In our blog Non-Partisan Politics. we asked if local municipal elections are as “non-partisan” as some want you to believe, and the answer is no. Then in our blog Go Fund Me – Campaign Edition, we asked if you would be upset to learn that a candidate whom you donated to, used their campaign donations to donate to other candidates that do not share the same ideology? We did a deep dive into John Keating, who is currently running for re-eleciton in Place 1 and is a registered Republican. Keating is also the #1 offender of transferring money between candidates both from his political campaign and personal pockets.
We wanted to look at other candidates’ campaign reports to see what stands out. According to Ballotpedia, Mayor Jeff Cheney is a registered Republican. In 2015, as Mayor Deputy Pro Tem, Jeff Cheney endorsed fellow republicans Chad Rudy for Frisco ISD Place 3 and as Mayor in 2018 he endorsed Angela Paxton. In 2021 he endorsed Angelia Pelham, a registered democrat, for city council. Mayor Jeff Cheney campaign reports might look boring at first glance; however, you have to look a little deeper and then you will discover some interesting things. We are guessing his endorsement of a democrat may be the reason Cheney was denied endorsements during his re-election for Mayor in 2023 by the Collin and Denton County Republican parties.
We also noticed from Cheney’s campaign reports that he received at least $4500 in personal contributions from John and Leslie Keating. As for others sitting on council, Cheney received an in-kind donation from Bill Woodard for $109 and Angelia Keating for $400. It begs the question, if an ethics complaint came before the council (which it has in the past) could Cheney be fair and impartial when Keating has given him over $4500?
Another name that appears over and over on his campaign report Lorie Medina. Not in the donations column but in the “expense” column. Medina, otherwise known as Cheney’s political consultant or one time Chief of Staff has been paid somewhere in the range of $191,500 over the last few years for her loyalty. Now, that is a lot of MONEY!
Lastly, as we have pointed out before, the majority of his donations are from developers with ongoing city projects. In 2019 Cheney accepted $15,000 from Phillip Carter which he later returned after public pressure because Carter was convicted of fraud. Another interesting name, Logan Anjaneyulu shows up in 2023 and he appears to be the founder of Alamo Equity, which owned the El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio. In June of 2023 it was reported that the hotel had gone into foreclosure and was headed to the auction block by The Real Deal. The article stated the Alamo Equity founder and managing partner had been mismanaging the fund to limit his personal financial exposure. Should we be shocked, just a few months after his donation the developer is in the news for questionable business practices? Probably, but it seems to be a repeating pattern when you take money from developers.
Then we looked at Angelia Pelham who is running for re-election for Place 3. Since 2021, the Keatings have personally donated $8000 to the Pelham campaign. That is not chump change! Again, we pose the same question, if an ethics complaint came before the council against Keating (which it has in the past) could Angelia Pelham claim to be impartial when the Keatings have been her BIGGEST donor? Does accepting that kind of money when you sit next to the person on council create a conflict? Next Mayor Jeff Cheney and his wife Dana donated $1556.00 to Angelia Pelham as well as very publicly endorsing Pelham.
We also are curious if John Keatings conservative friends Jared Patterson, Drew Springer and Matt Shaheen (who was just at Keatings re-election kick off) would have a conflict with him donating that much or sending out a political mailer that shows an endorsement for a registered Democrat, who openly admitted on video she voted for Biden?
Pelham has received over $10,000 in contributions from Cheney’s developer friends since 2021. Should we be surprised? Her three largest donations were $3000 from the Williams family associated with LandPlan Development, $8000 from Keatings and $5000 from a Venton Krasniqi. Venton who? Remember that name as it is coming up in its own blog post soon.
Next, we looked at Bill Woodard and he likes to donate from his campaign to other campaigns. First, he donated $500 to Sean Heatley for Frisco ISD, $1000 in two $500 increments to Dynette Davis, a democrat for Frisco ISD and $500 to so called conservative Laura Rummel. Then he donated $1000 to Tracy Shipman, Dustin Paschal and Clint Bledsoe’s campaigns.
As far as taking donations from fellow council members we could only find that he took one donation in the amount of $1000 from John Keatings campaign. Again, we ask if the council members take money from each other, should we believe, they can be impartial when having to judge their co-council members of an ethics complaint?
