Tick-tock, tick-tock sounds the clock! Days go by, and the tick-tock never seems to stop. Meanwhile City of Frisco leadership sits behind closed doors while we watch the clock, just tick-tock! Precious moments fading away and citizens still are not standing up to ask, is everything okay? What happens when time runs out…? Tick-tock they will try to approve a $300-$500 million dollar Performing Arts Center and announce they plan to raise taxes!
Back on June 18th at the Budget and Audit Committee Meeting we learned from the agenda that both the Committee Chair – Councilman Bill Woodard and Committee Members –Councilwomen Angelia Pelham and Laura Rummel were present. They had a discussion regarding the “PRELIMINARY FY 2025 Budget” and our Chief Financial Officer, Derrick Cotton talked about potential revenue generating items. It is the last paragraph where it says Mr. Cotton talks about the “Homestead Exemption” and presented changes in the adjusted taxable values and discussed a possible tax rate change for FY25 that had our attention.
They plan to pick up the discussion this Tuesday August 6th at 3pm at the next Budget and Audit Committee Meeting. Then we noticed Tuesday nights city council meeting Agenda Item 32 calls for a public hearing on the FY 25 budget. In fact, the city memo reads “Consider and act upon adoption of a Resolution calling for a public hearing on the City of Frisco FY 2025 Budget, Frisco Economic Development Corporation FY 2025 Budget, and Frisco Community Development Corporation FY 2025 Budget. (Budget/TA)”
Why does a city call for a public hearing on the potential adoptions of the budget? Well according to Texas Local Government Code, Title 4: Finances, Subtitle A – Municipal Finances, Chapter 102 – Municipal Budget (wow that’s a mouth full) there are several reasons. Section 102.005 specifically states that if they are proposing a budget change it must be available for public inspection.
(b) A proposed budget that will require raising more revenue from property taxes than in the previous yearmust contain a cover page with the following statement in 18-point or larger type: “This budget will raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by (insert total dollar amount of increase and percentage increase), and of that amount (insert amount computed by multiplying the proposed tax rate by the value of new property added to the roll) is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year.”
Once they conclude that so called “PUBLIC HEARING” they can adopt a budget according to the law. So based on what they have been discussing, based on the public hearings they have quietly posted, we can guarantee you the city is about to announce a Tax Increase! Right now, those city leaders are just hoping you are not paying attention and all the other political distractions around the country will keep you from recognizing the destructive path they are.
Now you should say, wait a damn minute Mayor Cheney – you just ran a year ago on the fact you have lowered taxes. Let’s not forget John Keating and Angelia making the 2024 rounds campaigning for your vote claiming they lowered taxes and plan to continue lowering taxes, but all the while they knew they were going to propose an out of this world Performing Arts Center and raise taxes.
Didn’t this city council pull out all the stops to get votes to VOTE NO against the Fire Fighters because they claimed it “WOULD INCREASE TAXES” when they already knew they were going to do it anyways? What they were not telling you then is they planned to raise taxes but just for things they want for their own selfish reasons. Who cares what citizens actually need….
In a time when inflation is high and we are facing a presidential election these mice are running around in the clock hoping we don’t pay attention to the TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK of the clock. If any one of our council members vote to raise taxes – VOTE THEM OUT! Why are we, one of the flushest cities, according to Cheney talking about revenue generating ways for the city to make money. It is simple, CHENEY-VILLE COSTS A LOT TO BUILD. The old red head wants you to just do as he say’s and not ask questions ASK QUESTIONS!
Do you love Amazon? It is hard to believe that there is one website where you could literally scroll and find anything and everything you want. Half the time, you can find items to buy that you did not even know you need, until low and behold your eyes see it! The dangers of scrolling can hit the pocketbook. We like to look at how the city spends our tax dollars, and it is kind of like Amazon. They spend money like they are shopping on Amazon, adding items to the cart and when they are bored they just look for something that tickles their fancy.
Imagine our surprise when scrolling through the city agendas, we found another interesting item from the July 2nd City Council Meeting related to purchasing authority. Daniel Ford, Director of Administrative Services sent a memo to the Mayor, Members of the Frisco City Council, and cc’d in Wes Pierson – City Manager and E.A. Hoppe – Assistant City Manager asking them to consider a change to the ordinance granting purchasing authority to the City Manager or his/her designee for all budgeted items not exceeding $100,000.
In 2017, the City Council approved a threshold increase from $25,000 to $50,000. Why are they now wanting to change it to $100,000? The memo states the request is being made to streamline the contract approval process, expedite routine non-controversial purchases, and to reduce the administrative burden on staff, while maintaining compliance and transparency.The word transparency made us laugh!
