We have spent quite a bit of time combing through the City of Frisco elected officials’ campaign finance reports and as we come across items of interest that seem questionable, we bring them to the public’s attention. In our recent dive, we came across the name Veton Krasniqi, and it appears he made two substantial donations to two sitting council members. We did a simple Google search of the name in Frisco, and we found a LinkedIn page with no details except self-employed.
The first time we come across his name is in John Keating’s campaign finance report for the period of January 16, 2021, through April 1, 2021. It shows Veton Krasniqi donated $10,000 to John Keating’s campaign on March 10, 2021. The report shows the address listed as 6400 FM423, #15109, Frisco TX 75026. Immediately we noticed a red flag, because the zip code for the address, 75026, is not a Frisco zip code. It is a Plano zip code located near the George Bush Tollway and Coit, almost near Richardson.
We searched just the address without the zip code which came back to a company called German All Construction, LLC according to Open Corporates. It shows the “Agent Name” as Veton Krasniqi and the agent address as 6400 FM 423 #15109, Frisco TX, 75036. We expected to find an office building but instead, we found the Courtland Apartments at Phillips Creek Ranch.
The registered address for German All Construction, LLC on opencorporates.com comes back to 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy, Ste 402, Frisco TX 75034. We decided to google that address to see what we could find, and it came back to Lit Smoke & Vape. We don’t believe it was there in early 2021 but it did open later that year to some controversy which is detailed in a Frisco Enterprise and Dallas Morning News article. The article talked about how many parents and residents living in the area felt a Vape Shop at Stonebrook and Teel near an elementary, middle, and high school was inappropriate.
We decided to go to the Texas Comptroller to view the franchise tax certificate for German All Construction, LLC. It was registered on November 11, 2019, and appears to be active today. It shows the mailing address at 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy, Ste 402, which is the Vape Shop, and the registered address appears to be the same apartments at 6400 FM 423. When we clicked on the Public Information Report for 2023 it came back with two addresses. The first address we have already seen in previous reports is 2552 Stonebrook Parkway. The second address was new and belonged to a 1.544-million-dollar home in Phillips Creek Ranch on Tailwater Trail. We decided to look the home up on Denton CAD which shows a Veton and Lena Krasniqi purchased it in August 2021. It appears to have been transferred to a Family Trust in June of 2023, then the trust sold the home in October 2023. Are you confused yet? We are!
We continued to look through more campaign finance reports for other council members when we saw the name Veton Krasniqi again. This time it was not Keating’s finance report, it was Angelia Pelham’s finance report. It appears Veton Krasniqi also donated $5000 to the Pelham campaign on May 15, 2021, just a few short months after he donated $10k to Keatings.
The original campaign finance report filed by Pelham has Veton’s name and email address, where there is supposed to be an actual physical address. We found an ethics complaint on file with the Texas Ethics Commission because report after report was inaccurate with emails instead of physical addresses which are required by the state election code. Pelham was ordered to fix the incorrect finance reports, and when she did, she showed Veton Krasniqi’s address as 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy, Ste 302, Frisco TX 75034.
Immediately we had a red flag with Pelham’s corrected report because she listed the suite number as 302, which is different from Keating’s report which is 402. We Googled the address using suite 302 and it appears that is the Mexican restaurant Dos Amigos. We decided to look at Denton CAD and Viton Krasniqi is listed at 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy in suite 300B and the legal description says it is a restaurant.
Can you guess what we did next? Well, of course, we googled 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy, Ste 300B and we pulled up a Community Impact article from Feb 2019 which reports the Berlin Café is now open in Frisco serving German-inspired cuisine. The article states the café opened in late December and is located at 2552 Stonebrook Parkway, Ste 300B in Frisco. We looked up the Tax ID for Berlin Café on the Texas Comptroller’s website which shows it was owned by Veton Krasniqi. Then we came across another article in Community Impact in March 2021 titled Berlin Café Rebrands as Dos Amigos in Frisco. We decided to look up Dos Amigos Frisco on the Texas Comptroller’s website which showed it was registered in November 2020, but the franchise tax involuntarily ended. According to OpenCorporates.com, it shows that on July 28, 2023, the restaurant filed for a tax forfeiture. The mailing address is 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy, Ste 302 but the registered office address is 6400 FM 423, which is the Courtland Apartments.
After all this research that left us completely confused, we were still wondering, who is Veton Krasniqi that donated $10,000 to Keating and $5000 to Pelham? We filed a PIR for any communications between Veton Krasniqi, Keating, and Pelham. We were shocked when we received notice that no sufficient records came up. Two council members, two large donations, and neither of them communicated even once with the donor, not even a thank you note. Um, we smell some shady shXt!
We decided to do a court record search for Veton Krasniqi and started in Denton, County. We found eviction case after eviction case for Veton and Lena Krasniqi starting in Dec 2018 up to June of 2023. Then we looked up court records in Collin, County and we found multiple debt cases from 2020 to 2023. One involves his company German All Construction and Italia Day & Night LLC, otherwise known as Italian Village, which is registered at 5840 Legacy Circle, Ste D100, Plano TX. Italian Village located in The Shops of Legacy was featured in D Magazine back in September 2021 if you are interested in learning more.
