We’re Back! Did you miss us? Well, we missed you and we don’t want to waste any time so lets jump right into “The Election Fix!” Campaign finance reports, especially those at the municipal level, are renowned for their thrilling and riveting narratives. They’re like the Shakespearean sonnets of bureaucratic paperwork, with each line singing the ballad I’ve Got Friends In High Places. You’ll find scintillating accounts of dollar signs dancing gracefully with line items, accompanied by the occasional cameo appearance of an expenditure report. It truly is just the right amount of drama to keep you on the edge of your seat. So, if you’re in need of a good bedtime story or just looking to induce a mild coma, City of Frisco municipal campaign finance reports are the perfect literary masterpiece to enjoy.
Let’s embark on this exhilarating journey of decoding the newly dropped campaign finance reports, shall we? Let’s start with John Keating who appears to have received several generous donations. According to his website he stands for “Accountability & Transparency.” His website says, “John Keating has served from a place of transparency and accountability throughout his time on city council and will continue to uphold these values.”
On Keating’s campaign finance report for the period of 7/1/2023 to 12/31/2023 he reported he had a total of $7735.59 in political expenditures and $0.00 in total political contributions. As of the last day of reporting he maintained the total political contributions $9207.27.
Fast forward and compare that to today’s campaign finance report ending 04/04/2024 which shows he has $31,345.83 in total political expenditures. Then he has $35,125.00 in total political contributions. It also appears Mr. Keating (who just purchased a house in The Preserve at The Fields PGA development) took out a Loan for $50,000.00. As of the last day of reporting he maintained total political contributions of $66,691.66. Wow! That is a big change from his 2023 report.
As we said, “The Fix Is In” so come back tomorrow for more details.
In 1991, an American Dance Group called C&C Music Factory released their third single, “Things That Make You Go Hmmm…” from their debut album, Gonna Make You Sweat. Many don’t know this, but the song was inspired by a running gag on The Arsenio Hall Show, where Aresenio who often pondered certain thoughts on live TV would say “Things that make you go hmmm…” The song had a catchy tune and the video that aired on MTV was done in all black and white.
Well, my wife and daughter loved that song so much, it often played on repeat in our house. Fast forward to today, when my wife and I do research, and we come across a golden nugget of information, we will look at the other across the table and say, “Things that make you go hmm!” Whoever is on the receiving end of that statement usually gets excited to see what the other has uncovered.
After we wrote our last blog asking the question regarding Keating and Pelham taking dirty money, we received a few emails from fellow whistleblowers. One of the emails said we should look further into the connection between Keating and Dos Amigos, so we did!
Now remember we filed a PIR with the city for any communication between Veton Krasniqi and Keating and Krasniqi and Pelham. We were told there were no responsive records which we found odd. After receiving that email telling us to dig deeper, we decided to go back and look at the timeline of events:
3/10/21 – Crook Krasniqi donated $10,000 to John Keating’s campaign.
5/15/21 – Crook Krasniqi donated $5000 to Angelia Pelham’s campaign.
The timeline looked fine at first then we noticed something, the election was on May 1, 2021. The first question we had was why did Krasniqi donate $5000 to Angelia Pelham, AFTER THE ELECTION? Then we searched social media to see if we could find any connection between Keating and Dos Amigos, and then we searched Pelham and Dos Amigos. Things that make you go hmmm…
John Keating documented election day in several social media posts. The first post states he is voting in the Frisco Municipal Election with 3 other people. He reminds residents that it is election day, and the polls are open till 7 pm. He asked residents to cast their ballots, make their voices heard, and send him back for another term on the Frisco City Council. He ended the post with “I would be honored to have you as my guest at our Election Night Party at DOS AMIGOS, 2552 Stonebrook Parkway, Frisco, TX 75034 starting at 7:30 pm as they watch the results come in.”
Then later that day he posts again, “Thank You Frisco for sending me back to YOUR city council for another three years! I won’t let you down, and you ain’t seen nuthin yet!Victory Party at “DOS AMIGOS!” Things that make you go hmmm…
In past blogs, we have said that John Keating is the gift that keeps on giving, and we appreciate that here at Whistleblower. After learning that Keating had his victory party at Dos Amigos, we decided to search his political campaign finance report for the party expense. Then we also searched to see if Dos Amigos did an In-Kind donation. No Chalupa! Did Keating pay for this expense out of one of his private funds? If yes, then why not use Campaign Money? If he used campaign money, why is the expense not documented on any of his campaign finance reports? Things that make you go hmmm….