Like all the other council members he took campaign contributions from the big developers ranging from $15 to $20,000. All in all, one might say his campaign list is pretty standard until we saw a recent donation from his campaign fund for $200 on November 6, 2023, to Safety First Frisco PAC. What is the Safety First Frisco PAC? It is a “Political Action Committee” started to work AGAINST PROP A & B, FOR THE FRISCO FIRE ASSOCIATION for their ballot measures for civil service and collective bargaining. Should a council member be giving to a PAC from his campaign fund (money you may have donated) to oppose our first responders? Bill advocates left and right for his trikes and bikes path and trails, but it is impossible for him to find money in the city budget for staffing and workers compensation. The city forced the Frisco Fire Fighters Association to the point of a ballot measure. I sincerely hope if anything regarding the fire department comes before the council that Bill Woodard recuses himself now that he has funded opposition to the firefighters.
Next up Brian Livingston, who is known as the most conservative of our council members. Most of his donors appear to be registered republicans. It is not a surprise that from 2020 to 2022 he used campaign funds to donate $3000 between House Rep Jared Patterson and Matt Shaheen. It also appears Patterson donated back to Livingston in the amount of $1000 when he was running for re-election. It also appears he donated to the Mark Piland mayoral campaign in early 2023 which is probably why the council removed him from all of his positions on different committees. Livingston also donated to several conservative organizations like the Denton County Republican Party for an event table in the amount of $1391 in 2021, the Frisco Conservatives in the amount of $400 in 2020 and the Republican Woman of Great North Texas in 2017. Lastly, he donated $1450 to the Americas Defender Foundation for the Thin Blue Line Ball in 2023. The interesting thing about Livingston is campaign donations aligned to his conservative values and within his political party lines.
As for council-to-council donations we found an in-kind donation in 2016 to Jeff Cheney for $265 itemized as food. He also has a campaign donation to Laura Rummel, which since being elected has towed the line of being a conservative. The one thing we did learn, is that Brain Livingston likes food, lots of food. He has several food related expenses on his campaign finance report at local restaurants. Like the others he has taken money from developers to the tune of about $5 to $6000.
Tammy Meinershagen, one of our newest council members, had a very short campaign contribution list. Craig Hall donated $2500 which kind of makes sense since he is into the arts and Meinershagen is poet and arts expert. She had three personal donations (not made from political campaigns), the first was $500 from Angelia Pelham. Then we found a $1000 from Dana and Jeff Cheney and a WHOPPING $5000 donation from the Keatings. Again, we ask the question if an ethics complaint came before the council against one of these 3 council members would Tammy recuse herself? Would she claim that she could be impartial?
What did we learn looking at these campaign reports? One, they all love developers, some more than others, which as a resident I will always find questionable. We also believe the constant back and forth between campaign donations and/or accepting personal donations from fellow council members gives the appearance that your vote or decisions could be bought and paid for. It also gives the appearance that you may be compromised should you have to be the judge and jury against your fellow council member if an ethics complaint were to arise. We also learned that John Keating and his ex-wife Leslie were the biggest donors to all the campaigns including his own. We are curious what Keatings conservative friends will think now that it is out that he gave over $13k to registered Democrats.
Here is the truth, we would love to believe local races are non-partisan, but that is simply not true. Who you donate to matters! Who you endorse matters! Who you align with matters! Just scroll through Facebook political pages and you can see the talks of partisan vs non-partisan and it always ends up in two sides bickering.
Ask yourself, if you are a conservative and you believe you are supporting a conservative but find out he has given $10,000 to registered democrats would you want to vote for that person. Same thing if you are a democrat and you believe you are supporting a democrat but find out they gave $10,000 to a conservative would you still support or vote for that person?
If you are a politician who has taken money from someone that you believed aligned with your party values but then learned, they donated to a candidate clearly aligned and registered with an opposing political party would you want to be associated with them? The point – know what you stand for and research your candidates.
If you have not read our blog from yesterday, Legal Logo Woes then you should. We told you about a citizen who emailed the city and after publishing our blog, we heard from many residents who also emailed the city, and got the same stock answer.