The memo goes on to read that in 2018 the purchasing of items on the consent agenda was 117 for the full year. Now they claim it has gone up to 245 for the full year and this change would reduce the administrative and processing time for putting council items together by almost two weeks. It also states the increase would allow more flexibility and efficiency to handle these agreements. HOW DOES MAINTAINING TRANSPARENCY AND FLEXIBILITY GO TOGETHER?
Would you be surprised to learn that Agenda Item #30 passed and was APPROVED 6 – 0. The new ORDINANCE 2024-07-32 basically allows the city to spend more with less oversight. How is that transparent? Who determines what is a ROUTINE AND NON-CONTROVERSIAL purchase? Oh yeah, the city determines that that! If one of the council members knocked on your door and said I need 100,000, don’t ask questions, just trust me, would you? The staff is asking to reduce the administrative burden they face so they want to be paid the same but have their workload made easier or do less work.
Does anyone besides us see an issue with this Ordinance? Interesting how they threw it on the agenda before the Summer Vacation break, don’t you think? Why does the city always claim they are taking steps to be more TRANSPARENT, yet they send almost every single PIR to the Attorney General and hide information from the public? If you think this is a bad change then you should email your city council and city manager. Now they claim in this memo they want to spend more with less oversight to be more transparent.
A conversational narcissist is someone who constantly turns a conversation toward themselves and is often uninterested in what other people have to say. In a fast-paced world, they’re eager to get their point across quickly without making true connections with others. Often a conversational narcissist has an anxious aspect to their personality which is why they talk about things familiar to them such as their business or themselves! Signs of a conversational narcissist include one-sided conversations. They have their own agenda, and they can’t move away from it long enough to engage with someone else or to hear someone else’s opinions. Conversations with them are never interpersonal or interactive, they are more of a monologue or lecture. They often feel they are the center of the universe, and they will never admit they are wrong and often interrupt. They will appear visibly uncomfortable, bored, contemptuous, or distracted when other people are talking. Lastly, they come across as arrogant when speaking to them.
Does this sound like anyone you know? Well, we think it sounds a lot like Mayor Cheney. Just look at city council meetings and often you will find Mayor Cheney “schooling” the public or other city council members. At the recent State of the City luncheon put on by the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor also displayed traits of a conversational narcissist during his 76-slide presentation. If you want to see Mayor Jeff Cheney’s State of the City Presentation then just visit the city website.
Over our lifetime we have lived in many cities, and rarely did we hear about State of the City Luncheons until we moved to Frisco. This was our first year to attend and according to the Frisco Chamber Website you should attend because “Frisco is a city like no other! As for who attends, well it is a who’s who of Frisco for sure. Individual Tickets were $100 per person, or you could sponsor a table for $900. But if you want to be a Visionary Sponsor that is $2000 or better yet be an Innovator Sponsor for just a mere $3000.
The mayor of course took pride and time talking about the 2024 Council Top 10 Priorities. Specifically, the master planning of Grand Park, a new Performing Arts Center, World Cup 2026, and Downtown Frisco. He could not stop boasting about how great all these things would be for Frisco.
We found the slide about Foreign Direct Investments interesting which stated according to Duns & Bradstreet, there are 71 companies in Frisco owned by a parent company that is ‘OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES.”
The next interesting thing was the “developments” coming. All we could hear was cha-ching, cha-ching, and cha-ching!
Downtown Redevelopment: $70-million project
Northwest Community Park: $40-million budget
4th Street Downtown Redevelopment: $16-million budget
Grand Park Development: Budget TBD
Fire Station 10 – Spring 2025: No Budget Listed
Police Annex: No Details Given
One thing not covered in depth was the desire for a NEW PEFORMING ARTS CENTER. On the city website it states that in 2023, the City of Frisco participated in the Americans for the Arts AEP6 Study, which found the arts sector generated $21.3 million in economic activity in Frisco in 2022! Read the full report here (PDF). So that is why they are trying to find a way to get that $500 million Performing Arts Center. In fact, Cheney didn’t say we hope to have one, he said we will have one because he has wanted it since 2017. It always has been about what he wants, right? That’s it!
That is the State of the City here in Frisco according to Cheney. We only have one question; HOW CAN WE AFFORD ALL THESE PROJECTS? Yes, we have bond money set aside, but when you think about it, we are spending money like its water just going down the drain and at some point, these city leaders are going to lock us into a rock and hard place financially.
Every Wednesday, my wife and I sit down to eat dinner in front of the TV so she can see her Chicago Fire and Chicago PD. In one episode they have the Battle of the Badges Boxing Match, and my wife went crazy for the young studs with no shirts on. The Battle of the Badges is a tradition across the country and is considered a friendly rivalry between these two public safety departments. Frisco PD & Fire held one back on July 21& 22 of this year The two departments duked it out to raise blood donations for Carter Blood Care and the trophy was awarded to the Fire Department at an August 2023 city council meeting.