As we searched for his Victory Party Expense, we found another interesting donation. In February of 2022, John Keating donated $1000 to Frederick Frazier. Then in June 2022, Frederick Frazier, a 28-year Dallas Police officer and freshman lawmaker was charged by a grand jury for two charges of impersonating a public servant. The charges stem from allegations by his opponent Paul Chabot regarding political sign tampering. Frazier who was re-elected in 2022 was able to delay the court case over a year due to his “legislative work” in Austin. In December 2023 State Rep Frederick Frazier pleaded no contest to two Class A misdemeanor charges of attempting to impersonate a public servant. He also pleaded guilty to a Class C misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief. His plea deal included one year of deferred adjudication probation and several thousands of dollars in fines. His plea came one day after he filed to retire from the Dallas Police Department. The DPD released a statement that because Fraizer is retiring while under investigation, he will be released with a dishonorable discharge. To this day Frazier denies he impersonated a code compliance officer. Frazier is currently on the ballot in Collin County for re-election. Things that make you go hmmm…
It is a Merry Go Round that just keeps on spinning!
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.
In our last blog we asked if local elections are truly non-partisan and from the response we received most readers responded with a firm NO. We are not surprised by the response because we believe local races stopped being non-partisan a long time ago. Political campaigns are serious business according to the book Political Campaign Craftsmanship by Edward Schwartzman which notes that over one BILLION dollars are spent in presidential election years. Where do the candidates get all this money?
Candidates for political office at any level of government, must hustle to raise money to fund campaigns. Campaign finance laws dictate who can contribute, how much one can contribute and how those contributions must be reported. In Texas, campaign finance guidelines are published by the Texas Ethics Commission. Before any campaign can start raising funds, they must first file paperwork to identify their campaign treasurer who is responsible for keeping up with the campaign finance reports that must be turned in to the city.
Generally, when a person donates to a candidate they have a specific reason or purpose that drives that decision. People may donate to support a specific candidate or party whom they share the same values or has the same goals. One may donate to try and influence an election outcome in their favor or to gain access or influence with the candidate. In Frisco, who is donating to our city council members and what are they doing with the money you donated?
In an early blog called The Ethics Conclusion & The Bogus Ethics Policy, we addressed campaign donations going back and forth between candidates and how it can affect them from being able to be independent when an ethics complaint is filed against a member of the council. In our blog Dark Money, we talked about the corrupt campaign finance system that has shifted the power in politics from the residents to the pay-to-play system that developers in Frisco seem to take advantage of.
As we said local elections are no longer non-partisan so if you are democrat you mostly likely donate to democratic candidates and the same could be said for a conservative donating to republican candidates. We decided to start with John Keating because he is currently running for re-election and his campaign finance report has been the most colorful over the years.
John P. Keating is a registered Republican. In 2015, Keating announced he would not run for re-election in Frisco because he planned on running for Texas House Representative District 33. According to TransparencyUSA he has received contributions from some interesting groups, most likely during the time he ran for the Texas House District. Empower Texas PAC $52,160.01, Texas Right To Life PAC $10,000, True Texas Project PAC $2239.86, and the Collin County Republican Party as well as 2 republican woman groups. One interesting donation to point out is the James Webb donation during his run for Texas House. Webb donated $20,000 according to TransparencyUSA and he was convicted of Medical Fraud in 2016.
What about locally? Keating made several donations according to his campaign finance reports, remember this is money donated to his campaign. Keating donated over $3000+ to The Frisco Chamber of Commerce, the most recent donation in 2022. In 2017, he “sponsored” $1500 for the Collin County Republican Party. Fast forward to 2021, John Keating’s campaign finance report shows he donated $1000 to each of the following republican campaigns: Angela Paxton Campaign, Jared Patterson Campaign, and Pat Fallon for Congress. Also in 2021, he continued donating to republicans like the Chris Hill Campaign for $500, Jimmy Angelino for $1000, and the Rob Altman for $1000.
In 2022, from his campaign donations, he donated $1000 to each of the following republicans: Keith Self for Congress, Jared Patterson, Matt Shaheen, Drew Springer, Frederick Frazier, and the Jimmy Angelino Campaign.