“The City of Frisco does not own the “Frisco” logo. The BNSF Railway Company owns the rights to the logo and has granted a license to the City for the right to use the logo under certain circumstances. The license agreement does not address use of the logo by candidates in City or other elections. Whether a candidate may use the logo or not is a matter of federal trademark and/or copyright law. The City does not have jurisdiction to enforce federal trademark or copyright law.”
The resident did not ask about the trademark of the logo it asked about the city’s rule posted on their website and in the candidate packet stating you could not use the Frisco Logo in campaigning. The city made that rule and published it so the city should be able to enforce it, especially with a sitting council member. Why publish it if you can’t, won’t, or don’t want to enforce it?
We emailed BNSF Railway to ask if the use of the city logo that they own, means and should be interpreted as they endorse John Keating and Angelia Pelham? They responded with we have forwarded this to our legal department. If the answer is no, they do not endorse these candidates, we plan to ask about Mayor Cheney’s use of the city logo in his campaign material in his 2023 election. We will let you know what we hear back!
In our last blog we asked if local elections are truly non-partisan and from the response we received most readers responded with a firm NO. We are not surprised by the response because we believe local races stopped being non-partisan a long time ago. Political campaigns are serious business according to the book Political Campaign Craftsmanship by Edward Schwartzman which notes that over one BILLION dollars are spent in presidential election years. Where do the candidates get all this money?
Candidates for political office at any level of government, must hustle to raise money to fund campaigns. Campaign finance laws dictate who can contribute, how much one can contribute and how those contributions must be reported. In Texas, campaign finance guidelines are published by the Texas Ethics Commission. Before any campaign can start raising funds, they must first file paperwork to identify their campaign treasurer who is responsible for keeping up with the campaign finance reports that must be turned in to the city.
Generally, when a person donates to a candidate they have a specific reason or purpose that drives that decision. People may donate to support a specific candidate or party whom they share the same values or has the same goals. One may donate to try and influence an election outcome in their favor or to gain access or influence with the candidate. In Frisco, who is donating to our city council members and what are they doing with the money you donated?
In an early blog called The Ethics Conclusion & The Bogus Ethics Policy, we addressed campaign donations going back and forth between candidates and how it can affect them from being able to be independent when an ethics complaint is filed against a member of the council. In our blog Dark Money, we talked about the corrupt campaign finance system that has shifted the power in politics from the residents to the pay-to-play system that developers in Frisco seem to take advantage of.
As we said local elections are no longer non-partisan so if you are democrat you mostly likely donate to democratic candidates and the same could be said for a conservative donating to republican candidates. We decided to start with John Keating because he is currently running for re-election and his campaign finance report has been the most colorful over the years.
John P. Keating is a registered Republican. In 2015, Keating announced he would not run for re-election in Frisco because he planned on running for Texas House Representative District 33. According to TransparencyUSA he has received contributions from some interesting groups, most likely during the time he ran for the Texas House District. Empower Texas PAC $52,160.01, Texas Right To Life PAC $10,000, True Texas Project PAC $2239.86, and the Collin County Republican Party as well as 2 republican woman groups. One interesting donation to point out is the James Webb donation during his run for Texas House. Webb donated $20,000 according to TransparencyUSA and he was convicted of Medical Fraud in 2016.
What about locally? Keating made several donations according to his campaign finance reports, remember this is money donated to his campaign. Keating donated over $3000+ to The Frisco Chamber of Commerce, the most recent donation in 2022. In 2017, he “sponsored” $1500 for the Collin County Republican Party. Fast forward to 2021, John Keating’s campaign finance report shows he donated $1000 to each of the following republican campaigns: Angela Paxton Campaign, Jared Patterson Campaign, and Pat Fallon for Congress. Also in 2021, he continued donating to republicans like the Chris Hill Campaign for $500, Jimmy Angelino for $1000, and the Rob Altman for $1000.
In 2022, from his campaign donations, he donated $1000 to each of the following republicans: Keith Self for Congress, Jared Patterson, Matt Shaheen, Drew Springer, Frederick Frazier, and the Jimmy Angelino Campaign.
