayday Report by moving the factors to another section. The information remained in the report even if it was in a separate section.
When it came to the alleged violations of the Frisco FD SOP 101.01 Standard of Conduct the report said, there is insufficient/no evidence to support that there is an issue with them conducting their official duties in a manner that serves the public interest. It goes on to state there is insufficient/no evidence that they violated the city’s five core values or the Frisco FD core values. It says there is insufficient/no evidence that Mark Piland made a false statement in any official communications or conversation with another employee, volunteer, or citizen. It says there is insufficient/no evidence that Mark Piland or Kraemer violated Frisco’s Employee Code of Conduct, or that he was dishonest. When it comes to Freedom of Reprisal there is insufficient/no evidence to support the merit of this complaint as the evidence reviewed and witnesses interviewed demonstrated that no reprisal has occurred against Sapp and any actions complained of by BC Hutt were appropriate actions not taken as reprisal for his drafting of the Mayday Report or any complaints about protected activity. There is insufficient/no evidence to support the merits of this complaint. The investigation found no actions by Chief Piland or Assistant Chief Kraemer that rose to the level of a criminal offense.
Lastly, it notes that BC Hutt shares some of the fault for why this process failed. BC Hutt viewed the Mayday Report editorial process through lenses of conflict and distrust. According to multiple witnesses, BC Hutt’s viewpoint as it relates to his interactions with command staff is not unique to the Mayday Report. Longstanding personality conflicts and lack of trust between BC Hutt and DC Carpenter, and particularly between BC Hutt and Assistant Chief Kraemer played a role in defining BC Hutt’s perception of how the review of the Mayday Report was conducted and the level of editorial input BC Hutt expected to his drafts. The trust issues between BC Hutt and members of the Executive Staff and Command Staff undermined any chance of a truly collaborative effort in connection with the Mayday Report. Even though the investigation revealed that there was no interference in the investigation by the FFFA or the PIA Requests of the FFFA and that there was no retaliation or reprisal against Sapp or BC Hutt, the lack of trust within the Frisco FD explains why Sapp and Hutt viewed certain acts as either designed to interfere with an investigation or as acts of retaliation and reprisal.
August 6, 2022: Fire Chief Piland sends an email to Lauren Safranek with Jeromy Porter’s 2nd Request for Educational Pay. Piland notes in the email he was unaware of the change in 2021. Lauren Safranek has to act fast save her ass!
August 9, 2022: Lori Rutland (HR Compensation Analyst) sends an email to Lauren Safranek asking if she received clarification from Henry regarding the Fire Departments Job Descriptions for Deputy Fire Chief and Assistant Chief? Lori notes, last time they appear to be updated was in 2017. Then she says the JD’s on the website match the JD’s we have saved.
Why is this email a red flag? Lori’s knows they accessed the system in 2021 and changed the JD’s and now she is acting like that never happened. She even notes the 2017 SIGNATURE even though she is fully away they never obtained updated signatures in 2021 when she changed it. She is trying to pass off the JD as the original when she knows they were changed which is further proof of the HR team cover up.
August 9, 2022: Memo from Fire Chief Mark Piland to Assistant Chief Lee Glover regarding the informal complaint (Appleton, WI) was not sustained and is now closed.
August 30, 2022: Mayor Cheney was interviewed by Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C., for a subsequent investigation into his meeting with Mark Piland that occurred June 3, 2022
September 1, 2022: Adams, Lynch and Loftin released a 2ndadditional investigation report into the “Break of confidentiality concerning the underlying investigation.”
The summary notes the law firm was asked to investigate Fire Chief, Mark Piland. The report claimed Piland violated his confidentiality agreement however Piland has insisted that he did not. Piland knew he was still under a “Confidentiality Warning” from 4/4/22 and 5/31/22 that he could not speak about the investigation to anyone. In the report from Adams, Lynch & Loftin P.C., it states Piland then raised concerns he had with investigation because there was a severe lack of trust between FFD and the City Manager, George Purefoy, Assistant City Manager, Henry Hill and Lauren Safranek. He also said he believes Safranek misrepresented the investigation and that she was not being honest about the process or purpose. He also told the Mayor he and Assistant Chief Kraemer were thinking about filing a complaint against the City Manager for how they handled the complaints. Mayor Cheney said in his interview Piland asked him to keep their conversation confidential. In the findings of the report it states, Chief Piland raised issues with the motivation for the Investigation, the subject of the investigation and whether the investigation should be occurring.
While the result of the investigation is that Piland supposedly violated his confidentiality agreement we see it a little differently. Mark Piland figured out that Safranek was using this investigation to COVER HER OWN ASS FOR FORGING DOCUMENTS BACK IN 2021. We are pretty sure he figured out she was using the investigation to cover her own MALFEASANCE.
If you are an employee with a company and subject to an investigation, what do you do or where do you go, if you have concerns about the HR Director leading the investigation being compromised? What do you do or where do you go, if you believe the HR Director is lying about the reason for the investigation and she has intentions to use it for malicious purposes? In most cases, you would go to your boss. What do you do or where do you go if you believe your boss (Assistant City Manager – Henry Hill) and his boss (City Manager – Wes Pierson) are also compromised and are aware of the intentions of the investigation being used to railroad people? That is what happened here, and the city had no guidelines on where an employee should go if the employee believed his higher-ups were involved in something nefarious. Piland decided to express his concerns regarding the motivation of the investigation with the person at the top of the organizational chart. That is the Mayor! Little did he realize that it would be used against him.