Just like the Battle of the Badges these two public safety departments also duke it out for the Battle of the Benjamins (aka money) every year during the annual city budget meetings. Just recently at the October 17, 2023 council meeting under the Regular Agenda, item #35 to put Civil Service Law and item #36 to adopt the Fire & Police Employee Relations Act on the May 2024 election ballot. What we found interesting was Mayor Cheney’s response which can be seen in the council meeting recording at the 37:59 mark where we feel he berates the Frisco Fire Association for having the audacity to seek Civil Service and Collective Bargaining.
Cheney said, “Since 2004, the City of Frisco has had Public Health and Safety listed as a strategic focus area and we invest in this focused area heavily. For example, in Frisco’s FY2023 a total of $108,000,000 of the total $229,000,000 general fund budget was committed to public safety for personnel and equipment, surpassing spending on other essential services combined. Additionally, the city has previously approved substantial funding for public safety facilities and equipment through bond programs. As your elected officials, we take great pride in making public safety our number one priority, and we stand committed to educating the public over the coming months, regarding this ballot measure.”
For once we agree with the city on one key thing which is Public Safety should be any city’s number one priority. Mayor Cheney’s reference to the budget made us curious, what is the budget for public safety? What is the breakdown of the $$Benjamin’s$$ (aka money) between PD and FD. Anyone following Frisco Chronicles knows we don’t approve of how the city is managing the two “number one priority” departments so now we wanted to look at the budgets to see if Mayor Cheney and the city really are committed. What we found is the breakdown is far from equal.
For FY23 the Police Dept. is $56.3 million compared to the Fire Department Budget at $52.4 million. Besides equipment the PD budget includes a Grants Administrator, Police Quartermaster, Training Officer, 10 Patrol Officers, 4 School Resource Officers, 1 School Resource Sergeant, and a Detective for a total of 19 new hires, 16 of which appear to be operations and 3 in the office. However, the total number of new hires for the Fire Department is just 4! That’s right 19 for PD and only 4 for FD and none of the staff positions are for actual firefighters. Instead, the FD budget includes an Open Records Coordinator, a Public Safety Equipment Tech, an Emergency Management Analyst, and an Explorer Trainee. Surely we are MISSING SOMETHING HERE, only 4? No field positions, no actual firefighters?
We decided to look ahead to the FY2024 approved budget. The Police Department has a budget of 69.4 million, an increase of 14% and it includes 32 NEW PD POSITIONS. Compare that to the Fire Department with a budget of 55.7 million, an increase of 4%, and includes 3 NEW FIRE POSITIONS which are for a K-9 Handler/Investigator and 2 Fire Inspectors. The city budget even notes under Fire, “when compared to the FY23 revised budget, remains relatively flat.”That means our new Fire Chief, Lee Glover has asked for no increase in firefighters in a city with a growing monthly population due to the urban density our council likes to approve. I am not a genius but even I know growth equals a need for more public safety services in both departments and clearly the city is NOT SUPPORTING STAFFING IMPROVEMENTS in the Fire Department.
Completely perplexed, we decided to go back to the FY2022 budget and take a look at it for shits & giggles. The police budget in 2022 was 51.3 million compared to the fire department at 44.9 million. The PD was requesting 17 NEW personnel while then Fire Chief Mark Piland asked for 10 NEW Personnel and 9 of those positions were for FIREFIGHTERS.
In the City of Frisco’s FY22 Proposed Budget video at the 2:50 mark, King George Purefoy said “We estimate that in about two to three years that Fire Station 10 will be built and go into operation. There are usually somewhere between 24 to new firefighters that are needed for a new station. As you can imagine that takes a tremendous amount of funds to do that all at once, so one thought was to start hiring some of these firefighters now, they’re needed to help the current operations, and try to do that the next two budget years to hopefully provide the staff we need to, for the new fire station ten.”
That may have been what King George thought, but it was not the original thought or request by Chief Mark Piland. Records show he had originally asked for each of the 3 truck companies that responded to high-rise and high-risk structure fires adding to the number of firefighters that would be available for these types of incidents. That request didn’t happen either!
At a city council meeting on January 17, 2023, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Angelia Pelham asked Anita Cothran, Chief Financial Officer for the city (at the 17:43 mark), about Fire Department staffing which seemed out of the ordinary and a little random. Pelham mentioned at a previous city council meeting they talked about FD staffing and how she is aware the city was not approved for a specific grant that would have enable them to hire more staff, she was curious if something was planned in future discussions. Cothran replied yes that is something they would discuss with the city manager’s office and then with budget and audit committee. Pelham then asked if there was a specific time for that to happen and that is when City Manager, Wes Pierson spoke up.