In local elections, using his campaign donations, he donated $1000 to the Bill Woodard Campaign, and in 2022/23 he donated $2000+ to the Cheney Campaign. Now what is interesting is that John Keating and then wife Leslie Keating, made around $7000 in donations to Angelia Pelham, a registered democrat. We could not find the donations on his campaign expense reports so we are assuming that came from personal funds. QUESTION:Keating has always made campaign contributions to politicians from his personal campaign fund so why when it comes to Angelia did he change that? Keating has donated to some very conservative politicians in recent years and received money from very conservative groups over the years, so we are guessing he didn’t want his “REPUBLICAN” donors to know he was donating to a democrat which would have had to be listed on his campaign finance report. Since it came from his personal funds, the only way to know he donated to Pelham is by looking at her campaign finance reports.
Why is this important? First if you donate to a candidate like Keating, but you don’t support Cheney or Woodard, would you be upset to learn he is using campaign donations to support them? If you are democrat voting for Keating, and never researched his campaign funds, would you be upset to learn Keating has donated to and accepted campaign funds to some very far right conservatives? Lastly, Keating supported Angelia for council then and now and the fact that he gave her $7000 could be an issue for party driven voters. Maybe that is why he didn’t donate from his campaign fund like he did with all the other candidates. We don’t know the make-up of Angelia’s voters, but if most are democrat do you think they know Keating is donating to some very conservative legislatures and accepted money from some very conservative PACs over the years?
In our next blog we plan to deep dive into the other council members’ campaign contributions to see who they are giving their campaign money to which was been donated to them.
Campaigning has begun and we are excited to see how the next few months play out. We thought we should educate ourselves on the rules, so we read city’s Political Campaign Sign policy listed on the city website.
Rules 1 & 4 are pretty clear so we decided to look at the candidates social media pages and election websites.
Rule 1: Political signs cannot be placed on any City of Frisco, Community Development Corporation (CDC), or Economic Development Corporation (EDC) property or in a City of Frisco easement.
Rule 4: The City of Frisco logo cannot be used in any way for campaigning including on political signs.
John Redmond website appears to only be one page and has a short intro to who he is and his campaign logo. We could not find any social media pages for him. – Passed Inspection
Mark Piland website does not include pictures of political signs on city property, and it does not contain the official city logo. In a review of his social media, we did not see any violations either. – Passed Inspection
Angelia Pelham currently holds Place 3 and serves as Deputy Mayor Pro Tem. Her website passed inspection. However, her social media did not! On January 17th she held a filing party at city hall. She had several supporters come join her and there are numerous pictures of her and supporters holding Pelham campaign signs on city property and more so in the rotunda of city hall! That is a clear violation of Rule 1 even if it was temporary. The photos also violate Rule 4 regarding the city logo not being used for campaigning because clearly in several photos the official city logo can be spotted. It became campaigning when she turned into a filing party, had her political signs and several supporters wearing t-shirts. The photos appear on her political Facebook page as well as personal page and on Instagram.
We liked her campaign video, she looks good in red and has a catchy slogan. We are a little curious about one portion of the video which shows her standing at the back of the room with Frisco Public Safety officers from both the PD and FD. The video is tagged in the corner with her campaign logo which could give people the impression she is endorsed by either public safety group, which she is not. The picture includes Mark Piland who has announced he is running for Place 1 which made us curious how he feels his likeness in her video? Lastly, when the photo was taken we were pretty sure none of them knew down the road it would be used for campaign video. We are not sure if there is any violation here according to campaign rules or city rules, however one would think before using someone’s likeness, out of respect, you might want to ask them if they are okay with it. Many police departments have rules about offices being photographed and for the purposes they can be used for.
Lastly, we looked a John Keating’s website. He currently serves Place 1 and is the Mayor Pro Tem. We could not view his social media because has blocked us across all channels. Keating’s website is in clear violation of Rule 4. As soon as the page loads you see a picture of Keating with the slogan Promises Made Promises Kept and behind it is a watermark of the official City of Frisco Flag. Then if you scroll down, right after he asks you for your money, you can clearly see the official city logo.
On the “About John” page it shows him standing in the Frisco City Council Chamber up on the dais. This picture was taken on December 4, 2018, the night the council approved a plan for the PGA of America. The picture appears in an article for the Dallas Morning News.
The last page titled “The Mission” has a picture of Keating with the official city of Frisco Logo right behind him, which is again, a clear violation of Rule 4. Then under Public Safety he has a picture with Chief Shilson, Frisco PD which mislead residents of an endorsement that he does not have. Now the picture with Shilson may not be a violation but is misleading.
