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.
On October 30, 2023, we published our blog Another One Bites The Dust which was about Fire Chief Lee Glover killing the Squad Unit and Blood Program. Generally, Squad which is a 2-person group, responds to all high acuity EMS calls and critical care calls, as well as all structure fires in a city. It is like no other unit in the department and when in trouble if you have a need for the most advanced or technical medical procedures in the field, they are the team you want at your front door. It must have ruffled a few feathers at city hall because Bobblehead Bill was quick to act as the mouthpiece for the city and troll social media to tell us we were wrong.
We took his statements and submitted a PIR the next day for the proof to back up his comments which he spewed all over the North Texas Politics Facebook page. On November 15th we received a letter back from the city with a PIR Invoice for $90 dollars. It is the breakdown that we found interesting of those charges:
Labor: Identify Search Terms / Set Up Search / Download / Export Emails: $3.75
Labor: Compile / Review /Conversion / and Redactions of Emails: $41.25
Labor: Fire / HR Department Records Collections: $30.00
20% Overhead: $15.00 for a GRAND TOTAL OF $90.00
We paid and then waited for our files. Now in a new year, still waiting, we emailed the city on January 12024, asking when we should expect our files. The next day we got an email back from the city that read, “The City of Frisco has reviewed its files and has located documents responsive to your request. HOWEVER, DUE TO CONFIDENTIALITY, the City has chosen to seek a ruling from the Office of the Attorney General regarding the release of a portion of the responsive documents. The remaining responsive documents are available. They also mentioned some figures we asked for were released in a different PIR that we chose not to pay another $100 dollars for.
What did $90 buy us? There was a PDF which contained 15 or so emails, two additional outlook message attachments, copy of the blood contract, two excel spreadsheets that contained the hiring/history breakdown and the call count. That’s it … because the rest (which we don’t know what that is) has been sent to the AG.
Question 1: Did the city charge us for a copy of the blood contract that Bobblehead Bill offered to send out to anyone who emailed him for free without a PIR? Question 2: WHAT IN THE HELL COST $90.00? We have paid $30 for way more information than this in the past.
Woodard’s Statement: The blood transfusion program isn’t going away; in fact it’s expanding. We use data to analyze the best use of resources. Right now, Squad sits almost all the time.
Fact or Fiction: We asked for the study or data they used to make their decision and the response we received was, “There are no records responsive to a “Study.” Then they said it was the number break-down for blood products administered and the number of squad responses that the department reviews for decision-making.
The breakdown for the “Blood Administration” since 2018 is as follows: 1 in 2018, 5 in 2019, 12 in 2020, 5 in 2021, 10 in 2022 and 13 in 2023 (through 11/1/23). Initially looking at the blood administration program the numbers are going up each year. While it is not tons of patients it is showing a trend that is going up, not down.
As for the Squad response breakdown the numbers provided to us by the city are 1502 in 2021, then 1103 in 2022, and 538 in 2023 through 11/1/23. Initially looking at the numbers it would appear Squad calls are going down just like Woodard stated, but we were curious what happened that resulted in 565 fewer calls on one of the busiest apparatuses in a growing city.
We of course went digging for the answer and we learned there are several call types for example, unresponsive, unconscious patient, medical emergency 1 and 2 calls. The call type determines which apparatus responds. Several whistleblowers sent us information on an email by Fire Chief, Lee Glover’s where he gives direction shortly after being named Fire Chief to start taking Squad off certain types of calls to reduce the numbers which makes them look EXPENDABLE. If you look at the call history SQUAD was removed from all ME 1 and ME 2 calls in district 4 and then they were removed from all unconscious and unresponsive calls for the entire city. WELL, WELL, WELL now that explains how calls for SQUAD dropped over 565 calls in less than a year. Maybe that is what Glover’s email meant when he said “Make It Look Pretty”
Woodards Statement: In 2024 we expect to add this program to every ambulance we have, further expanding the program.
Fact or Fiction: We asked about the costs and how they planned to fund the personnel training and the cost for every ambulance to be outfitted to carry the blood products. The response from the city was, “Paramedics will be trained in blood administration in an on-duty rotation at no added cost to the city and that blood will be carried on two vehicles with trained personnel every day.” We were not provided with any details on the cost to retrofit any apparatuses to carry blood.