Veton Krasniqi had lots of problems that’s for sure, and just when we thought we had hit all the shXt we were shocked to find two very important lawsuits. The first was filed by Frisco Independent School District for a total sum of $24,093.74 in back taxes against Veton and Lena Krasniqi. It appears they didn’t pay taxes when living in the fancy million-dollar Phillips Creek Home. Remember, this is the same time they donated to both candidates’ campaigns.
With all the money issues the Krasniqi’s had, where did they find funds to be big spenders and donate to local political campaigns? Maybe, it was the money they ripped off from the United States of America (aka you and me and our tax dollars). Maybe the answer is in the case of the USA v. Veton Krasniqi filed In The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division indictment on Jan 12, 2023. Krasniqi is accused of unlawfully and unjustly enriching himself by obtaining The Paycheck Protection Program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, and Restaurant Revitalization Fund loan proceeds through materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. NOW THAT IS A WHOPPER!
The indictment goes on to say the defendant (Krasniqi) used numerous restaurants and construction businesses including Berlin Café, Dos Amigos Frisco, German All Construction, Noahlena, and Foxtron to obtain multiple loans. It goes on to say he used his personal and business bank accounts to receive, deposit, and transfer the funds. It also accuses Veton of submitting materially false loan applications, lying about his qualifications, and intended use of the loan funds. It also accuses him of helping his family members and business associates in submitting false loan applications.
The indictment states that on April 28, 2020, he received his first PPP draw of $82,500 and on the same day he transferred $82,400 to his personal account. He then took out a cash withdrawal of $55,800, made approximately $15,000 in car payments, and transferred $9300 overseas.
The business closed at the end of 2020 and then he submitted a second withdrawal PPP application on Berlin Café. The indictment states on Feb 5, 2021, he received a SECOND draw PPP loan for $283,600 for Berlin Café, LLC which he claimed on the application would be used to retain workers, rent, utilities, etc., but the problem is Berlin Café had already permanently closed. The same day he transferred the entire sum to his personal bank account. We could go on and on but you get the drift the dirtbag was a fraud.
So how much did Veton Krasniqi defraud the US Government and taxpayers? Buckle your seat belt, because he obtained over $2.25 million in funds earmarked for emergency pandemic relief that real businesses in our community could have used. Let me summarize, he could not pay his school district taxes which hurts our kids, and he defrauded taxpayers (you and me), but he had money to donate $5000 to Angela Pelham and $10,000 to John Keating. As of today, neither of them has returned the money or offered to return the money.
This is not the first time John Keating has taken money from questionable donors. In October 2018, Keating took $5000 from Phillip Michael Carter who was convicted of bilking the elderly out 17.5 million dollars. It was not till March of 2019 when Keating and Cheney were confronted by the DMN asking if they would return the thousands, they received from a criminal that they both said they would be returning the money.
Why does this continue to happen, better yet how does this continue to happen to our council members? Cheney, Pelham, and Keating are all recipients of dirty funds. It is funny I saw an ad the other day on social media, and it was Pelham’s video where she says over and over “YOU KNOW ME” – yeah, we do! Then Keating boasts on his website Promises Made, Promises Kept which should read Promises Made, Promises Broken.
John Keating and Angelia Pelham, will you return the money to the federal government and taxpayers or return the money and give it to the school district towards his tax debt? Let’s see if they do the right thing!
In our blog Non-Partisan Politics. we asked if local municipal elections are as “non-partisan” as some want you to believe, and the answer is no. Then in our blog Go Fund Me – Campaign Edition, we asked if you would be upset to learn that a candidate whom you donated to, used their campaign donations to donate to other candidates that do not share the same ideology? We did a deep dive into John Keating, who is currently running for re-eleciton in Place 1 and is a registered Republican. Keating is also the #1 offender of transferring money between candidates both from his political campaign and personal pockets.
We wanted to look at other candidates’ campaign reports to see what stands out. According to Ballotpedia, Mayor Jeff Cheney is a registered Republican. In 2015, as Mayor Deputy Pro Tem, Jeff Cheney endorsed fellow republicans Chad Rudy for Frisco ISD Place 3 and as Mayor in 2018 he endorsed Angela Paxton. In 2021 he endorsed Angelia Pelham, a registered democrat, for city council. Mayor Jeff Cheney campaign reports might look boring at first glance; however, you have to look a little deeper and then you will discover some interesting things. We are guessing his endorsement of a democrat may be the reason Cheney was denied endorsements during his re-election for Mayor in 2023 by the Collin and Denton County Republican parties.
We also noticed from Cheney’s campaign reports that he received at least $4500 in personal contributions from John and Leslie Keating. As for others sitting on council, Cheney received an in-kind donation from Bill Woodard for $109 and Angelia Keating for $400. It begs the question, if an ethics complaint came before the council (which it has in the past) could Cheney be fair and impartial when Keating has given him over $4500?