Pierson said “The answer is yes, but there’s no specific time, that conversation can be ongoing. But currently, the budget, as approved, has enough staffing for the level of service that we’re providing currently. He then noted he believed the conversations of new staffing were in relation to opening a new fire station and were not there yet as Fire Station 10 was delayed a bit, but we’re preparing for that.” Delayed? A little bit? The city asked for Fire Station 10 in the 2015 Bond and Station 11 in the 2019 Bond, yet we don’t have either of them. Seems a little longer than “a little bit” Mr. Pierson.
The question we have, was Pelham’s question random? The answer is no! How do we know this? Well, at every council meeting if you are a citizen and want to speak you can do at citizen’s input. You must fill out a blue card stating why you want to speak and hand it to the City Secretary, Kristy Morrow. She then hands those cards to Angelia Pelham who is responsible for calling the citizens one by one down to the podium during citizens’ input. At the January 17th meeting, Angelia Pelham saw a card from Matthew Sapp, President of the Frisco Firefighters Association that stated he was there to talk about “STAFFING!” Her goal was to preempt Sapps statements and after hearing his statement below you will see her question was very target based on what Sapp was going to speak about. Talk about sneaky and underhanded!
It makes sense why FFA President Matthew Sapp took to the podium during citizen’s input at the January meeting. Sapp read a statement, “This is the third time I have asked this question since the public hearing for the FY23 budget in August 2022…I’ve asked this question to you, the City Manager, and the Interim Fire Chief Lee Glover. We’ve yet to get a clear answer from anyone. I know the Interim Fire Chief has stated he has no plans on asking for staffing. They feel we’re appropriately staffed…we applied for a safer grant for 15 firefighters this year, which we failed to get. No one can honestly say we don’t need more firefighters… The FY22 budget states we would be hiring 9 firefighters a year for the next three years…this was said to be in preparation for the future Station 10. The majority of this council approved of that budget. This has now been pushed back due to infrastructure reasons, and therefore, the staffing plan is on hold. This year’s budget for FY23, which was unanimously approved, contains 19 police officer positions and added zero firefighters… Now, there’s no plan for this fiscal year.”
After digging into the budgets and seeing the glaring lack of personnel additions to the fire department in several years you have a lightbulb moment. Now one can understand why the Fire Firefighters Association is upset and has petitioned for Civil Service and Collective Bargaining. They truly believe they “need a seat at the table” to fight for their safety and the citizen’s safety. It is clear in 2022 Interim Fire Chief Lee Glover didn’t believe we needed additional staff and therefore did not ask for it in the FY2023 budget talks. In 2023 as the New Fire Chief, Glover also didn’t ask for more staff in the FY2024 budget talks.
Fast forward to August 7, 2023, in a video posted on the City of Frisco’s Facebook page, Fire Chief Lee Glover states, “We have a five-year staffing plan and a five-year plan ahead of us. We’re looking at building Station 10 starting in the fall of this year. We have been given permission by the council to start the drawings with an architect for Station 11.” Based on what Sapp said at citizen’s input about it taking 18 months to train a firefighter, you should have started hiring a few years ago if you had a five-year plan. Why has the city not published this five-year plan since they know the issue of the FD personnel is a hot-button issue? I am not sure if anyone else has noticed besides me – FRISCO HAS BEEN AND IS CURRENTLY GROWING NOW! We need to plan for NOW! You have The Preserve @ Fields where homes will range up to 15 million by the PGA are we disclosing to all those home buyers they have no Frisco Fire Station to support their community and may not for another 5 years?
Final Thoughts, well I know some of the city champions will say then Fire Chief Mark Piland didn’t do anything for hiring, but he did. In private meetings with then and now city managers he spoke up for his department repeatedly. He also went as far as to apply for the city manager’s position and then ran for mayor and we believe Piland saw how the city was operating and recognized things had to change for the safety of the city employees and citizens. It appears to us that all this “progress in motion” was in place long before Glover engineered his way into the Fire Chief position. Station 10 & 11 were both approved in previous bonds as we stated earlier and then Fire Chief, Mark Piland. Chief Glover wants to take credit for a successful department while he deconstructs life-saving programs implemented Piland and his Leadership staff. The most important thing to ask yourself is how many more firefighters will get hurt under Lee Glover’s leadership before people take notice we are heading in the wrong direction. Lastly, ask how many have already been hurt under Glover’s leadership?
Now we are left curious about the bond programs and what we citizens have been asked to vote for. Stay tuned!