Woodards Statement: We have been working with our medical director (as well as any other required parties) to ensure the program is run appropriately and has all the proper staffing. He also posted a picture of section 2.2 of a blood contract acting as if that was the guarantee they had.
Fact or Fiction: We asked for any communications between the city, blood bank, and medical director discussing the EXPANSION of the blood program. We were provided no communications between the city and their Medical Director where they discuss expanding the program and discussions to ensure the “program runs appropriately” as Bobblehead Bill stated.
We also asked for a copy of the approval letter from the blood bank and/or hospital where they guarantee to give more blood to more vehicles. The city provided us a signed 2018 Blood Contract and the signed 2023 Amendment. The 2018 Contact clearly states in the “SCOPE OF THE AGREEMENT” the city is to store a certain amount of blood and plasma in AN AMBULANCE UNIT in a continuously monitored refrigerator. In the section he posted “SUPPLY OF BLOOD PRODUCTS” it states it will provide what the city needs, however due to the unpredictable nature of the demands for blood products, the hospital can NOT GUARANTEE the city availability for ALL OR ANY PORTION of the blood products to be supplied. Hey Bill, it says an ambo unit meaning singular (aka 1) and did you read “No Guarantee.”
As for the 2023 Amendment, it is simply an updated FEE SCHEDULE meaning the cost the city has to pay for the blood and plasma product. Then it states the remaining terms and conditions of the contract from 2018 will continue in full force and effect, unchanged. Well, Well, Well Bobblehead Bill… there is NO GUARANTEE THEY WILL SUPPLY BLOOD FOR EVERY AMBO. Did we read that right? Prices for blood and plasma have gone up considerably and now we are talking about carrying it on every ambo instead of 1 or 2 specialized Squad Teams. In a nutshell it means more taxpayer money, more taxpayer money, and more taxpayer money. Besides the cost increasing for carrying the product that has a shelf life which means it has to be switched out, we also now have to retrofit ambos/vehicles and train more personnel. It sounds like we are wasting money when what we have currently is working.
In closing, it looks like Bobblehead Bill needs to do more research! There is no guarantee in writing that the hospital will agree to expansion or that they will guarantee you any product. Why would we retrofit any apparatus or vehicle on a “WHAT IF THEY GIVE US BLOOD MENTALITY.” The DRASTIC DROP in the Squad response numbers can be related to Glover removing them from certain calls. Why would he do that? According to insiders he has hated this program since its inception back in 2018. The city wants to sell you on that this is a good decision, however if you ask a firefighter, what might they say? Let’s just say it is your life on the line, are you willing to give up a dedicated team to critical care that literally could mean life or death?
The holidays are over and 2024 is here and we have continued our deep dive into the misdealings of the City of Frisco. We keep finding these little or maybe not so little nuggets of information that are cause for question and concern. Perhaps this will tie you over as we continue to investigate and verify our new leads.
In 2023 we saw several posts about the Frisco Firefighters Association regarding staffing, Assistant Chief Kraemer being fired after 27 years with the city, and the filing for Collective Bargaining and Civil Service. To say our interest was piqued is an understatement, we knew we had to investigate.
We decided to go back and read some of those old posts by the city and the FFA but we were surprised to see…many of them disappeared. We don’t know if anyone else noticed, but the Frisco Communications Dept. took down the city’s posts and propaganda videos that were paid for by taxpayers’ dollars, and the council’s open letter to residents damning the Frisco Fire Association for daring to gather signatures to place Civil Service and Collective Bargaining on the May ballot. They even deleted citizens’ comments in the posts from the late summer and fall.
Now, the naysayers will say the city didn’t delete anything, but they did. The proof is in the city’s posts where the links no longer work. For example, John Keating posted, “This isn’t a political battle or one for financial gain. It’s a powerplay by those who serve themselves, and do not have the best interests of Frisco at heart. They have misrepresented our city staff and leadership and our beloved Frisco Fire Department!” Then you have George Purefoy’s statement with a link that reads “unavailable.” Even Bobblehead Bill Woodard had to get in his two cents.