When it comes to campaigning, rules should be taken very seriously. We could understand how first-time candidates can make mistakes, but if they are running it is their responsibility to know the rules. As for the Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Angelia Pelham, and Mayor Pro Tem John Keating, they have no excuse. If they are serving in the Deputy Mayor Pro Tem and Mayor Pro Tem positions then clearly they should know the rules. Keating has been around since 2011, off and on and if he doesn’t know the rules by now then we may have bigger issues. We go back to why are there rules for thee but not for me? I can guarantee if some of the previous candidates who ran for office committed these violations we would not hear the end of it. The city should also be accountable to uphold their own rules! Email the city council and ask them to uphold to the city rules now and in the future.
Are you ready for another adventure, well let’s visit Fort Collins, Colorado. Every few years the Frisco Chamber hosts a “Leadership Event” and according to the website it’s an opportunity to build new – and strengthen existing – connections among the Frisco business and community leaders that you otherwise may not have the opportunity or time to engage with. In English they mean it is a chance for the “commoners” to spend three glorious days collaborating and partnership building with the “important people.”
The event was held September 12 to 15, 2023 in Fort Collins, Colorado. According to the Chambers website the destination “offers a blend of outdoor adventure, cultural attractions, and a thriving business community. In September, when we will be visiting, the city is particularly beautiful with its golden aspens and crisp autumn air. The downtown area is full of art galleries, independent shops, and restaurants. The city is also known for its commitment to sustainability and its collaborative spirit.”
What is the goal of these fun trips on taxpayer dollars?To help shape the “Future of Frisco.” You can be an INVESTOR at different levels. The “Innovator Investor” costs $4000 and the description reads, “Lead community enrichment as the Innovator Investor. Your investment drives program growth, offers brand exposure, and shapes our community’s future. Benefit from positive community association, visibility, and impactful connections. The “Visionary Investor” is $3000, and the description reads, “Propel community progress as a Visionary Investor. Your investment aids program growth, aligns your brand with community investment, and supports valuable experiences for community development. Enhance your brand’s image while contributing to community success. Blah, Blah, Blah…
Lastly you can just be an “Attendee” which is $3250, and it includes airfare, hotel, transportation, and most meals. A few city insiders told us in the past maybe one to 3 people from the city attended these trips. However, in recent years Mayor Cheney turned it into the “Popular Club” trip on taxpayer dollars and felt that everyone in the city should go. We were curious of course over the last few years, who went?
In 2019, Council Member Will Sowell and John Lettellier, Director of Development Services were the only 2 from the city to attend the trip. Then in 2022, that number jumped to six which included four council members and two city officials. Last year in 2023, it jumped to 12 people which included five city council members and eight city officials. It is important to note that 1 to 2 months after the 2023 trip one attendee Paul Knipple, City of Frisco – Director of Engineering, left the city and took a position at the City of Westminster, Colorado. Do the math: 12 people x $3250 = $39,000 of taxpayer dollars.
Next we have Visit Frisco, the official destination marketing organization for the City of Frisco. According to the website it is their mission to generate a positive awareness of Frisco as a premier destination for meetings, sporting events, conventions, trade shows, leisure travel, and to positively impact the economic base of the City of Frisco. In 2019, zero reps from Visit Frisco attended the Leadership Trip. In 2022, one Visit Frisco rep attended the trip. Last year in 2023, Marla Roe the Executive Director attended the trip which cost taxpayers $3250.
What about the Frisco Economic Development Corporation? Well in 2019, two EDC reps attended and in 2022, one EDC rep attended the trip. Last year in 2023, two Frisco EDC reps attended the trip which is $6500 in taxpayer dollars.
Then we have the Frisco Independent School District, wait what? In 2019, two trustees attended, and zero attend in 2022. Last year in 2023, three Board of Trustee representatives attended which include Dynette Davis – Board President, Gopal Ponangi – Vice President, and Rene Archambault – Board Secretary. First, why did any member from the ISD Board of Trustee’s need to attend these trips? Secondly, when did Financial Hot Mess Express better known as Dynette Davis become the President? That means 3 x $3250 = $9750 of taxpayer dollars – but whose counting…oh wait we are!