Another name that appears over and over on his campaign report Lorie Medina. Not in the donations column but in the “expense” column. Medina, otherwise known as Cheney’s political consultant or one time Chief of Staff has been paid somewhere in the range of $191,500 over the last few years for her loyalty. Now, that is a lot of MONEY!
Lastly, as we have pointed out before, the majority of his donations are from developers with ongoing city projects. In 2019 Cheney accepted $15,000 from Phillip Carter which he later returned after public pressure because Carter was convicted of fraud. Another interesting name, Logan Anjaneyulu shows up in 2023 and he appears to be the founder of Alamo Equity, which owned the El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio. In June of 2023 it was reported that the hotel had gone into foreclosure and was headed to the auction block by The Real Deal. The article stated the Alamo Equity founder and managing partner had been mismanaging the fund to limit his personal financial exposure. Should we be shocked, just a few months after his donation the developer is in the news for questionable business practices? Probably, but it seems to be a repeating pattern when you take money from developers.
Then we looked at Angelia Pelham who is running for re-election for Place 3. Since 2021, the Keatings have personally donated $8000 to the Pelham campaign. That is not chump change! Again, we pose the same question, if an ethics complaint came before the council against Keating (which it has in the past) could Angelia Pelham claim to be impartial when the Keatings have been her BIGGEST donor? Does accepting that kind of money when you sit next to the person on council create a conflict? Next Mayor Jeff Cheney and his wife Dana donated $1556.00 to Angelia Pelham as well as very publicly endorsing Pelham.
We also are curious if John Keatings conservative friends Jared Patterson, Drew Springer and Matt Shaheen (who was just at Keatings re-election kick off) would have a conflict with him donating that much or sending out a political mailer that shows an endorsement for a registered Democrat, who openly admitted on video she voted for Biden?
Pelham has received over $10,000 in contributions from Cheney’s developer friends since 2021. Should we be surprised? Her three largest donations were $3000 from the Williams family associated with LandPlan Development, $8000 from Keatings and $5000 from a Venton Krasniqi. Venton who? Remember that name as it is coming up in its own blog post soon.
Next, we looked at Bill Woodard and he likes to donate from his campaign to other campaigns. First, he donated $500 to Sean Heatley for Frisco ISD, $1000 in two $500 increments to Dynette Davis, a democrat for Frisco ISD and $500 to so called conservative Laura Rummel. Then he donated $1000 to Tracy Shipman, Dustin Paschal and Clint Bledsoe’s campaigns.
As far as taking donations from fellow council members we could only find that he took one donation in the amount of $1000 from John Keatings campaign. Again, we ask if the council members take money from each other, should we believe, they can be impartial when having to judge their co-council members of an ethics complaint?
Like all the other council members he took campaign contributions from the big developers ranging from $15 to $20,000. All in all, one might say his campaign list is pretty standard until we saw a recent donation from his campaign fund for $200 on November 6, 2023, to Safety First Frisco PAC. What is the Safety First Frisco PAC? It is a “Political Action Committee” started to work AGAINST PROP A & B, FOR THE FRISCO FIRE ASSOCIATION for their ballot measures for civil service and collective bargaining. Should a council member be giving to a PAC from his campaign fund (money you may have donated) to oppose our first responders? Bill advocates left and right for his trikes and bikes path and trails, but it is impossible for him to find money in the city budget for staffing and workers compensation. The city forced the Frisco Fire Fighters Association to the point of a ballot measure. I sincerely hope if anything regarding the fire department comes before the council that Bill Woodard recuses himself now that he has funded opposition to the firefighters.
Next up Brian Livingston, who is known as the most conservative of our council members. Most of his donors appear to be registered republicans. It is not a surprise that from 2020 to 2022 he used campaign funds to donate $3000 between House Rep Jared Patterson and Matt Shaheen. It also appears Patterson donated back to Livingston in the amount of $1000 when he was running for re-election. It also appears he donated to the Mark Piland mayoral campaign in early 2023 which is probably why the council removed him from all of his positions on different committees. Livingston also donated to several conservative organizations like the Denton County Republican Party for an event table in the amount of $1391 in 2021, the Frisco Conservatives in the amount of $400 in 2020 and the Republican Woman of Great North Texas in 2017. Lastly, he donated $1450 to the Americas Defender Foundation for the Thin Blue Line Ball in 2023. The interesting thing about Livingston is campaign donations aligned to his conservative values and within his political party lines.
As for council-to-council donations we found an in-kind donation in 2016 to Jeff Cheney for $265 itemized as food. He also has a campaign donation to Laura Rummel, which since being elected has towed the line of being a conservative. The one thing we did learn, is that Brain Livingston likes food, lots of food. He has several food related expenses on his campaign finance report at local restaurants. Like the others he has taken money from developers to the tune of about $5 to $6000.
Tammy Meinershagen, one of our newest council members, had a very short campaign contribution list. Craig Hall donated $2500 which kind of makes sense since he is into the arts and Meinershagen is poet and arts expert. She had three personal donations (not made from political campaigns), the first was $500 from Angelia Pelham. Then we found a $1000 from Dana and Jeff Cheney and a WHOPPING $5000 donation from the Keatings. Again, we ask the question if an ethics complaint came before the council against one of these 3 council members would Tammy recuse herself? Would she claim that she could be impartial?
