In 2021 several Ethics Complaints were filed by residents involving those who serve on the city council. One of those complaints was filed by Frisco resident Ms. Rouse and was against Mayor Jeff Cheney. It alleged that the mayor used his city email for political campaign purposes to support then-candidate Angelia Pelham. It pointed to a Facebook post by the Mayor on May 25, 2021, where he states he asked each senior member of city staff, “In the runoff race which Place 3 candidates have asked to meet with you?” He then proceeded to publicly publish the responses in a Pro Angelina endorsement on his official Mayor Jeff Cheney Facebook page.
Review of Mayor Jeff Cheney’s Sworn Response:
Mayor Cheney states in his sworn response that the complaint does not comply with the requirements for filing a complaint and that Ms. Rouse did not provide a statement of facts but instead offered her statement of opinions, assumptions, and allegations, and none were not supported by facts or evidence. FACT: First Exhibit A, Ms. Rouse pointed directly to the mayor’s post on May 25, 2021, which that acknowledges on May 24th he used electronic media and sent a message to every senior staff member and then published their names and answers to his question.
Second, he proceeds to state that none of the responses were a result of his city email (he texted them) so that part was factually false. TRUE: He texted senior staff and her reference in the complaint was he used city email. OPINION: One could argue the mayor tried to mislead the public in his social media post when he says he sent it via electronic communication because most would assume that he alluding to email.
On his social media post, he notes that any city staff response is part of the official city record and subject to Public Information Requests. In his written sworn response, he noted that he was not asking any of the senior staff to support a candidate. TRUE: His social media post is correct in that Senate Bill 933 & 944 states work-related text messages sent by public officials (the mayor to senior staff) are a matter of public record even if sent from their own personal device or outside work hours. OPINION: He said he was not asking them to support a candidate, but he did not explain why he was asking the question. So the senior staff had no idea if it was a personal question if he was asking for city purposes, and/or asking on behalf of his position as Mayor. The mayor did not tell them ahead of time he was going to use them in a social media post where he intended to support a candidate. Had he been upfront with city staff about his intentions they may not have chosen to respond to his text.
Third, he states in his response that the complaint on its face does not state a violation of the ethics laws. FACT: Ms. Rouse in the third paragraph of her complaint stated the section and specific portion of the City Ethics Code she believed the Mayor had violated (Sections 6, 7, 8, and 9). OPINION: Now we are common folk and no legal eagle but upon review, it is our opinion the Mayor most definitely violated Section 7 of the City Code of Ethics Section A (1) which talks about influencing subordinates and states a city official shall not directly or indirectly, induce or attempt to induce any subordinate of the Official to participate in an election campaign or to engage in any political activity related to a candidate or issue. Also, it is our opinion he violated Section 8 of the city code of ethics which states a city official shall now knowingly assist or induce or attempt to assist or induce another city official to violate any provision of the Code of Ethics.
In the mayor’s sworn response to the complaint, he said citizens were asking him if city staff had met with any of the candidates and argued they had the right to know. OPINION: He is partially correct, and he should have told each resident they can file a Public Information Request (PIR) requesting that information from city staff, city management, and the city council. However, say 5, 10, or even 100 citizens asked that question it does not mean the mayor should use that in a campaign support message for a candidate. He did not post these responses in an FYI public information message. He published these responses in a political endorsement for Angelia Pelham on his OFFICIAL MAYOR JEFF CHENEY Facebook page where he tagged the OFFICIAL Facebook page for Angelia Pelham for Frisco and in the last sentence he says make your voice heard, vote Angelia.
Going back and watching the city video for this meeting, Cheney read the agenda item and then made a few statements. Cheney started by saying the complaints should have facts, not allegations, and he denied any wrongdoing. He also stated it does not allege facts sufficient to constitute a violation of the ethics policy. Then he recused himself and Bill Woodard, Mayor Pro Tem took over. They received advice from the city attorney, opened the public hearing for citizens’ comments, then some of the council gave feedback. One member of the council noted that any complaint should have contained a sworn affidavit and that she needed to have a lawyer help her. Then Bill Woodard (Mayor Pro Tem) said “I know every member up here has spent a significant amount of time reading these complaints over the weekend, discussing them with the city attorney, then discussing them tonight in executive session again with the city attorney” – wait, what? Bill Woodard admitted to discussing the complaints before the City Attorney would have met with them at the City Council in executive session at its next regular meeting to present a written report describing in detail the nature of the complaint, and the attorney’s assessment of whether the facts as alleged constitute a violation of the ethics laws.” So that leaves us asking, who discussed it over the weekend? How can we be sure there were no back-door deals made for a vote? The issue is perception and transparency. If the city does not follow its own process written in its Code of Ethics then how can we trust the process? Why does a citizen with a true concern need a lawyer to file an ethics complaint, last I checked we the citizens voted you in and you work for us! Now we have no voice without an attorney.
The council agreed in a 5 – 0 vote to dismiss the complaint. Now let’s look at the shady shit that makes the Ethics policy bogus!
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