The other day my wife said, drive me to Bath and Body, I want some of those pretty smelling hand soaps. I told her no drive yourself because I hate those soaps! Next I heard the car starting in the garage, so I ran outside and said wait a minute let me get my shoes I will drive you. My wife drives like a blind armadillo. Even if she had a self-driving Tesla she would still manage to play whac-a-mole with it. Walking into the store you are instantly overcome by the scents which in my opinion is worse than Old Spice on a hairy hooker. She starts talking to herself, “I wonder what Mimosa Spearmint or Eucalyptus Lavender smell like?” I said just buy some soap but no, we must smell every soap while I hear her utter words like aromatherapy, stress relief, and serenity. Finally, we got to the register where the young girl (couldn’t be more than 20) said that would be $89.75. Then she said would you like to pay with cash, credit or apple pay. Apple what? I pulled out my check book in my nice little red vinyl cover with my check register attached and began to write a check. Now I know we have dumbed down our youth in today’s world, but when I handed her the check, she said, “What is this and what kind of wallet is that red thing?” I said it’s a checkbook and her face turned ghost white like she had seen E.T. riding off into the dark night on a witch’s broom. She called a manager over and asked do we take these things called checks? I looked at my wife and I said I will be waiting in the car!
It is sad in today’s world kids don’t know what a check is or how to balance an account with a check register booklet. My point in telling you this is I was surprised to learn that the City of Frisco has their Check Register online for each year so you can see a list of all the payments incurred during a quarter by the city. It includes payment date, payee, amount, and type of expenditure. The city’s website reads, “in an effort to be transparent and accountable to our citizens (well that’s a first), the City of Frisco is posting check register reports showing payments made by the city.”
We downloaded each year, and I noticed under descriptions some of them said Economic Incentives and Sales Tax Grants. An example of an incentive is a government giving a major company tax breaks in exchange for them building an office or plant in their city. The goal is for incentives to stimulate the economy in that area by empowering the company to provide jobs, as well as make goods or services available for purchase.
A few caught our attention, the first being Careington Intl Corp. If our research is right then the CEO is local resident Barbara Fasola who is a donor to Cheney and main of his friends’ political campaigns. We also believe her husband does or did in in the past sit on the Frisco Economic Development Corporation. There is an economic incentive payment in March 2018 for $76800 and February 2019 for $48000.
Then you have New Reunion Title LLC which received an economic incentive in February 2020 for $9,184,546.67. Then we noticed an incentive paid to CLMG Corporation in March 2020 for $1,726,128.00 followed by one in June 2020 for New Reunion Title LLC for (1,726,128.00). We found this one odd as it is the same exact amount to the decimal point as the payout to CLMG Corporation.
Well in researching New Reunion Title LLC it shows they are headquartered in Plano and have an office in McKinney. Strangely enough the location is inside the Abernathy Law Office, which is our city attorney. We tried to do a document search and meeting search, but we could not find any incentive agreements on either company. Who is CLMG Corporation? The only thing we could really find on CLMG is a DMN article about a massive Plano development threated with foreclosure. The article states Dallas-based Beal Bank and its Plano-based commercial loan service company, CLMG Corp had quietly served notice to sell the old JCP headquarters project at a foreclosure auction. Why are we giving over $9 Million in economic incentives to a title company? What does CLMG corporation have to do with Frisco? We are trying to uncover that now so we will keep you updated.
Then there are those you just say, “things that make you go hmm?” For example, BMC Stock Holdings Inc which is based out of Georgia which has something to do with building materials which was paid over ½ million in incentives? Who is Frisco Square Developers and why were they paid economic incentive payments for $325k and $86.5K in 2018, $390k in 2019 and 2020? Another that sparked our interested was Social Finance, who received $80k in 2020 in economic incentives. A article in Community Impact states that Social Finance offers services in student loan refi’s and they will occupy 1200 square feet and employ 10 full time employees. That is a large economic incentive for 10 full time jobs.
Others make sense and we agree are positive economic incentives for companies like Costco, Drury, and T-Mobile USA and DPS Holdings (DRPepper), both have a large building just off the tollway where they have created several hundred jobs in our city. Then you have several payouts to Blue Star those all are Jerry Jones companies and they have brought a large economic boom to our community.
Grab a Manhattan cocktail and click the link above and take time to look over the city register online. You might find something that look interesting to you. If you do let us know. I am sure we will be back more as we continue to dig into the City of Frisco’s register online.