According to insiders the FFA never wanted to go in this direction, but they feel the city management and the city council didn’t follow through on the promises they made to silence them. In the past, the FFA threatened similar action when they felt that their concerns for safety were being ignored. Fast forward to today, what has changed since then? Insiders tell us they don’t trust Fire Department leadership, the city, or the council. On top of breaking promises, ignoring the results of climate studies done over the years, many feel the city used the FFA to oust the Fire Chief and an Assistant Chief who were threatening to file complaints on the city. The cherry on top is when the city ignored the Mayor’s Study asking the FFA if they would like Interim Chief Glover as their permanent chief. Despite the over 200 firefighters that said NO, they still hired him. This is the same chief that the city sent down to Austin to speak AGAINST Texas House Bill 471, protecting our first responders.
Now we know, you are wondering, why are we going over this again? Well, we learned the city HAD TO TAKE DOWN the propaganda they posted because it was a No-No (illegal) so they scrubbed their social media. What would they do? How would they fight against civil service and collective bargaining?
Well, we found a new nugget which is quite disheartening. On November 8th, papers were filed for what they call a Specific-Purpose Committee or PAC—Political Action Committee. It appears the city recruited former Mayor Mike Simpson (who endorsed Mayor Cheney) to appoint Richard Peasley as treasurer of a PAC called Safety First Frisco. The description reads, “Citizens opposing Civil Service and Collective Bargaining in Frisco, TX.”
This smells like shit and is clearly a move by the City of Frisco to get a highly respected Frisco resident to spin their story. I’ve met Mayor Simpson a couple of times. He wouldn’t remember me and my wife, but I certainly admired his leadership back then. I can’t help but think he might change his tune if he really knew the whole story. Can someone send him a link to our page?
Before deciding either way at the ballot box, talk to the Frisco Fire Association. I am generally not for unions and civil service, but learning most of the cities around us are Civil Service and that collective bargaining is the only thing that will protect them from a corrupt city making decisions that can literally kill them. My wife and I will be voting YES for them. Either way you can bet we will be following the campaign contributions for this NEW PAC! I have a feeling that is going to offer up a lot more nuggets.
According to Star Local Media, here are what those terms mean, according to state law:
Civil service: A system with a three-citizen commission to assess the hiring, firing and promotion of firefighters. Under Frisco’s current system, city officials have that power.
“What civil service does is eliminate favoritism,” FFFA Secretary Treasurer Dustin Allen said.
Collective bargaining: A system allowing both the fire department and the police department to become their own bargaining agents when it comes to agreements on wages, staff numbers and recruitment.
“That allows the [departments’] association to, as a collective, sit down and meet and discuss working conditions with the city or city management,” Allen said.
Russian Roulette is the practice of loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at one’s own head. It is basically a game of chance! When it comes to filing a PIR with the City of Frisco, it too is like a game of Russian Roulette. Will they provide the documents or won’t they? Will they do it in a timely manner or delay it by sending it to the Texas Attorney General for an “opinion.”
Since Whistleblowers’ inception back in February of last year we have continually addressed the issues of PIR GATE. In our April 2023 blog we talked about a PIR that FWB filed for Universal Theme Park / Project P117. An email came back from the city that the cost of the documents would be $72.36 and payment was made. Imagine FWB surprise when the city came back asking them to clarify what information they are seeking?
Problem 1: How did the city determine a price of $72.36 for the documents requested if they needed clarification of what was being requested?
THE CONCLUSION: Then on April 18th FWB receives an email saying they have released a few documents, and the rest has been sent to the Attorney General for an opinion. Well, 8 months after initially filing for the PIR the documents were finally released. Why did it take so long? What was it the city didn’t want us to find out about the Universal Kids project?
Now, let’s talk about the PIR we filed for any communications between John Keating or Angelia Pelham and Venton Krasniqi. When the city responded with no responsive records, we were curious, who is Venton Krasniqi? He is a mystery man who donated $10,000 to John Keating and $5000 to Angelia Pelham yet neither of them has shared a text or email with him? That sure seems strange since those are not small donations. Furthermore, we are now curious is this the same man listed in several lawsuits in Collin County regarding debts?
Then we talked about the PIR we filed in May 2023 in regards to the “Public Safety Study regarding the Police Department Staffing” that was funded by federal grants. The response was we could view the document only by coming to city hall because it was copyrighted. However, the organization who did this study has done many other similar studies and they are all published on the web. Why is Frisco’s copyrighted? What made Frisco’s study so special? We never went to view the report because we were contacted by an internal PD source who supplied us with a full copy of the study after seeing our blog. What did we learn after reading it? The city probably didn’t want the residents/public to know the city they claim to be one of the safest cities in Americas has a staffing deficiency in the PD department.