What did we learn looking at these campaign reports? One, they all love developers, some more than others, which as a resident I will always find questionable. We also believe the constant back and forth between campaign donations and/or accepting personal donations from fellow council members gives the appearance that your vote or decisions could be bought and paid for. It also gives the appearance that you may be compromised should you have to be the judge and jury against your fellow council member if an ethics complaint were to arise. We also learned that John Keating and his ex-wife Leslie were the biggest donors to all the campaigns including his own. We are curious what Keatings conservative friends will think now that it is out that he gave over $13k to registered Democrats.
Here is the truth, we would love to believe local races are non-partisan, but that is simply not true. Who you donate to matters! Who you endorse matters! Who you align with matters! Just scroll through Facebook political pages and you can see the talks of partisan vs non-partisan and it always ends up in two sides bickering.
Ask yourself, if you are a conservative and you believe you are supporting a conservative but find out he has given $10,000 to registered democrats would you want to vote for that person. Same thing if you are a democrat and you believe you are supporting a democrat but find out they gave $10,000 to a conservative would you still support or vote for that person?
If you are a politician who has taken money from someone that you believed aligned with your party values but then learned, they donated to a candidate clearly aligned and registered with an opposing political party would you want to be associated with them? The point – know what you stand for and research your candidates.
If you have not read our blog from yesterday, Legal Logo Woes then you should. We told you about a citizen who emailed the city and after publishing our blog, we heard from many residents who also emailed the city, and got the same stock answer.
“The City of Frisco does not own the “Frisco” logo. The BNSF Railway Company owns the rights to the logo and has granted a license to the City for the right to use the logo under certain circumstances. The license agreement does not address use of the logo by candidates in City or other elections. Whether a candidate may use the logo or not is a matter of federal trademark and/or copyright law. The City does not have jurisdiction to enforce federal trademark or copyright law.”
The resident did not ask about the trademark of the logo it asked about the city’s rule posted on their website and in the candidate packet stating you could not use the Frisco Logo in campaigning. The city made that rule and published it so the city should be able to enforce it, especially with a sitting council member. Why publish it if you can’t, won’t, or don’t want to enforce it?
We emailed BNSF Railway to ask if the use of the city logo that they own, means and should be interpreted as they endorse John Keating and Angelia Pelham? They responded with we have forwarded this to our legal department. If the answer is no, they do not endorse these candidates, we plan to ask about Mayor Cheney’s use of the city logo in his campaign material in his 2023 election. We will let you know what we hear back!
Campaigning has begun and we are excited to see how the next few months play out. We thought we should educate ourselves on the rules, so we read city’s Political Campaign Sign policy listed on the city website.
Rules 1 & 4 are pretty clear so we decided to look at the candidates social media pages and election websites.
Rule 1: Political signs cannot be placed on any City of Frisco, Community Development Corporation (CDC), or Economic Development Corporation (EDC) property or in a City of Frisco easement.
Rule 4: The City of Frisco logo cannot be used in any way for campaigning including on political signs.
John Redmond website appears to only be one page and has a short intro to who he is and his campaign logo. We could not find any social media pages for him. – Passed Inspection
Mark Piland website does not include pictures of political signs on city property, and it does not contain the official city logo. In a review of his social media, we did not see any violations either. – Passed Inspection
Angelia Pelham currently holds Place 3 and serves as Deputy Mayor Pro Tem. Her website passed inspection. However, her social media did not! On January 17th she held a filing party at city hall. She had several supporters come join her and there are numerous pictures of her and supporters holding Pelham campaign signs on city property and more so in the rotunda of city hall! That is a clear violation of Rule 1 even if it was temporary. The photos also violate Rule 4 regarding the city logo not being used for campaigning because clearly in several photos the official city logo can be spotted. It became campaigning when she turned into a filing party, had her political signs and several supporters wearing t-shirts. The photos appear on her political Facebook page as well as personal page and on Instagram.
We liked her campaign video, she looks good in red and has a catchy slogan. We are a little curious about one portion of the video which shows her standing at the back of the room with Frisco Public Safety officers from both the PD and FD. The video is tagged in the corner with her campaign logo which could give people the impression she is endorsed by either public safety group, which she is not. The picture includes Mark Piland who has announced he is running for Place 1 which made us curious how he feels his likeness in her video? Lastly, when the photo was taken we were pretty sure none of them knew down the road it would be used for campaign video. We are not sure if there is any violation here according to campaign rules or city rules, however one would think before using someone’s likeness, out of respect, you might want to ask them if they are okay with it. Many police departments have rules about offices being photographed and for the purposes they can be used for.
Lastly, we looked a John Keating’s website. He currently serves Place 1 and is the Mayor Pro Tem. We could not view his social media because has blocked us across all channels. Keating’s website is in clear violation of Rule 4. As soon as the page loads you see a picture of Keating with the slogan Promises Made Promises Kept and behind it is a watermark of the official City of Frisco Flag. Then if you scroll down, right after he asks you for your money, you can clearly see the official city logo.