CHECK DATE
VENDOR NAME
DESCRIPTION
AMOUNT
10/17/17
DRURY SOUTHWEST INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
200,000.00
11/30/17
CORNERSTONE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
79,562.50
01/02/18
INSIGHT FOR LIVING MINISTRIES
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
38,000.00
01/30/18
CODE AUTHORITY, INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
5,550.00
02/06/18
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
99,307.44
02/13/18
COBB FENDLEY & ASSOCIATES INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
10,000.00
02/13/18
FRISCO SQUARE DEVELOPERS, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
325,000.00
02/13/18
IFLY HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
3,760.78
02/15/18
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
612,992.44
02/15/18
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
612,992.45
03/06/18
BRIXMOR OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
320,000.00
03/06/18
CAREINGTON INTL CORP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
76,800.00
03/20/18
FRISCO SQUARE DEVELOPERS, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
86,125.00
04/05/18
RANDSTAD NORTH AMERICA, INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
20,000.00
04/05/18
TEXAS REPUBLIC BANK NA
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
6,900.00
05/03/18
JAMBA JUICE COMPANY
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
55,200.00
05/08/18
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
76,071.11
05/08/18
IFLY HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
4,635.14
05/14/18
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
635,396.34
05/14/18
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
635,396.36
05/15/18
TRANSPLACE TEXAS LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
37,500.00
05/15/18
WALGREENS SPECIALTY PHARMACY HOLDINGS LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
13,000.00
05/31/18
HALL OFFICE PARK BUILDING 17, LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
375,000.00
06/26/18
ARGON MEDICAL DEVICES INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
26,250.00
07/24/18
MOVIE INSTITUTE
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
2,500.00
07/26/18
IFLY HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
3,869.73
07/31/18
CUSTER ROAD COMMONS LTD
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
350,000.00
08/14/18
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
113,427.35
08/16/18
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
596,255.04
08/16/18
STEWARD ENERGY II LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
1,250.00
08/16/18
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
596,255.04
09/18/18
DRURY SOUTHWEST INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
100,000.00
10/02/18
A-5 137 FRISCO RANCH LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
550,000.00
10/02/18
BLUE STAR LAND LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
333,000.00
10/09/18
4-WEB INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
5,000.00
10/30/18
CORNERSTONE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
118,750.00
12/10/18
EZYVET US INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
52,000.00
01/22/19
GEARBOX SOFTWARE, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
85,720.00
01/29/19
CIVF V-TX1M03 LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
230,000.00
01/29/19
FRISCO SQUARE DEVELOPERS, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
389,660.00
02/07/19
WINTRUST ASSET FINANCE INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
40,000.00
02/12/19
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
588,455.98
02/12/19
CAREINGTON INTL CORP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
48,000.00
02/12/19
HALL OFFICE PARK BUILDING 17, LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
375,000.00
02/12/19
TEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
750,000.00
02/12/19
VALIFY, INC.
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
9,000.00
02/12/19
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
588,456.00
02/12/19
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
95,955.83
02/12/19
IFLY HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
4,049.42
02/19/19
BMC STOCK HOLDINGS INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
800,285.94
02/19/19
TEXAS DEVELOPERS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
800,285.94
02/21/19
BRIXMOR OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
SALES TAX GRANTS
170,514.93
03/21/19
POWERSECURE INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
200,000.00
04/02/19
RANDSTAD NORTH AMERICA, INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
20,000.00
04/09/19
MULLAPUDI VENTURES
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
87,500.00
04/16/19
CARDTRONICS USA INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
374,000.00
05/14/19
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
631,272.74
05/14/19
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
631,272.74
05/16/19
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
71,473.35
05/16/19
IFLY HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
10,908.73
05/21/19
CUSTER ROAD COMMONS LTD
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
68,140.00
05/23/19
CNMK TEXAS PROPERTIES LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
400,000.00
05/28/19
MULLAPUDI VENTURES
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
78,750.00
05/28/19
TRANSPLACE TEXAS LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
37,500.00
06/25/19
MENTE GROUP LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
75,000.00
07/09/19
ARGON MEDICAL DEVICES INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
17,950.00
07/09/19
BGE INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
22,250.00
07/23/19
STEWARD ENERGY II LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
1,250.00
08/01/19
A-5 137 FRISCO RANCH LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
350,000.00
08/01/19
BLUE STAR LAND LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
333,000.00
08/06/19
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
108,572.30
08/09/19
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
610,491.86
08/09/19
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
610,491.86
08/13/19
MONROE IF HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
3,614.08
10/01/19
T-MOBILE USA INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
300,000.00
12/10/19
HEALTHCARE HIGHWAYS INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
26,000.00
12/26/19
FLYERS BUILDING DEVELOPMENT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
123,875.00
01/14/20
TEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
375,000.00
01/14/20
CNMK TEXAS PROPERTIES LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
400,000.00
01/22/20
EZYVET US INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
1,488.00
01/23/20
FA PEINADO LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
84,000.00
01/23/20
FRISCO SQUARE DEVELOPERS, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
389,660.00
01/28/20
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
106,516.88
02/04/20
WINTRUST ASSET FINANCE INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
7,500.00
02/05/20
NEW REUNION TITLE LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
9,184,546.67
02/06/20
GEARBOX SOFTWARE, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
85,720.00
02/06/20
BRIERLEY AND PARTNERS
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
190,500.00
02/06/20
MONROE IF HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
3,894.47
02/11/20