A few months later in October 2023, on a tip from a resident, we filed a PIR that reads, “We would like any emails regarding the flooding that took place on 7/3/23 near 2447 Sleepy Hollow Trail. Emails from PD, streets department, city management and city council. We would like any pictures taken by the streets department at the scene since they were called out by PD. We would like to know what caused the flood?” On October 23, we were surprised to see the status change to: Sent to AG for a Ruling.
WAIT A DAMN MINUTE, you are going to tell me a simple PIR about a street flood must be sent to the Texas Attorney General? The Conclusion: As of today, this still has a status of Sent to the AG for Ruling which means it has been open for over 2 months (about to be 3 months). Something smells like SHIT in Frisco.
If you remember in our Day 6 Breaking The Law blog, we explained how we filed a PIR on Fire Chief Lee Glover and were told no responsive records. In the case of this PIR, who is responsible for releasing those records? Well, that would be the Human Resources Director, Sassy Lauren Safranek, that’s who! Interesting how Sassy came up with the responsive records the second time around, AFTER WE TOLD HER WE ALREADY HAD A COPY OF THE LETTER AND A VIDEO CLIP.
We decided to file another PIR to broaden our search on November 22, 2023, that reads “Copy of all emails and documents related to Lee Glover over his career span with the City of Frisco relating to any job complaints both formal or informal (confidential) by equals, superiors, and subordinates. Any complaints received informal or formal even if confidential via the Frisco Fire Department Complaint Form, relating to his breaking the Frisco Fire Department Policies or City of Frisco Code of Conduct or policies. Any Administrative Warning Letter issued to Lee Glover over his career with the Frisco Fire Department. Any Notice of Investigation issued to Lee Glover over his career span with the Frisco Fire Department. Any emails between Lauren Safranek, Henry Hill, George Purefoy, Mack Borchard, Wes Peirson or Lee Glover regarding the hiring of Lee Glover going back to 1/1/2022 to Present. Feel free to redact personal numbers, birthdays, contact info, etc., allowed by Texas State Law.”
The Response: On December 14, we received a letter in which they located the responsive records and that they re-released at no charge the records because they had already been provided to us. However, that is not exactly true. What we asked for above is very clear so imagine our surprise when we find in the documents they sent back one titled Case 64. The Problem: Case 64 is related to a previous PIR request regarding HR Director Safranek falsifying documents which this document should have been included in, but it wasn’t which is more proof they are withholding documents. Why did we accidentally get the document in the current request, we have no idea. Secondly, it has the Fire Chiefs Candidate Binder that we didn’t ask for. Third it has the pay scale for the Fire Chiefs, which we didn’t ask for. It has the Appleton Complaint which we already know about and was in the previous PIR request. That’s it!
The city wants you and I to believe that Lee Glover has never had any other complaints, write-ups, warning letters, or has broken policies or procedures which he has been cited for over his entire career. Do you believe that? Well, you shouldn’t because we have evidence to the contrary. It leaves us asking, why has the city not released the information related to this PIR that we requested? Again, something smells like SHIT in Frisco.
The Conclusion: You may have guessed it; we filed ANOTHER PIR that said we want to follow up to clarify that Appleton and Mayday are the only two items in his HR file over the span of his career? We asked for anything starting from the beginning of his career in 1991 to the present: 1. Any job complaints, write-ups, or reprimands, both formal or informal (confidential) by equals, superiors, and subordinates. 2. Any complaints, write-ups, or reprimands received via the Frisco Fire Department Complaint Form that includes informal or formal even confidential 3. Any complaints, write-ups or reprimands relating to his breaking the Frisco Fire Department Policies or City of Frisco Code of Conduct or policies. 4. Any Administrative Warning Letters issued to Lee Glover during his time at Frisco FD. 5. Any Notice of Investigation issued to Lee Glover during his time at Frisco FD Are we to believe that since 1991 there have been only 2? We paid $30 plus dollars and want the full PIR as we already know of some that have not been included in the original PIR response.” It is currently in processing!