Now it is a Chamber Leadership event, so we would expect several representatives of the Chamber to attend. In 2019 and 2022, the same four chamber representatives went. Last year, five chamber representatives went. Two representatives from the Frisco Economic Development Corporation include Stephanie Wagoner – Director of Business Retention & Expansion, Gloria Salinas – Vice President also attended. That means 7 x $3250 = $22,750 dollars.
Then we had a few people attend that held a place on local boards or committees. For example, Donna Schmittler of the Heritage Association and Danny Mehta with the Downtown Advisory Board. We also know Jake Petras attended who at the time was on the Planning & Zoning Board, but according to the registration it shows him under a business name. We don’t know if the city paid for Schmittler or Petras, but we did receive a registration confirmation for Danny Mehta. Add another $3250 dollars
It really was a “Who’s Who of Frisco” aka “Developer Friends” of the mayor and council that attended from the business community. A few stood out on the list like Lori Medina, owner of MedinaUSA, also the Mayors Chief of Staff for several years, and his campaign manager. She is also currently helping Angelia Pelahm in her re-election bid this year. The other person to stand out is Jake Petras who went under his real estate business name but was a current member of the Planning and Zoning Board. Correction, shortly after the trip was over he was quietly removed from the P&Z board for an ”incident” that happened in Fort Collins. You probably recognize other big names like Hillwood, PGA, Hall Group, Wilks Development FireFly Park, Rollertown Beerworks, Tumbleweed TexStyles and Dallas Cowboys.
It makes sense of course because obviously there was a heavy focus on the downtown area of Fort Collins as the City of Frisco is in the middle of a multi-pronged project to redesign and improve the infrastructure of Frisco’s downtown. The trip was well documented by another attendee Audrey Henvey for Star Local Media and Frisco Enterprise. “On Sept. 13, Frisco’s city leaders, city staff, school district representatives and business community members soaked up the kaleidoscope of components that make up downtown Fort Collins, Colorado. They took in the color explosion of flower beds nestled throughout the area — a product of the city’s downtown flower project. They took note of the outdoor painted piano, the murals on transformer cabinets and the activated alleyways featuring strung lights.“ Cheney is quoted in the article as saying, ““So we need to make some very strategic decisions, truly, over the next couple of months, adding that work will also continue with Velocity Group, a consultant hired by the city to help forge a vision for the Rail District.” Wonder how much that is costing taxpayers? Lastly, Cheney is quoted as saying, “Just seeing the horticulture they do and all the flowers is just so beautiful, and it helps them create that civic pride,”
The only question we have is, why didn’t the council and city officials who have been very vocal to the Frisco Animal Advocate community, that they would only consider a public/private partnership for an animal shelter stop by NOCO Humane? Who are they? Well, they are the PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNER TO THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS to provide animal protection and control services. If they were out there on taxpayer dollars they probably should have stopped by NOCO since that has been a hot topic lately. We would love to hear from an animal advocate on how the city has progressed since they took the Animal Shelter off the CITIZENS BOND last year because they wanted to “ look into public/private partnerships” possibilities. Simple answer, they don’t give two shxts about what the very vocal animal advocates have been asking for, it simply does not fit their agenda of FRISCO. Goes to show the “citizens” at the top of the org chart are not as important as Cheney’s idea of downtown and the flowers he wants that create civic pride.
It sounds like an amazing VACATION taking in all the sights, just look at the trip agenda. Did we mention it cost TAXPAYERS OVER $65,000 and that is for one trip, and it could be more if they paid for others to go. If the goal was how to help “Shape Frisco” did we really need that many people to go look at streets, painted pianos, murals, flower projects, alleyway strung lights? Could 2 or 3 people go and bring back video and pictures to share at a work session?
Before our leaders can shape Frisco they need to figure out what Frisco is famous for. For example, Fort Collins is referred to as the Craft Beer Capital of Colorado as it has 21 breweries, and it is near one of the most beautiful reservoirs in Colorado. Colorado is naturally an outdoor enthusiast dream, from food exchange outposts, gardens and parks. That makes sense as it generally does not go over 90 in the summer. What is Frisco? What are we already known for that we can build our downtown around? Build, create and design Frisco around the history of our city instead of trying to create a history. Instead, we are creating “Cheney’s Frisco” and believe me, he could care less with what residents want as he has already proven that over and over again.
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!
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