In local elections, using his campaign donations, he donated $1000 to the Bill Woodard Campaign, and in 2022/23 he donated $2000+ to the Cheney Campaign. Now what is interesting is that John Keating and then wife Leslie Keating, made around $7000 in donations to Angelia Pelham, a registered democrat. We could not find the donations on his campaign expense reports so we are assuming that came from personal funds. QUESTION:Keating has always made campaign contributions to politicians from his personal campaign fund so why when it comes to Angelia did he change that? Keating has donated to some very conservative politicians in recent years and received money from very conservative groups over the years, so we are guessing he didn’t want his “REPUBLICAN” donors to know he was donating to a democrat which would have had to be listed on his campaign finance report. Since it came from his personal funds, the only way to know he donated to Pelham is by looking at her campaign finance reports.
Why is this important? First if you donate to a candidate like Keating, but you don’t support Cheney or Woodard, would you be upset to learn he is using campaign donations to support them? If you are democrat voting for Keating, and never researched his campaign funds, would you be upset to learn Keating has donated to and accepted campaign funds to some very far right conservatives? Lastly, Keating supported Angelia for council then and now and the fact that he gave her $7000 could be an issue for party driven voters. Maybe that is why he didn’t donate from his campaign fund like he did with all the other candidates. We don’t know the make-up of Angelia’s voters, but if most are democrat do you think they know Keating is donating to some very conservative legislatures and accepted money from some very conservative PACs over the years?
In our next blog we plan to deep dive into the other council members’ campaign contributions to see who they are giving their campaign money to which was been donated to them.
Click Bait is an eye-catching headline designed to entice a reader’s interest, so they click on a hyperlink that redirects them to some interesting or exciting content. It can be innocent or sinister depending on how it is used. For example, you would likely click on a headline that read World Naked Gardening Day vs a headline like Weekend Gardner. The headline is meant to drive traffic, therefore increasing readership or potential revenue from advertising. So what did you think when you read the headline, “Frisco, are you ready for some football?” Surely after reading some of our blogs, you probably thought we might be about to drop some shady shit on the King Pins of Football, and you could be right. As Jimmy Johnson would say, “how bout dem cowboys!”
Enigma is a person that is mysterious, difficult to understand, or hard to explain. For years at local watering holes (bars) in the DFW area, the Enigma of J.R. Ewing and Jerry Jones has often been talked about. While we know J.R. is only a character in the hit show Dallas, the rise of Jerry Jones and his empire is very real! Most know Jones for his ownership of America’s Team the Dallas Cowboys but there is much more to the billionaire businessman. It has been reported that in the 1970s Jones made his first millions in oil. In 2018, Jones became the controlling shareholder in Comstock Resources which is a publicly traded Texas oil and gas company. In 2013, local TV news station WFAA reported Blue Star Land owned by Jones had at least 1200 acres across Frisco, Prosper, and Celina. According to its website Blue Star Land and Development is a full-service real estate brokerage. Rex Real Estate brought the Jones family to Frisco in 1994 when they purchased the land for the master-planned community Starwood. They have since developed two other communities with Star Creek in Allen, and Star Trail in Prosper. Blue Star is also the developer behind The Gates of Prosper a major regional shopping area. On the industrial / commercial side Blue Star Land purchased Star Business Park off Rockhill and Preston in Frisco which is home to a new merchandise distribution center for the Dallas Cowboys along with The Star in Frisco. In 2015, Jones opened Blue Star Payment Solutions with the goal of offering first-class merchant services. Lastly, it is rumored that Jones is an avid art collector and his rare collection includes a few Picassos, Renoir, Matisse, and Norman Rockwall’s “Coin Toss.” At 80 years old Forbes estimates his net worth to be around $13 Billion. Not bad for a kid who grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and played football in college for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
In 1989, Hank Williams reworked his country-rock song to include the catchphrase “are you ready for some football!” The catchy phrase soon became an NFL viewing tradition at the opening of Monday Night Football. Well Sports City USA was ready for some football! Frisco was ready for a seat at the table in 2013, when Stephen Jones, CEO of the Dallas Cowboys realized it was time to move because the team had outgrown the Valley Ranch facility they had called home since 1985. So, how did the Cowboys end up coming to Frisco?
