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!
Every day we get emails, lots of emails! Some are from Whistleblowers and others are from those who say we are pieces of shXt for exposing the truth of what is happening in Frisco. The best one to date came from a man who is good friends with one of our sitting council members. He said that no one takes us seriously, people are laughing at us, and we are a bad joke. We laughed so hard because he was working overtime to make us think we don’t matter! I guess he thought he would hurt our feelings and it would make us stop uncovering the Shady Shit happening. News Flash…sticks and stones may break our bones, but your words will never hurt us.
Here is the thing, we do matter! Want to know how we know that? Well, it is simple. You are reading our page, you are thinking about us, you took precious time out of your life to focus on us, and you spent the time writing us an email. Another thing we should point out, we alerted the public to the glaring issues of John Keatings – KeatingForFrisco.com page it magically changed!
When we realized the next day his website changed we decided to scroll through and read the new content. First the picture of him and his wife that he cheat on is NOW GONE! We know Keating is narcissistic, loves himself and has an inflated idea of how good looking he believes he is, so we were not surprised to see he takes center stage on his new page.
The “About Me” section is interesting too! He claims to have worked on several of the important projects that brought some big-name businesses to town. One of them was the PGA Headquarters. To be clear, he voted yes for it, he went to the opening and took selfies, but did he help get it here? Mayor Cheney said during the vote that a very special thank you should be made to a local resident and father of two boys, David Ovard and to then councilman Will Sowell, who worked tirelessly on the PGA project. Funny, Cheney didn’t do a special shout out to Jammed-Up John Keating.
In fact there is a whole article in the DMN about Mr. Ovard and his push to get the Frisco PGA here and another article in D Magazine that talks about 3 Men, Blake Rowling (TRT Holdings), David Ovard (Frisco Resident) and Mark Harrison (Executive Director of the Northern Texas PGA), who scrambled to win the PGA Headquarters. None of the articles mentioned Jammed-Up John! As we said, Keating was there to vote Yes for the project, but I don’t think he did the behind the scenes work that brought the PGA Frisco here.
Next we noticed a picture of him and Mayor Cheney along with two woman wearing Fire Fighters Uniforms. We would have no issue with this if it was a social media post saying he participated in Citizens Fire Academy, but instead he used it as a political picture on his website. It gives you the impression he supports the Fire Department – which he does not! Next to the picture is verbiage about his goal to balance Frisco’s high level of amenities with low tax rates, talks about public-private partnerships, and corporate incentives. but he didn’t. The picture has nothing to do with the text on the page and clearly it was a rip off of what Mayor Cheney always talks about.
How do we know Jammed-Up John does not support the Fire Fighters and how do we know he is a LIAR? Let’s look at the Fire Fighters Association Candidate Survey he did in 2021 when he was running for re-election. It reads The National Fire Protection Assoc, recommends adequate safe staffing levels of a minimum of 4 fire fighters on all fire suppression apparatuses. It says he understands that the FD is currently maintaining staffing of 3 fire fighters on all fire suppression apparatuses. It says he understands that more citizens, increasing businesses and taller buildings require safe staffing levels. Lastly and most importantly, it says IF ELECTED TO THE OFFICE I WOULD SUPPORT REQUIRING A SAFE STAFFING LEVEL OF 4 FIRE FIGHTERS ON ALL FIRE SUPPRESSION APPARATUSES.Signed by John P. Keating April 27, 2021
Jammed-Up John went on to leave comments on the survey that said, “AT THIS TIME, I SUPPORT FOUR FIREFIGHTERS FOR ALL TRUCK COMPANIES. FRISCO IS ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING CITIES IN AMERICA, AND WE HAVE TO PLAN ACCORDINGLY. WE HAVE TO BUDGET FOR A NEW 14-DAY PAY CYCLE, BENEFITS, FIRE STATION 10 (AND PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT), AS WELL AS ADDITIONAL FIRE FIGHTER PERSONNEL FOR ON ALL FIRE SUPPRESSION APPARATUSES, WHILE MAINTAINING OUR ISO-1 RATING.”
Jammed-Up John lied to the Fire Fighters Association to get an endorsement! As we have said before his ACTIONS don’t match his WORDS. Keating did not support Texas House Bill 471 which relates to the entitlement to and claims for benefits for certain first responders and other employees related to illness and injury. He has not tried to get the city to reverse its decision to fire Kraemer, an almost 30 year Veteran of the Frisco FD for running out of his medical leave, who recently won his workers comp case. He supported and shared comments by former City Manager, George Purefoy where he was calling the Fire Fighters self-serving, accused the FF of misrepresenting city staff and leadership, and saying they don’t have Frisco’s best interest at heart. HEY KEATING – DID YOU JUST CALL THEM OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE SAME THING YOU SAID YOU SUPPORTED ON THE 2021 CANDIDATE SURVEY? Who’s self-serving? Who’s misrepresenting the facts?