Lastly, we can’t forget Bobblehead Bill Woodard who went off halfcocked on Facebook defending the city’s decision to cut a lifesaving blood program that just a few years before the council praised from the top of the city council meeting pulpit. While Bobblehead Bill said folks could just email him and he would share the documents we decided to handle it the proper way by filing a PIR on 11/1/23. We uploaded images of his statements in the PIR and asked for the items he referenced. The PIR said,
1. On November 1st Bill Woodard posted on North Texas Politics page a response that talked about a 12-page report and posted a picture of a Section 2.2 Supply of Blood Products. He offers to email the 12-page report to anyone who emails him so we are requesting it formally and since he is willing to send it out freely to anyone who emails him we assume there will be no cost for it.
2. He also posted the following comment below: The blood transfusion program isn’t going away, in fact it’s expanding. We use data to analyze the best use of resources and right now the squad sits idle almost all the time. So that staffing is being divided up and assigned to the BC vehicles, along with the blood transfusion program. This will double (from one to two) the availability of this program on every shift, and better utilize personnel and equipment. In 2024 we expect to add this program to every ambulance we have further expanding the program, which necessitates the training of everyone on those pieces of equipment. We will also be doubling (from one to two) the number of safety officers on shift. This will allow for additional training and promotional opportunities. We would like a copy of the study and data used to analyze the best use of resources that reflect how this decision was made. We would like a copy of the new contract/agreement that the hospital and blood banks will supply the blood for all ambos now and going into 2024. We would also like to know the cost and how it will be funded to train everyone (as he states) on those pieces of equipment.
3. Bill Woodard also stated “We are putting the blood transfusion program on multiple vehicles. So yes it is expanding. And we have been working with our medical director (as well as any other required parties) to ensure the program is run appropriately and has all the proper staffing.” We would like to know how many vehicles the blood program will be on with trained personnel. We would like any emails between the city management, fire department and council with the medical director and required parties he mentions.
4. Steve Cone of P&Z also chimed in so we would like to see the numbers of how the proposed changes to Squad / Blood Program is better than the status quo arrangement. We would like to know the # of blood transfusions teams available per shift, before and after the changes to the program.
The Conclusion: Because Bobblehead Bill offered to send this to folk we assumed there would be no charge but guess what, the city charged us $90.00 which we paid, and we are STILL WAITING FOR THE INFORMATION. Now, they have updated the status to read “Sent to Attorney.” We are not holding our breath we will get the information back before the end of 2023.
In closing, we have a very important question for you to consider. How can the city get a request or for an item, then go to a council meeting, have a discussion in executive session, come out and vote to release confidential HR documents on a retired employee who is under a gag order and is actively running as a political opponent against Mayor Cheney? Please note while Cheney recused himself from the vote 4 of the city council members who participated in the vote had already publicly endorsed Mayor Jeff Cheney which means they probably should have recused themselves. The CHERRY ON TOP is a DMN Reporter had an article in the paper 12 hours later which in our opinion was a political hit piece! If all that can be done in a simple council vote how come they cannot do that for other PIR’s?
Why did the city not send the request from the media to the Attorney General like they do all other requests? Well because they have 30 to 60 days to respond with an opinion which means the election would have been over. At the time Mark Piland was gaining momentum on Mayor Cheney. Cheney and his big developer friends who have BIG INTERESTS in Frisco needed Cheney to win so they just did not have that kind of time. They needed a push in the polls so hence the vote to release the records. It is even more questionable that they didn’t release the full report only a subsequent report that was done related to the political candidate. Being that the vote had HUGE RED FLAGS pertaining to CONFLICT OF INTERESTS which is a great reason to SEND IT TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
This is our public plea to the City of Frisco and the City Council Members, IF YOU HAVE THAT KIND OF POWER THEN WE ASK YOU TO BRING OUR PIRs UP FOR A VOTE. Then VOTE YES unanimously, JUST LIKE in April 2023 to release the following: 1. Universal Kids Documents 2. Documents related to Bobble Head Bills rant on Facebook regarding the Blood Program. 3. The entire HR file for Fire Chief Lee Glove and Mack Borchardt 4. Documents related to a simple street flood 5. All of Lauren Safranek emails for the last two years and 6. Any other open PIRs currently just for the purposes of being FAIR and TRANSPARENT
They would never vote to do that because it does not help them, but it possibly hurts them. The City of Frisco withholds documents, delays the process and flat out lies as to what they have and don’t have. Kristy Morrow is the City Secretary but we don’t think it is her decision on what is released. She sends the requests to the departments or individuals named in the PIR and they respond with the appropriate documents. So, if Sassy Lauran Safranek is colluding with Lee Glover do you think she is going to release the documents requested, probably not. It is a game of RUSSIAN ROULETTE, A GAME OF CHANCE OR TRUST. We DO NOT TRUST the City of Frisco – not one bit! We have proof they have lied and withheld information and that should make residents very wary and angry. This is our city, not their city. It is our tax-dollars!