On the “About John” page it shows him standing in the Frisco City Council Chamber up on the dais. This picture was taken on December 4, 2018, the night the council approved a plan for the PGA of America. The picture appears in an article for the Dallas Morning News.
The last page titled “The Mission” has a picture of Keating with the official city of Frisco Logo right behind him, which is again, a clear violation of Rule 4. Then under Public Safety he has a picture with Chief Shilson, Frisco PD which mislead residents of an endorsement that he does not have. Now the picture with Shilson may not be a violation but is misleading.
When it comes to campaigning, rules should be taken very seriously. We could understand how first-time candidates can make mistakes, but if they are running it is their responsibility to know the rules. As for the Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Angelia Pelham, and Mayor Pro Tem John Keating, they have no excuse. If they are serving in the Deputy Mayor Pro Tem and Mayor Pro Tem positions then clearly they should know the rules. Keating has been around since 2011, off and on and if he doesn’t know the rules by now then we may have bigger issues. We go back to why are there rules for thee but not for me? I can guarantee if some of the previous candidates who ran for office committed these violations we would not hear the end of it. The city should also be accountable to uphold their own rules! Email the city council and ask them to uphold to the city rules now and in the future.
Russian Roulette is the practice of loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at one’s own head. It is basically a game of chance! When it comes to filing a PIR with the City of Frisco, it too is like a game of Russian Roulette. Will they provide the documents or won’t they? Will they do it in a timely manner or delay it by sending it to the Texas Attorney General for an “opinion.”
Since Whistleblowers’ inception back in February of last year we have continually addressed the issues of PIR GATE. In our April 2023 blog we talked about a PIR that FWB filed for Universal Theme Park / Project P117. An email came back from the city that the cost of the documents would be $72.36 and payment was made. Imagine FWB surprise when the city came back asking them to clarify what information they are seeking?
Problem 1: How did the city determine a price of $72.36 for the documents requested if they needed clarification of what was being requested?
THE CONCLUSION: Then on April 18th FWB receives an email saying they have released a few documents, and the rest has been sent to the Attorney General for an opinion. Well, 8 months after initially filing for the PIR the documents were finally released. Why did it take so long? What was it the city didn’t want us to find out about the Universal Kids project?
Now, let’s talk about the PIR we filed for any communications between John Keating or Angelia Pelham and Venton Krasniqi. When the city responded with no responsive records, we were curious, who is Venton Krasniqi? He is a mystery man who donated $10,000 to John Keating and $5000 to Angelia Pelham yet neither of them has shared a text or email with him? That sure seems strange since those are not small donations. Furthermore, we are now curious is this the same man listed in several lawsuits in Collin County regarding debts?
Then we talked about the PIR we filed in May 2023 in regards to the “Public Safety Study regarding the Police Department Staffing” that was funded by federal grants. The response was we could view the document only by coming to city hall because it was copyrighted. However, the organization who did this study has done many other similar studies and they are all published on the web. Why is Frisco’s copyrighted? What made Frisco’s study so special? We never went to view the report because we were contacted by an internal PD source who supplied us with a full copy of the study after seeing our blog. What did we learn after reading it? The city probably didn’t want the residents/public to know the city they claim to be one of the safest cities in Americas has a staffing deficiency in the PD department.
A few months later in October 2023, on a tip from a resident, we filed a PIR that reads, “We would like any emails regarding the flooding that took place on 7/3/23 near 2447 Sleepy Hollow Trail. Emails from PD, streets department, city management and city council. We would like any pictures taken by the streets department at the scene since they were called out by PD. We would like to know what caused the flood?” On October 23, we were surprised to see the status change to: Sent to AG for a Ruling.
WAIT A DAMN MINUTE, you are going to tell me a simple PIR about a street flood must be sent to the Texas Attorney General? The Conclusion: As of today, this still has a status of Sent to the AG for Ruling which means it has been open for over 2 months (about to be 3 months). Something smells like SHIT in Frisco.
If you remember in our Day 6 Breaking The Law blog, we explained how we filed a PIR on Fire Chief Lee Glover and were told no responsive records. In the case of this PIR, who is responsible for releasing those records? Well, that would be the Human Resources Director, Sassy Lauren Safranek, that’s who! Interesting how Sassy came up with the responsive records the second time around, AFTER WE TOLD HER WE ALREADY HAD A COPY OF THE LETTER AND A VIDEO CLIP.
We decided to file another PIR to broaden our search on November 22, 2023, that reads “Copy of all emails and documents related to Lee Glover over his career span with the City of Frisco relating to any job complaints both formal or informal (confidential) by equals, superiors, and subordinates. Any complaints received informal or formal even if confidential via the Frisco Fire Department Complaint Form, relating to his breaking the Frisco Fire Department Policies or City of Frisco Code of Conduct or policies. Any Administrative Warning Letter issued to Lee Glover over his career with the Frisco Fire Department. Any Notice of Investigation issued to Lee Glover over his career span with the Frisco Fire Department. Any emails between Lauren Safranek, Henry Hill, George Purefoy, Mack Borchard, Wes Peirson or Lee Glover regarding the hiring of Lee Glover going back to 1/1/2022 to Present. Feel free to redact personal numbers, birthdays, contact info, etc., allowed by Texas State Law.”