E2W LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
500,000.00
02/13/20
T-MOBILE USA INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
300,000.00
02/13/20
ALTAIR GLOBAL SERVICES LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
170,600.00
02/18/20
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
582,973.30
02/18/20
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
582,973.28
02/25/20
HALL OFFICE PARK BUILDING 17, LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
375,000.00
02/27/20
BRIXMOR OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
SALES TAX GRANTS
65,580.22
03/03/20
BMC STOCK HOLDINGS INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
222,720.86
03/03/20
TEXAS DEVELOPERS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
222,720.84
03/12/20
LEXIPOL LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
50,000.00
03/13/20
CLMG CORPORATION
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
1,726,128.00
04/02/20
CARDTRONICS USA INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
204,000.00
05/21/20
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
85,038.55
05/21/20
MONROE IF HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
3,278.76
05/22/20
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
575,889.42
05/22/20
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
575,889.42
06/01/20
NEW REUNION TITLE LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
(1,726,128.00)
06/11/20
HEALTHCARE HIGHWAYS INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
11,000.00
06/18/20
TRANSPLACE TEXAS LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
37,500.00
06/18/20
LEXIPOL LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
140,000.00
07/23/20
A-5 137 FRISCO RANCH LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
350,000.00
07/23/20
SOLAIS LIGHTING LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
90,000.00
08/06/20
FRISCO HOLLYHOCK 380 LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
6,425.79
08/13/20
ARGON MEDICAL DEVICES INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
17,950.00
08/20/20
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
562,092.42
08/20/20
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
102,773.09
08/20/20
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
562,092.42
08/27/20
FRISCO HOLLYHOCK 380 LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
9,747.41
08/27/20
MONROE IF HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
152.23
09/10/20
BLUE STAR LAND LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
800,000.00
10/26/20
NEW REUNION TITLE LLC
CAPITAL EXP – LAND
3,508,910.25
10/29/20
NACK PATIOS LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
1,500,000.00
12/17/20
TEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN
Growing up if we saw a fire engine go by my dad would say there goes the fire brigade to save another soul. I remember watching a movie and they said to the new recruits “train as if your life depends on it, because it does.” I thought to myself could I be selfless, courageous, and risk everything? When the bell rings, could I walk through the valley of the shadow of death as Psalms 23:4 says without thinking twice? Truthfully, no I would be one of those to run away as they pass by me to run into what could be the last call of their life.
We ended our last blog with Cheney’s statement, “we have what we need.” If we have what we need then can the Mayor explain why Mr. Sapp who is the President of the Frisco Fighters Association had to speak at citizens input during a council meeting in January 2023 to bring attention of the staffing issue in the fire department.
Sapp’s statement in full from the council meeting is as follows “Mayor and Council, I’m just going to read a statement on behalf of our members. I stand here before you tonight to ask one simple question, this is the third time I’ve asked this question since the public hearing for the FY23 budget in August. Will we as a city add firefighters to this budget year? I’ve asked this question to you, the city manager, and the interim Fire Chief and we have yet to get a clear answer from anyone. I know that the interim Fire Chief has stated he has no plans on asking for staffing they feel we are appropriately staffed. The city manager follows the recommendations of the Fire Chief and we understand that you as a council can’t approve positions that were never asked for. This is not a question of whether we need additional firefighters, simply look around as our skyline is ever changing. There are billions of dollars in property we are tasked to protect. Couple that with the fact that we applied for a safer grant for 15 firefighters this year, which we failed to get. No one can honestly say we don’t need more firefighters. For years now we have raised concerns for what is considered safe staffing standards by the NFPA 1710. I have a recent independent report stating as much. Some will try to devalue the standards set by the NFPA by claiming others around us do not meet that code or because of it being a nonprofit it doesn’t hold weight. Make no mistake this city follows countless NFPA’s for the fire service because they are the national standard by which the United States fire administration sets the bar. Not to mention, we are Frisco, and we provide the best in everything we do. As our City Council, you have created a unique and exceptional environment, we should not only meet the standards but exceed them. Therefore, it’s unfair to compare ourselves to the staffing models of surrounding cities. The FY22 budget states that we would be hiring 9 firefighters a year for the next three years. Although we have a need for increased staffing levels for the current station count, this was said to be in preparation for the future station 10. The majority of this council approved that budget, and this has now been pushed back to the infrastructure regions and therefore, the staffing plan is on hold. This year’s budget for FY23 which was unanimously approved contained 19 police officer positions and added zero firefighters. We understand this was done in anticipation of the safer grant that was applied for, but again, that was denied. Now there’s no plan for this fiscal year. We need action now because it takes over a year to hire firefighters longer for them to get in seats if they had to go to paramedic school. With the progressive growth of this growth of this city this is a huge safety concern. So, I ask again: are we going to add staffing for firefighters this year or are we going to forgo staffing which will negatively impact on our growth as a department and safety of our city for the next half decade. Thank you for your time and your consideration. (Mr. Sapp left the podium)
After the Star Patriot debate the Frisco Fire Fighters Association released a video responding to comments made at the debate by the candidates. The video starts with a message that states they encourage the release of the full Circa Fire report and noted the city has chosen to release selective information regarding the CIRCA Fire and Mayday event, as well as information on former fire chief Mark Piland. Sapp pointed out that it is their job to protect their membership (being the fire fighters) and the residents of Frisco. Sapp then went on to correct several statements made by the mayor:
Mayor Jeff Cheney said we operate with 75 on every shift. Sapp, President of FFA: While at times they may see 75 people employed on an individual shift rarely are they over the minimum staffing number of 62. Regarding staffing, Sapp said the National Fire Protection Association 1710 on staffing is and has been an issue that the FFA raised many times to city management and to the council directly.