Bill starts off by saying let’s get some facts straight and WE AGREE Bill – let’s get some facts straight!
Woodard claims: The blood transfusion program isn’t going away. In fact, it’s expanding with properly trained personnel. First, are you saying the personnel you have today are not properly trained? As of right now, the Squad Program is a highly technical advanced EMS critical care program and also provides additional manpower to critical incidents and structure fires and is also capable of doing blood transfusions.
Woodard claims: We use data to analyze the best use of resources. Right now, the squad sits almost all the time. We would love to see the metrics Bobblehead Bill is relying on to show its idol “almost all of the time.” We reached out to our sources, and they have in fact said that Squad is one of the busiest apparatuses in the FD. So, show us your data and metrics that you analyzed please to prove Squad sits idle. Yes as of today we filed a PIR for those metrics so we will soon have data from the city unless they again try to send it to the AG in hopes of delaying us more open records.
Woodard claims: Staffing is being divided up and assigned to the BC (Battalion Chief) vehicles, along with the blood transfusion program. This will double (from one to two) the availability of this program on every shift, and better utilize personnel and equipment. However, Bill, our sources have also confirmed that they will not be in service because the lieutenant on the squad is being turned into a captain / safety / FIT / drone pilot / chauffer for the BC’s. The squad vehicles will not be in service, and no personnel will be assigned to them. I wonder when the taxpayers paid for those specialized vehicles for us to not use them now. Well, we know the city doesn’t care what taxpayers are floating for things just look at all the trips they take! More importantly, according to the department policies an officer cannot be the acting paramedic on a fire apparatus. Is Bobblehead Bill trying to say that an officer or Battalion Chief is going to be better than a highly trained medic at giving blood?
Woodard claims: In 2024 we expect to add this program to every ambulance we have further expanding the program, which necessitates the training of everyone on those pieces of equipment. Hold up Bobblehead…do you have a written agreement with a blood bank/hospital that they are going to guarantee enough blood for us to put on every ambo at a minute’s notice? Also, how much will the training of everyone cost on those pieces of equipment and is that best use of tax dollars versus having a highly specialized Squad? We would love for Bill, Chief Lee Glover, or the city to show us the proof that this will be rolled out in every ambo in 2024. We would also love for them to show us how they plan to fund the expansion, the additional training of personnel, etc. According to our sources every Ambo will have warmers but not blood! Mr. Woodard said there was 13 calls for blood in 2023. It seems the FD Squad units did their job then just fine, so does 13 mean we should expand it to every single ambo? HERE IS THE QUESTION FOR RESIDENTS: Do you want the medic who maybe does the procedure once or twice every 3 years doing your blood transfusion? Do you want a highly skilled team who does it up to 13 times in one year to do the procedure? As Homer Simpson would say, DUH!
Woodard claims: There is a 12-page contract that he is happy to share with anyone who emails him (so we will be doing that as well as we already placed a PIR request 15 min ago for it). He then posted the “RELEVANT SECTION OF THE AGREEMENT” that he claims stands as proof that the Hospital will supply blood for the expansion. We just filed a PIR for the contract unless he wants to email it to us for free as he said he would. Our email Mr. Woodard is FriscoWhistleBlower@protonmail.com but we won’t get our hopes up you would send it.
The image reads, “Upon request by the City. Hospital shall supply to the City the Blood Products from time to time. in such quantities and types as maybe requested by the City; provided. however that due to the unpredictable nature of the demands for the Blood Products, Hospital cannot and will not guarantee the City the availability of all or any portion of the Blood Products to be supplied hereunder. Hospital does agree. however. that it will use its best efforts to supply all Blood Products ordered by the City in an expeditious fashion to the extent the Blood Products are available to the Hospital. Hospital has no reason to believe that in the absence of special circumstances it will be unable to provide any and all Blood Products required by the City during an emergency.