The Response: On December 14, we received a letter in which they located the responsive records and that they re-released at no charge the records because they had already been provided to us. However, that is not exactly true. What we asked for above is very clear so imagine our surprise when we find in the documents they sent back one titled Case 64. The Problem: Case 64 is related to a previous PIR request regarding HR Director Safranek falsifying documents which this document should have been included in, but it wasn’t which is more proof they are withholding documents. Why did we accidentally get the document in the current request, we have no idea. Secondly, it has the Fire Chiefs Candidate Binder that we didn’t ask for. Third it has the pay scale for the Fire Chiefs, which we didn’t ask for. It has the Appleton Complaint which we already know about and was in the previous PIR request. That’s it!
The city wants you and I to believe that Lee Glover has never had any other complaints, write-ups, warning letters, or has broken policies or procedures which he has been cited for over his entire career. Do you believe that? Well, you shouldn’t because we have evidence to the contrary. It leaves us asking, why has the city not released the information related to this PIR that we requested? Again, something smells like SHIT in Frisco.
The Conclusion: You may have guessed it; we filed ANOTHER PIR that said we want to follow up to clarify that Appleton and Mayday are the only two items in his HR file over the span of his career? We asked for anything starting from the beginning of his career in 1991 to the present: 1. Any job complaints, write-ups, or reprimands, both formal or informal (confidential) by equals, superiors, and subordinates. 2. Any complaints, write-ups, or reprimands received via the Frisco Fire Department Complaint Form that includes informal or formal even confidential 3. Any complaints, write-ups or reprimands relating to his breaking the Frisco Fire Department Policies or City of Frisco Code of Conduct or policies. 4. Any Administrative Warning Letters issued to Lee Glover during his time at Frisco FD. 5. Any Notice of Investigation issued to Lee Glover during his time at Frisco FD Are we to believe that since 1991 there have been only 2? We paid $30 plus dollars and want the full PIR as we already know of some that have not been included in the original PIR response.” It is currently in processing!
Lastly, we can’t forget Bobblehead Bill Woodard who went off halfcocked on Facebook defending the city’s decision to cut a lifesaving blood program that just a few years before the council praised from the top of the city council meeting pulpit. While Bobblehead Bill said folks could just email him and he would share the documents we decided to handle it the proper way by filing a PIR on 11/1/23. We uploaded images of his statements in the PIR and asked for the items he referenced. The PIR said,
1. On November 1st Bill Woodard posted on North Texas Politics page a response that talked about a 12-page report and posted a picture of a Section 2.2 Supply of Blood Products. He offers to email the 12-page report to anyone who emails him so we are requesting it formally and since he is willing to send it out freely to anyone who emails him we assume there will be no cost for it.
2. He also posted the following comment below: The blood transfusion program isn’t going away, in fact it’s expanding. We use data to analyze the best use of resources and right now the squad sits idle almost all the time. So that staffing is being divided up and assigned to the BC vehicles, along with the blood transfusion program. This will double (from one to two) the availability of this program on every shift, and better utilize personnel and equipment. In 2024 we expect to add this program to every ambulance we have further expanding the program, which necessitates the training of everyone on those pieces of equipment. We will also be doubling (from one to two) the number of safety officers on shift. This will allow for additional training and promotional opportunities. We would like a copy of the study and data used to analyze the best use of resources that reflect how this decision was made. We would like a copy of the new contract/agreement that the hospital and blood banks will supply the blood for all ambos now and going into 2024. We would also like to know the cost and how it will be funded to train everyone (as he states) on those pieces of equipment.
3. Bill Woodard also stated “We are putting the blood transfusion program on multiple vehicles. So yes it is expanding. And we have been working with our medical director (as well as any other required parties) to ensure the program is run appropriately and has all the proper staffing.” We would like to know how many vehicles the blood program will be on with trained personnel. We would like any emails between the city management, fire department and council with the medical director and required parties he mentions.
4. Steve Cone of P&Z also chimed in so we would like to see the numbers of how the proposed changes to Squad / Blood Program is better than the status quo arrangement. We would like to know the # of blood transfusions teams available per shift, before and after the changes to the program.
The Conclusion: Because Bobblehead Bill offered to send this to folk we assumed there would be no charge but guess what, the city charged us $90.00 which we paid, and we are STILL WAITING FOR THE INFORMATION. Now, they have updated the status to read “Sent to Attorney.” We are not holding our breath we will get the information back before the end of 2023.
In closing, we have a very important question for you to consider. How can the city get a request or for an item, then go to a council meeting, have a discussion in executive session, come out and vote to release confidential HR documents on a retired employee who is under a gag order and is actively running as a political opponent against Mayor Cheney? Please note while Cheney recused himself from the vote 4 of the city council members who participated in the vote had already publicly endorsed Mayor Jeff Cheney which means they probably should have recused themselves. The CHERRY ON TOP is a DMN Reporter had an article in the paper 12 hours later which in our opinion was a political hit piece! If all that can be done in a simple council vote how come they cannot do that for other PIR’s?