Jammed-Up John is proud of his military service which he displays on his website. He talks about the 13 years he spent in the Army, and it is captioned with a picture of him in his Army Camo. We thank you sir for your Service and we will always support our Veterans, but as we have said you are still accountable for your actions, choices and decisions. What if I was running for council and I wore your Army Uniform and talked about how I support public-private partnerships, low taxes and claim to have been a part of the team who brought the PGA here. Would you be offended if a non-service person wore your Army Uniform? Would you be offended if it was for a political ad that mislead folks? I don’t think the Fire Fighters want you to discredit their profession or uniform with your lies and naked body pictures, then turn around and wear their uniform in a political website ad.
Next up his page regarding “The Mission!” He talks about how he supports Public Safety, and he will fight to ensure the men and woman in uniform have the resources they need. Maury said the lie detector shows, “THAT’S A LIE!” Then he claims to support fiscal responsibility but goes on city trips that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars to look at parks, art installations and streets. Then he says he supports creating jobs standing next to the H-E-B Red Ribbon opening. Pretty sure H-E-B created the jobs and that all you did was Vote Yes at a city council meeting. He says he supports Accountability and Transparency, since when? Just look at his own website, he has not been transparent at all. We could go on, but we have already thrown up in our mouth twice so just visit his page and look for yourself.
In closing, the haters can say we are a joke, and no one is watching or reading our site, but we know they are from our own analytics. Oh, and because Jammed-Up John changed his website. He stopped lying to people that he was happily married Christian man and just started lying about how he supports public safety. Guess what is glaringly missing from his KeatingForFrisco website. You, me, the citizens! He never once mentions how he is here to help serve the citizens he represents.He never says how he is here to do what is best for Frisco Residents and Taxpayers. He proved that during the Universal Theme Park vote when he looked at a room full of residents worried about their homes and property values and said, sorry I didn’t make it out to speak to you before the vote tonight. With his vacation red lobster peeling skin he looked at them and said, I had this Rotator Cuff thing and had to have surgery and well needed a vacation. Yes, he went to the beach instead of listening to THOSE HE SERVES. Jammed-Up John is committed to one person and that is big boy Mayor Jeff Cheney, his democrat partner in crime Angelia Pelham and well…..HIMSELF! Oh, did we mention, Keating has his Texas Real Estate License now, guess he is following his buddy down the road of Real Estate.
The time leading up to an important election can seem more like a sports or entertainment show. You have journalists and pundits dissecting each candidate as far as their speech, appearance, or analyzing what they do right or wrong. In the end, the goal is to find the most authentic candidate that will represent you or be the Stateman or woman for your community. According to Cambridge, a statesman is a skilled, experienced, and respected political leader or figure, known for being versed in the principles of government and for displaying good judgment.
Recently, we came across The Art of Manliness which had published an article about the 4 Qualities of a True Stateman. The first quality is a bedrock of principles, which means a platform or a foundation of firm, unchanging, fundamental truths. These are things they believe to be the core of their being. The second is a moral compass, which is rooted in a sense of absolute right and absolute wrong. The third is vision. Statesmen must be able to see problems on the horizon and they must be able to come up with solutions that are good for both the short-term and long-term. Lastly is the ability to build a consensus which means they must enlist those they serve within in government to support their initiatives to achieve their vision.
We have long argued that John Keating does not meet the definition of a Stateman. What are his “Bedrock of Principles,” you know the foundation of what he believes to his core? We started at KeatingForFrisco.com where the landing page is a picture of Keating with his family. The same family he stepped out on in 2021 with another woman. Caught red handed, over a holiday weekend in a public community pool with Kristen Grammer in several compromising positions. Later they returned to her home in the community where he remained for a couple of hours. It is our understanding from friends who know the Keatings, that Ms. Keating was blindsided by her husband’s behavior, and they have since separated and they are working through the process that leads to divorce. His website however shows them happily married and implies everything is A-OKAY in Shaddock Creek Estates.