There are several variations to the story depending on whom you ask. What we have heard is two men, Rex Glendenning and Matthew Kiran of Rex Real Estate had a longtime relationship with Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys. It is believed Rex Real Estate helped Jerry Jones’ companies like Blue Star Land buy up land in Denton and Colin County for years. A Dallas Morning News article in February of 2023 called Rex Glendenning the “king of land sales” in North Texas’ fastest-growing communities. Rex Glendenning and Matthew Kiran attended a meeting at Valley Ranch and learned the Cowboys were quietly looking for a new home. On a drive back from Valley Ranch The Rex Real Estate duo had an epiphany as they crossed 121 and looked at each other and said this is where the future “Gridiron” Cowboys project needs to be. Made sense the City of Frisco owned 91 acres just off the Tollway and they knew the city had no plans after the negotiations fell apart in the “Red Zone” with Nebraska Furniture Mart. It was time for the Wildcat play which is where the quarterback lines up as the wide receiver and the running back take the snap from the center. The Rex Real Estate team made their pitch to Jim Gandy, President of the Frisco Economic Development Corporation. The Super Bowl moment came late in 2013 when the parties reached an agreement and America’s Team officially announced Frisco’s Sports City USA would be their new home.
The 91-acre mixed-use project included 66 acres of retail, a 5-acre headquarters, a 20-acre multi-use event center, and a hotel. In the deal, the city pledged $60 million and would retain ownership of the indoor stadium and Frisco ISD contributed $30 million. The final price tag for the total Ford Center was more than $263 million. Talk about a “win-win” for Frisco, Texas when five years later The Star celebrated its grand opening with the pomp and circumstance befitting of the one and only Jerry Jones.
As usual, we were curious about the play clock (aka timeline) of the project compared to any campaign contributions received by those on the council. We reviewed the campaign finance reports which are public records on the City of Frisco’s website.
August 12, 2013: Frisco CDC, City Council, and Frisco EDC approve The Star
2016: Ford Center @ The Star has Grand Opening
May 11, 2017: Cheney receives a $10,000 campaign contribution from Rex Glendenning (Rex Real Estate)
August 22, 2017: P&Z Approves 12 Cowboys Way
What is 12 Cowboys Way? It is a joint venture between Jerry Jones and Dallas developer Columbus Realty which is owned by former players Roger Staubach and Robert Shaw. The stunning architecture of the 17-story luxury residential tower, the first of its kind in Frisco, will have 160 urban units where rent begins at $2700 per month. Amenities include 24-hour concierge service, covered parking, dog park and dog wash, valet parking, grocery delivery service, and dry-cleaning service. Not to mention discounts at restaurants at The Star and a Cowboys Club membership.
September 9, 2017: City Council Approves 12 Cowboys Way
January 25, 2018: Mayor Cheney receives a $1000 campaign contribution from Matthew Kiran and $2500 from Rex Glendenning (Rex Real Estate Team)
March 5, 2018: Mayor Cheney receives a $500 campaign contribution from Rex Glendenning (Rex Real Estate)
March 5, 2018: Councilman John Keating receives a $500 campaign contribution from Rex Glendenning (Rex Real Estate)
April 6, 2018: Councilman Keating receives $2500 from Jim Williams (LandPlan – Founder)
Who is Jim Williams? Williams played football with Jerry and Jimmy at Walton College. His partner Bruce Smith was Vice President & General Manager of Blue Star Land (Jerry Jones company).
May 6, 2018: Councilman Keating receives (2) two $1000 donations from Rex Glendenning (Rex Real Estate)
August 2018: City Council Approves Cowboys 400,000 Sq Ft. Dallas Cowboys Merchandising Distribution Center
**The city approved a 50 percent ad valorem tax grant and a 50 percent sales tax grant for a 10-year period.
February 19, 2019: City Council Approves Cowboys Land Deal – Office Building
**Make a mental note of this one because it will be important later.
March 7, 2019: Councilman Keating receives a $2500 campaign contribution from Jim Williams (LandPlan – Founder)
March 19, 2019: Mayor Cheney receives two campaign contributions, one for $2500, the second for $100 from Jim Williams (LandPlan – Founder)
October 17, 2019: Mayor Cheney receives a $1000 campaign contribution from Rex Glendenning (Rex Real Estate)
January 30, 2020: Mayor Cheney receives a $2500 campaign contribution from Robert Shaw and $1000 from Richard Reupke
Who is Robert Shaw and Richard Reupke? Shaw is also a Managing Partner of Columbus Realty Partners and he was a first-round draft pick for the Dallas Cowboys in 1979 where he played for three years. Reupke is a partner and Chief Financial Officer at Columbus Realty Partners. Both are advisors for Staubach Capital (12 Cowboys Way).