September 14, 2022: Mark Piland is told that due to the investigation he has two choices, he can be fired, or he can retire. Piland chooses to turn in his Retirement Letter
September 14, 2022: Wes Pierson replies to the Mark Piland Retirement Letter
Total Cost of Investigation (that we know of) $83,196.79. Lauren spent a lot of TAX PAYER DOLLARS to cover her MALFEASANCE!
December 9, 2022: Email from Lauren Safranek HR to Fire Chief Lee Glover where she tells him she met with Porter on Sept 20, 2022, and explained the JD and changes. She stated he was okay with it, which according to our sources he was not and that shows in his exit interview notes which proves again Sassy Safranek is lying. She also said Piland wanted it change which we know is not true because in an email to Lauren he states he was not aware and did not sign off on any changes in 2021 when he forwards Jeromy’s second request. Our insider at the city said according to a calendar search Piland had a meeting within a week of Jeromy Porters second request with Henry Hill. That is where he alerted him that he never authorized, or agreed to change the JD’s and he never signed it.
February 17, 2023: Former Fire Chief, Mark Piland files to run for Mayor against incumbent Jeff Cheney.
March 8, 2023: Lauren Safranek, Director of HR sends an email to Wes Pierson, City Manager with a link to the Nepotism Policy. Remember Lee Glover on the trip announced he was going to be the New Fire Chief several months before Piland was forced to leave the city. Now Lauren has to have the policy changed to accommodate their plan that we believe Glover was a party too.
At 4:21 PM Wes Pierson replies to Lauren Safranek and asks for clarification. Lee would be ineligible to apply for the open Fire Chief position because his relative is now employed by the City. Am I correct?
At 9:21 PM Lauren Safranek writes back to Wes Pierson while Lee can apply for the Fire Chief position, the policy indicates he cannot be promoted because it would create a violation of the policy since the policy states that No Identified Employees of a Department Director may be employed by the City of Frisco. She suggested they change the policy which they did at the April 4, 2023, council meeting. You can read all about it in Day 10: Dog & Pony Show
April 4, 2023 (the same night): Frisco City Council after coming out of an executive session, the council voted on one item from its executive agenda. “In connection with item No. 2A, ii on tonight’s agenda, I move to authorize the city manager to release the second investigative report, dated Sept. 1, 2022, concerning Mark Piland,” Councilmember Bill Woodard said. In a 5-0 vote to pass the motion, Mayor Cheney conveniently recused himself. It is important to note that Bill Woodard, Angelia Pelham, John Keating, and Tammy Meinershagen had already endorsed and been helping with Mayor Cheney’s re-election campaign. It was clear the release of this document was designed to be a political hit job.
May 1, 2023: Assistant Fire Chief, Cameron Kraemer was wrongfully terminated ending a 27-year career over his diagnosis of PTSD. However, we believe Kraemer was a target of Lauren Safranek because he was Piland #2 and he knew of all of her MALFEASANE and what she done to Piland. For her he was loose end that needed to be taken care of.
May 29, 2023: HR HOTLINE gets complaint against HR Director, Lauren Safranek, HR Lori Rutland, Assistant City Manager Henry Hill about forging documents, falsifying records. It was CASE 64
May 30 , 2023:Email from Lauren Safranek to Henry Hill regarding Ethics Case 64
End Result? Nothing of course
June 1, 2023: Frisco Fire Chief Meet The Candidates was held at the library. Candidates Rob Bergersen, Richard Davis, Lee Glover, Kenneth Johnson, and Marc Pate
June 19, 2023: The City of Frisco is naming the interim Chief, Lee Glover to the position permanently. Again, why did the city waste TAX PAYER DOLLARS on a search when they knew they were giving the job Glover.
September 21, 2023: Assistant Fire Chief Cameron Kraemer wins his workers compensation case
September 27, 2023: Jeromy Porter’s Exit Interview with Wes Pierson where he states job description changes and Glover’s abusive and drunk behaviors.
October 9, 2023: Wes Pierson sends an email to Lauren Safranek after his exit interview with Jeromy Porter. He asks her to write up a memo that outlines her understanding of facts and context related to the matter of the job descriptions. He would like that back by 10/31 for the file. Lauren Safranek writes back with her side of the story which is all lies to cover herself.
Lauren Safranek has worked in the city for 22+ years and she $178,291 reasons to protect herself. Had she lost her job, do you think someone else would have hired her if they found she committed MALFEASANCE? Households are struggling today and that is a big income to lose so you can imagine how far one would go to protect it. Instead, she continues to get other people fired to cover up what is happening in Human Resources.
The sad part is, she is not the only one, we believe George Purefoy, Henry Hill and others are fully aware of what is going on. Remember they all came up under Purefoy who believes LOYALTY IS NUMBER ONE, IT’S THE FRISCO WAY! That is why Mack Borchardt still has a golden parachute job at city hall for six figures. It is why Lee Glover is now in the position of Fire Chief (the boys are back in town)!
This corruption has destroyed peoples reputations and two highly respected Fire Fighters are out of a job and we are sure there is more. If you ask the FWB group what should happen next, well we would say Fire Safranek, Hill, Glover and anyone else associated with this corruption. Oh wait, ASK THEM TO RETIRE. I think the city could be facing many lawsuits in the future and they will pay for their defense with our TAX DOLLARS. Everything is documented by emails and evidence so what do you have to say now? Humble Pie Anyone?
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