Then his page has a large blue banner that says “Public Safety is Job #1. It reads, provides our first responders with the equipment, training, and leadership they need to keep Frisco families safe.” If this is true, then how could he support City Manager, Wes Pierson when he hired Fire Chief, Lee Glover? At the time Glover had a 90+% no vote of confidence from over 210 firefighters and they made it clear to the council they did not want Glover as the next Fire Chief. How could he oppose House Bill 471 which protects first responders in Texas and how could he call Firefighters selfish on George Purfoy’s Facebook page? How could he support a leader who in a 2010/11 report was said to be toxic and the city needed to clean house of management in the department (referring to Mack Borchardt and Lee Glover)? How is Public Safety #1 when the President of the Frisco Fire Fighters Association in Jan 2023 stood before him at citizens’ input begging for the council to hire more staff and provide them resources to do their job? How can he support the city and how they have treated Cameron Kraemer a nearly 30-year Frisco Fire Fighter for the city when they fired him for running out of medical leave? He later won his worker’s comp case.
Keating is a Veteran of the Army which he makes very present on his page. We along with many others have complete respect for his service to our country. We are grateful for him and all the other veterans, but it does not excuse them from things. If you visit the Army website, they list their values. One is Integrity, to do what’s right legally and morally. Stepping out on his family does not display Integrity. Another is respect and the website says,” And self-respect is a vital ingredient with the Army value of respect, which results from knowing you have put forth your best effort.” We would say posting pics implying you were naked or using half naked photos flexing in a bathroom for social media or dating apps don’t show much self-respect, nor does it show respect for others who have to see it and can’t unsee it. Lastly your actions over and over don’t show respect for the citizens who voted for you to hold the position of Councilman Place 1 Again, his LACK OF JUDGEMENT as a leader is questionable.
In 2021 before the “pool party for two,” John Keating posted a few photos for a scavenger hunt to his social media page. In the first picture, he is holding a sign that reads “Get Naked” and it appears to be covering his groin area. Now, behind the sign he had boxers on which you can’t tell, but we question his judgment and the others in the picture. He is standing next to Mayor Cheney, First Lady Dana Cheney, and Councilman Bill Woodard, who appear to either be appalled or laughing at a 60-year-old man pretending to be naked. You are the LEADER or STATEMAN of FRISCO! Do you think this is how residents, who voted for you, want to see you? At the same event, you posted a video jokingly of the Mayor, First Lady, and Councilman Woodard tying up Angelia Pelham, our new councilwoman as they chant tie her to the tracks. In our opinion – NOT THE BEST JUDGEMENT!
Now after the “BIG Universal Announcement,” Keating heads out on a date, which is fine if he is separated from his wife. However, if he is not separated well then Houston we have a problem! Why is Keating choosing to show such a public display of affection at Grandscape, a place where there are families all around for the holidays? It is called, get a Room! Again, it is his JUDGEMENT or lack of that we are questioning. Take your date to Addison, downtown Grapevine, or somewhere in this large metroplex – other than your own backyard to show some respect to your family, to your constituents, and the families around you.
Mr. Keating, what you display via your website and the truth are very different. The fact that you continually display questionable or bad judgment, then want to ask voters to again come out to the polls to re-elect you as one of our Statesmen for this city is ridiculous. One thing is clear, you think very highly of yourself because you are continually without clothes or in compromising positions. It is great that you are in good shape, fit, and healthy but that does not mean you should post text, or tweet photos of yourself that should probably be on your Only Fans page. Last we checked you are 60+ years old, so PUT SOME CLOTHES ON AND ASK YOUR DATES TO PUT SOME CLOTHES ON. You have a choice to make, be a Statesman for Frisco or be a Baller aka Player, and move out of office and into your PRIVATE LIFE. As of now you consistently show LACK OF JUDGEMENT AND BAD DECISIONS… ONE AFTER ANOTHER. Whatever you decide, if you want to remain a leader in this city then ACT LIKE IT. We deserve better!
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.
Growing up we always had our hands in dirt or soil when helping dad with the Vineyards. I always complained and my Nona (grandma) would always say “oh, a little dirt never hurt anyone.” My dad would say “to most people dirt is just dirt, but to a farmer well that dirt is called potential.” I am sure these quotes belong to someone smarter than my dad and Nona but it did make me think, have you ever asked yourself, how much is the dirt below my feet worth? To an investor or developer dirt is like gold and depending on where it is located it can be worth a lot of money. Bill Gates began buying up land and farm operations years ago and while he leaves the farming to the professionals he understands land = asset appreciation. The dirt below the 2500 acres that PGA, Fields, and The Link is worth millions if not billions.