2020: Robert Cox then Planning & Zoning Commissioner running for Council received $350 from Kiran and $1000 from Hickman
January 25, 2021: Angelia Pelham received a $3000 campaign contribution from Jim Williams (LandPlan – Founder)
In the movie Jerry Maguire, Rod Tidwell played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., is not thrilled with his agent’s performance so he wants his agent Jerry to convince him to stay on as a client. Jerry asks what he can do to convince him, and Rod said, “Show me the money.” He then made Jerry repeat it over and over, louder, and louder until everyone in the office had thought Jerry lost his mind. If only it were as simple as it appears in the movies. The investigative process is a progression of activities or steps moving from evidence-gathering tasks to information analysis, to theory development and validation. The goal is to form a reasonable belief based on the evidence in front of you. The truth is we are not professionals, so we lack the expertise of real investigators but as we said before we are smart enough to follow the yellow brick road.
First, we looked for donations that occurred within a few months of a vote. For example, Cheney received $10,000 dollars from Rex Glendenning (Rex Real Estate) roughly 3 months before the P&Z vote in August 2017 and 4 months before the City Council approved the 12 Cowboys Way project in September 2017. Then about 3 ½ months after the vote, he received another $2500 from Glendenning and $1000 from his partner Kiran. Depending on the lens someone is looking through the timing could look fine, or it could look like a pay-2-play situation. Cheney just won the election, so he is not campaigning anymore. Why when there is a project coming before the council did they decide to donate? Glendenning also donated $1000 in October 2019 but that was not in close proximity to a vote.
In February 2019, the council voted to approve the land deal with Blue Star. Then exactly one month later Williams who has a clear connection to Jones made two donations on the same day to Cheney’s campaign. The first was for $2500 and the second for $1000. To those with basic common sense, again the timing of one month looks bad and now we are seeing similar things between different developments.
Keating also received donations from players in these projects. In March 2018, Glendenning donated $500, and then in May 2018, he made two donations each for $1000 on the same day. In April 2018, Williams also donated $2500 to Keating’s campaign. The vote for the Blue Star distribution center was not until August 2018 so one could argue there is enough time between the last donation and the actual vote. However, with a total of $5000 in donations three months before the vote we would argue something doesn’t smell right in Frisco.
Angelia Pelham one of the newest members of the council also received a $3000 donation from Jim Williams in January 2021. This donation occurred during her campaign and looks completely justifiable as she was not able to vote at the time for any projects. From our perspective, Cheney needed Pelham on the council because she would vote on future projects with Cheney whereas the other candidate would not have been so easy to win over. It is also interesting that Pelham who was sworn in on June 15, 2021, became Deputy Mayor Pro Tem so quickly when other council members like Livingston, Woodard, or Keating have years of experience on the council. In that position, it is her job to stand in for the mayor when they are unable to chair a council meeting or attend an event. A few more years of experience under her belt on council would make more sense but we can only assume Cheney needed her as his right hand.
What we found interesting is that going back through both Cheney and Keating campaign reports to 2013 we could not find any other previous contributions from these donors, so why now? Patterns are predictable repetitions that repeat at least once or twice or occur repeatedly at regular intervals. The legal definition for the pattern of behavior means behavior by one party in a relationship that is used to establish power and control over another person. One could argue that when you are the mayor you have a lot of power and control to get things done. We are not accusing anyone of doing something illegal but, it is our opinion that there is at least a reoccurring appearance of improprieties and if perception can be the reality then that would not bode well for either of men.
I don't know, Patrick, and I'm not familiar with SREC, so I'm unable to answer your questions.
Hi Patrick—when is your SREC30 meeting. Missed the one and want to together before Sept.
We hope to write about it all soon. Most of the content in question - was from 3rd Party comments…
Shining a light in the dark here to just get this out of the way and moved past—who started the…
Bunch of Nepotism, buddy system promotion. If you ain’t white you ain’t right