Mayor Jeff Cheney said the National Fire Protection Associations Standards (1710) were union supported standards. Sapp said the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) along with the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) did a study on staffing for firefighting almost 12 years ago and the NFPA is a national benchmark for all things fire related. The City of Frisco follows many NFPA standards for things like the self-contained breathing apparatus or for the sprinklers that are inside the building.
Mayor Jeff Cheney alluded to the idea that sprinklers inside a building can take the place of personnel. Sapp said that is simply not true. Sprinklers are designed to allow people time to escape, not to put a fire out.
About workers compensation, Sapp said the city gave employees a worker’s comp plan several years ago and the FFA raised issue with it not being in writing. Together staff, city management and then Fire Chief and Police Chief put it together and made an ordinance. Sapp was very firm when he said, “make no mistake the mayor should not be sitting her touting that the Frisco’s effort to make sure WC protection is a valuable asset for all employees.” He also pointed out the mayor opposed House Bill 2242 in the 87 th legislative session they are also currently opposing House Bill 471 in this session.
Sapp then addressed the April 4, 2023, Council Meeting and the decision to release documents related to a complaint from the CIRCA fire. He noted this is the first time that they know of where the council voted on a PIR request. Sapp said he has asked for countless documents in the past which are either released to him or they go to the attorney general for a ruling. While he applauded their release of the documents, but he noted this was clearly done as a political tactic against Mark Piland. The reason he says this and believes this is because they did not release all the documents and he pointed out the report consists of over 500 pages. One of the issues in the report given by the Consultants is the staffing level. It states our staffing does not meet the national standard and we fall below cities of our same like and density.
The video ended with Sapp saying they will make sure that the misinformation and disinformation does not continue to lead to more normalization of deviance.
The phrase, “where there is smoke, there is fire,” refers to if people are saying or there are signs that something maybe wrong then there is usually a good reason for what they are saying. Many concerns have been raised about our current council and how things within the city are operating and there is probably a reason to be concerned. The city manager, city council and mayor should ask themselves these questions when they go to bed at night. Are we letting down those who serve us every day by not staffing according to the national standards? Are we letting down those who are willing to die for us every day by not supporting a worker’s compensation bill?
As residents, should we be embarrassed that our firefighters must ask for staff support at a city council meeting? Should we be mortified that our mayor at the same meeting responding to any citizen who questioned Universal but after Mr. Sapp spoke “crickets.” Not one member of our council said a word. The answer is YES to both! We are about to build a large hotel near the PGA, open a theme park, add another few thousand houses at the Fields development so should we be concerned that we don’t meet the national standards of NFPA 1710? According to the current council we should not be concerned. I interpret that as until someone dies we will just look the other way. How does the #1 city in America accidentally send a letter to the legislature? Someone should have been fired for that and we should release the report of why and how that happened. Wait, there probably was not an investigation done and that means there is no report. Cheney said word for word at the debate “we have 75 on for every shift.” As Maury would say, the lie detector’s test determined that was a lie! According to what the FFA published that is clearly false. Cheney said it is the city manager’s job to hire and make sure we are meeting expectations in our departments so who should we hold responsible, George Purefoy or Wes Peirson? Lastly, based on the FFA response why did the city not release the entire report and investigation? Why did 4 council members who openly endorsed the mayor for re-election vote on this item? That is clearly a conflict of interest due to the endorsement and relationship between some of these council members. Residents deserve answers to these questions, and they have the right to question those who choose to serve them.
“Let no man’s ghost return to say his training let him down.” – A Firefighter
We have several concerns about the public works department the department head's relationships with a "certain someone" but we need…
No Kamala is not our Attorney General. As for the posts itself we write about what we can confirm. We…
Kamala is isn’t our Attorney General so we have a chance for fairness. Why is the majority of posts about…
They don’t hire fire fighters because they are too busy giving raises and promotions to other undeserving individuals that should…
Bill is a tool. I never trusted him the moment I met him. Slimeball.