Why did the city not send the request from the media to the Attorney General like they do all other requests? Well because they have 30 to 60 days to respond with an opinion which means the election would have been over. At the time Mark Piland was gaining momentum on Mayor Cheney. Cheney and his big developer friends who have BIG INTERESTS in Frisco needed Cheney to win so they just did not have that kind of time. They needed a push in the polls so hence the vote to release the records. It is even more questionable that they didn’t release the full report only a subsequent report that was done related to the political candidate. Being that the vote had HUGE RED FLAGS pertaining to CONFLICT OF INTERESTS which is a great reason to SEND IT TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
This is our public plea to the City of Frisco and the City Council Members, IF YOU HAVE THAT KIND OF POWER THEN WE ASK YOU TO BRING OUR PIRs UP FOR A VOTE. Then VOTE YES unanimously, JUST LIKE in April 2023 to release the following: 1. Universal Kids Documents 2. Documents related to Bobble Head Bills rant on Facebook regarding the Blood Program. 3. The entire HR file for Fire Chief Lee Glove and Mack Borchardt 4. Documents related to a simple street flood 5. All of Lauren Safranek emails for the last two years and 6. Any other open PIRs currently just for the purposes of being FAIR and TRANSPARENT
They would never vote to do that because it does not help them, but it possibly hurts them. The City of Frisco withholds documents, delays the process and flat out lies as to what they have and don’t have. Kristy Morrow is the City Secretary but we don’t think it is her decision on what is released. She sends the requests to the departments or individuals named in the PIR and they respond with the appropriate documents. So, if Sassy Lauran Safranek is colluding with Lee Glover do you think she is going to release the documents requested, probably not. It is a game of RUSSIAN ROULETTE, A GAME OF CHANCE OR TRUST. We DO NOT TRUST the City of Frisco – not one bit! We have proof they have lied and withheld information and that should make residents very wary and angry. This is our city, not their city. It is our tax-dollars!
Growing up in the countryside on a working vineyard was fun, but my parents had one rule which was always to be home before dark and never go into the fields at night. As a kid I remember my mom coming into my room each night to tuck me into bed and she would open the windows to let the cool air flow through the house since we didn’t have air conditioning. The winery fields at night were a desolate and eerie place. The vines, which during the day were lush with grapes, now hung like sinister fingers in the darkness. The only sound was the rustling of leaves and the occasional hoot of an owl in the distance. The moon cast an otherworldly glow over everything, illuminating twisted shadows that seemed to dance around my little feet at the end of the bed.
One day my brothers and I were playing hide and seek, and I decided to hide out in the fields because they would never find me. It felt like I was sitting there forever waiting for them and the boredom must have set it because I fell asleep. When I woke up it was dark and immediately I was terrified and my heart was pounding in my chest. I had to get home so I stumbled through rows and rows of vines, desperately searching for a way out but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. Suddenly, a pair of yellow glowing eyes appeared in the darkness, followed by a low growl. I froze in terror as a massive black dog stepped out from the vines, baring its teeth menacingly. I turned to run but found myself face to face with a group of shadowy figures with twisted limbs. They hissed and snarled, inching closer and closer until I could feel their hot breath on my skin. I screamed for help, but no one came and I quickly realized I was alone with these terrifying creatures. As the night grew darker and colder, my fear intensified, my small frame shivering with every step. The wind howled through the barren branches of the trees that surrounded me as if they were calling out to me in a haunting voice. With every rustling sound I heard I walked a little bit faster and that’s when I tripped over a stray root and fell face-first onto the dirt. When I looked up again, I found myself staring into two glowing red eyes that seemed to be getting closer by the second. I quickly realized it was not the scary vine creatures, but my dad and I started screaming Daddy, daddy. Next thing I knew he swept me up off the ground and carried me home. The next day I told my dad I was going to save every penny of my allowance so that one day I could leave the scary creatures behind and move to a new place. His reply was simple, “once you can pay your own way, you can move out son.”
As we become adults there are so many things we must be responsible for, and one is our finances. My dad always told me 50% of my allowance should go to my needs, then 30% to my wants, and 20% should go to Mr. Piggy (that was my bank). I have practiced that my whole life because finances are one of our biggest responsibilities in our personal life as well as in our professional life. As business owners, we must be smart, responsible, and always on top of the P&L because we are the only ones responsible for the result. We must make sure our business is sustainable even during those difficult times. Real Estate is a good example of the ups and downs and how the market can change instantly from a seller to a buyer’s market or how interest rates can change buyers’ habits. Agents must be prepared for those slow times, or they could see themselves in a financial crisis because as our next-door neighbor says you only make money when you sell a house. We would think being fiscally responsible would be a requirement for most management positions, school board positions, or even city council positions because you are overseeing large budgets. That is why we were kind of shocked about The Hot Mess with Dynette Davis when we learned she had financial issues. Let’s just say there were circumstances that could explain it and we gave her a pass; does it make it okay for her to then lie to a direct question asked of her for a news article? The same questions are asked of every candidate running for the same type of position and they all have to tell the truth. Truth and financial responsibility have a direct correlation to your character. As the weeks have passed it made me curious (here we go again), how fiscally responsible the others are who sit on the ISD Board or City Council.