Well, we have a few questions about the image and wording of Woodard’s so-called proof he published. Let’s take a moment to point out the incorrect punctuation throughout the paragraph and the incorrect written sentences. For example, Upon request by the City. Hospital shall supply to the City the Blood Products from time to time. in such quantities and types as maybe requested by the City; If that is proof who the heck wrote it? Also, what does “TIME TO TIME” mean Mr. Woodard? Is it all the time? Is time to time on every ambo? What does it mean when it says, in quantities and types, “AS MAYBE REQUESTED BY THE CITY? You can say you’re expanding it but just not request the blood to actually have it on hand? It mentions the hospital CAN NOT GUARANTEE AVAILABILITY DUE TO THE UNPREDICTABLE NATURE OF THE DEMANDS FOR THE BLOOD BUT IT WILL USE BEST EFFORTS. That does not sound like a guarantee Bobblehead Bill that you will have this on every ambo in 2024 and why pay for additional training if we may not be able to get it? Lastly, it reads the hospital has no reason to believe that in the ABSENCE OF SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES it will be unable to provide any and all Blood Products required by the city during an emergency. Was COVID special circumstances? No one expected the world to shut down the last few years, but it did, is that a special circumstance? Mr. Woodard, this so-called image you posted first looks fake, second is not a guarantee as you said in your statements that it will be available for every ambo, and it is not dated so how do we know if this is a current or previous agreement signed by the city? You really expect citizens to be stupid don’t you?
Lastly Mr. Woodard claims if additional personnel are needed for a fire, we can send more apparatuses as necessary. I am quite certain we have the personnel and equipment to do that. Fires at this point represent less than 2% of total calls. He goes on to say this is not a shortage of personnel (okay sure). Any good organization will evaluate its operations and make changes when it makes sense. QUESTION FOR THE FRISCO FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION: In response to Bobblehead Bill’s statement do you agree we have enough personnel to call out for more apparatuses and still provide the same level of service? Mr. Woodard did you read the firefighters’ survey that says they have no confidence in Chief Glover? Did you still think it made sense after your evaluation of operations to make him Fire Chief? Bad leadership has bad consequences and in this case sir it can be deadly! Robert Townsend once said, “A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so they can get on with their jobs.”
Mr. Woodard likes to talk and hear himself talk, which is why he just can’t stop responding to us once he gets started. We are going to return the accusation and call Mr. Bill Woodard, Place 4 for the Frisco City Council a liar and if he is not a liar then he is misguided by facts! He asks us for proof but what proof has he published that contradicts our last blog Another One Bites The Dust? The fact is the City Manager and Council are going to double down to protect Fire Chief Lee Glover, they can’t stop now. They also are in a pissing match with the Fire Fighters Association and don’t want to give in or admit they may have been wrong so again the city will double down over and over. God forbid they just do the right thing!
The city FD is understaffed, and the Fire Fighters Association has repeatedly requested the need to hire more staff. Hell, the FFA went as far as to go to the city council meeting during citizens input and beg for them to hire more staff. The response, nothing you could hear a cricket if it chirped. While Mayor Cheney likes to break the rules of citizens input and respond to concerns when it comes to development or to defend his reputation, he can’t even crack a smile for the firefighters. Mr. Veteran John Keating won’t even fight for them! He should be ashamed of himself because if there is anyone on that council who knows what it means to serve it is Mr. Veteran Cheating Keating who sits there like a dumb puppet!
Mr. Woodard, if we are not hiring more personnel then how are we expanding the program? Can you honestly say it makes sense to consolidate Squad and the Safety Program? If you can then I hope your family never needs them and they don’t have the personnel to get to you because they have called out more apparatuses to other scenes.
It’s looking like toxic Tammy is going to be defeated along with the go man! Woohoo!
WOW WOW WOW. Truth is out. No more rumors. Nothing illegal. Thank you for sharing and exposing Toxic Tammy. Time…
Cheney is so full of shyt! He can’t be gone fast enough. Vote Burt, Vote Elad! We need to start…
All of this makes so much sense based on how I’ve seen both myself and so many other city employees…
Thank you for enlightening us! It is about time people see the light.