We started with a simple Google search of each council member’s name and the word bankruptcy. Imagine our surprise when we found an article in the Orlando Sentinel back on April 1, 1996, that says “Dono W. Pelham and Angelia E. Pelham, also known as Just for You Cosmetics and the Make Up, in Orlando filed for Chapter 7 listing Assets: $1,245 and Debts: $343,466. The Major creditors were Community First Bank, Jacksonville, $140,000; Eric Stern, Carrollton, Texas, $35,000; Schroder Center Management Inc., Dallas, $35,000. The creditors meeting was held that year on April 24.”
We then looked at her candidate interviews – was she honest about it? Well according to the Dallas Morning News Voter Guide she was asked, “Have you ever been involved in any civil lawsuits or declared personal or professional bankruptcy? If so, please explain.” Her response was “No lawsuits. One business filing almost 30 years ago in the early 90s for a small cosmetics retail business with 2 locations that I owned when I was in my mid-twenties in Florida. Did not have the financial capital to maintain inventory in both locations. Incredible learning experience as a young entrepreneur.” The answer to the question is yes she was honest that she had a business filing. Dono and Angelia filed Chapter 7 on 03/26/96 and it was discharged on 2/27/97 – related case number 6:96-bk-01808-ABB in Florida Middle Bankruptcy Court
In the DMN Voter Guide, she was asked, “What is an example of how you led a team or group toward achieving an important goal?” Pelham noted she had 30 years of experience as an executive with companies such as Walt Disney World Company, PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, Main Event Entertainment, and Cinemark. She claims to have been responsible for setting strategic plans and fully executing them, evaluating executive compensation plans, led massive downsizing and right sizing; led countless large-scale change initiatives; supported business acquisitions, and managed multi-million-dollar budgets all through effective leadership of others. At the time she filed for Chapter 7 (1996), Angelia Pelham’s resume also states she was the Director of Human Resources for Walt Disney World in Orlando from 1989-1998. That means she has a full-time demanding job while trying to operate her own business. It begs the questions did she have a good understanding of her own business and the debt she was accumulating? Why did she open a second location if the first location was not fluid? She called it a small business but $343,466 in debts for a small business is questionable and we are pretty sure her creditors left holding the bag would agree it was not “small.”
She noted at the time it was an incredible learning experience for her, so we assume as she moved forward in life she paid more attention to her money! Why did Griffin Park Residential Association file a lien against her property in November 2006 for $2,088.90, October 2011 for $956.80, June 2013 for $1335.65, then again in July of 2020 for $1233.70. Then Wells Fargo Bank filed against Dono Pelham in 2014/15 for what looks like a $10,375 civil judgement. Also in July of 2016, Carlos Avendando, owner of Dallas Green Landscape, filed an affidavit of mechanics and materialmen’s lien on the Pelhams home for $4039.00 for unpaid work. The County of Denton sent a Notice of Les Pendens on Feb 13, 2020 to the Pelham’s letting them know a lawsuit had been filed listing the cause of action for the foreclosure of the property due to unpaid tax lien (delinquent property taxes). It appears in February of 2022, The County of Denton released the Lis Pendens against the property so they must have taken care of it.
Is Angelia the only one? Well, we do know Councilman Livingston also hit some financial issues in 2018 with his food businesses but we could not find bankruptcy records. With more research we found a statement from Livingston that he has posted publicly on social media stating “while his lawyer recommended he file for bankruptcy, he had chosen not to do that and instead he worked with those he owed on a payment plan to pay out the debts and continues to make payments today to back any creditors. Mr. Livingston has a home mortgage in the amount of $294,800 and his home’s annual taxes are around $8500 that they purchased back in 2010. At the time the Livingstons drove a 2007 Chevy Silverado and now drives a used Tahoo which makes sense if you are paying off some large debts.
What did we learn? Angelia and her husband stiffed creditors out of $343,000 dollars and it appears they continue to have issues however they live in fancy neighborhood in a house with an estimated value of $971,422 and annual taxes around $12,000 and they drive a BMW or Lincoln which are some nice cars. The question is can they afford to live the way they are living? It would be easy to do if you didn’t pay bills. Mr. Livingston appears to be taking financial responsibility for his debts, we also confirmed he has paid off a huge IRS lien and his family live on a tight budget.
Back to me, I saved every dollar since I was a kid and today am proud to have no debt. It wasn’t easy and yes there were bumps in the road, but my wife and I have no outstanding debts and have never been sued by creditors let alone our HOA. We know there can be bumps in the road, those unforeseen things like medical bills which can knock a family right out of the comfort zone financially, but you get back up and wipe off your pants and move forward. If financial issues continue to plague you then the problem is you, and your bad choices and decisions. Our point – is that we should hold those who represent our city and boards to higher standards. They are representing us! Our character is defined by the choices we make, our values and our ethics. As Dave Ramsey says, “act your wage!”
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