Developers and investors are betting heavily on Frisco which is great! With Mayor Cheney being so involved and so in love with the project I just assumed he would move out there to the greatest development of all time. Then at the debate he said he owns two pieces of property his personal home and his rental home (previous home). He said he does not own or have interest in any other land in Frisco. We were talking to a friend of ours who procured a lot in The Preserve, and we saw a picture he had taken of the builder’s map with written notes, and we thought, hmmm this looks interesting. Some realtor friends had said there was a rumor Jeff Cheney was given a lot or gifted a lot in The Preserve by the developer, but it was just a rumor.
Well by the looks of the picture Cheney and Keating have a lot under “Developer Hold” and it over looks …you guessed it…the 8th hole! It appears there is a “Friend & Family” row after all. I would love to hear from the Mayor what he plans to do with that lot next to his best friend Keating. Interestingly Cheney lives next door to Keating now in another community so I guess they are moving on up to the north side together like George & Weezy Jefferson. Cheney has to take his Florence with him which is Keating of course because you can’t leave Florence behind. Country singers Jordan Davis or Luke Bryan already said in their song “you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy dirt.” But did they buy it? I feel like breaking out in song since I don’t have any drums, and sing like Garth Brooks, ”Thunder rolls, And the lightnin’ strikes.”
Since childhood, I have loved a movie night with the family. My dad would take me to the corner store where he always got my mom a Bit-O-Honey and then he would look at me and say in his deep voice, kid you can pick a sweet treat too. I am sure I smiled ear to ear the whole way home looking out the window of the old truck with my $100,000 candy bar in my hand. Today the candy bar is called 100 Grand and I still pick one up every Friday with a quick pick lotto. In the movie Other People’s Money (1991), Lawrence Garfield said, “I love money more than the things it can buy…but what I love more than money is other people’s money.”
Our lives center around other people’s money, and we don’t even realize it. The bank owns the home until you make the last payment. The car belongs to the lender until you make the last payment. The new furniture you bought at Nebraska Furniture Mart that is financed over 24 months is not yours until the last payment. By now you see the connection, until we make the last payment the thing we love is not really ours. Politicians LOVE other people’s money because it helps pay for costly campaigns. The more campaign contributions they bring in, the less they will have to take out of their own pockets or through a loan. Political contributions are a time-honored tradition, and some would say “The Cost of Doing Business.”
In 2019, Sharon Grigsby with the Dallas Morning News did an article about Phillip Michael Carter, who was accused of taking advantage of elderly investors for million dollars, and the relationship he had with both Cheney and Keating’s campaign. Cheney received $15,000 and Keating received $5000 from Carter, both said they were returning the donations which was the right thing to do. She interviewed Cheney for about 45 minutes and Cheney told her he met Carter sometime after he became Mayor in 2017 and Carter later visited his office at City Hall about a sign-ordinance provision that was causing him difficulties at his Preston Road commercial property. Cheney said it was not unusual and most developers reach out to the mayor and ask for help. Cheney confirmed he helped resolve the issue but was steadfast that the 2018 campaign contribution was not tied to that case and said, “there was never a this for that.”
Cheney also told Grigsby that his “reputation is everything to me.” He regrets not looking deeper into the allegations but he is “so busy every single day, from sunup to sundown to the weekends.” The article goes on to say Cheney first learned of Carter’s state charges and arrest relating to fraud charges on November 14, 2018. He immediately linked the $5000 donation from Carter but said he had completely forgotten about the entire case until he began reviewing his campaign finance reports in anticipation of his interview with Grigsby. He admitted in the interview much of what Grigsby was laying out in regard to charges was news to him. The article was riveting but it never discussed the timeline between his donations and when the “issue” got fixed so we did some research.
May 24, 2018: Cheney $10,000 by Carter Family Office LLC (Phillip Carter)
October 10, 2018: Cheney $5,000 by North Forty Development (Phillip Carter)
October 15, 2018: Keating $5000 by Texas Cash Cow (Phillip Carter)
October 23, 2018: P&Z holds a public hearing for Sign Variance: Preston Wade Crossing by Frisco Wade Crossing Development Partners, LLC (Phillip Carter)
**Interesting fact the P&Z Commission in 2018 was led by Robert Cox who was appointed to the Commission in April 2016 with the first motion by John Keating and second by then councilman Jeff Cheney.
January 2019: SEC Files Charges against Phillip Carter for a multi-million dollar fraud scheme that took place from May 2015 to Feb 2017 and totaled around $45 million dollars and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
In 2019, Frisco’s population according to the US Census was about 200,907 people. It is hard to believe that someone who is the mayor of a booming and bustling town and also an extremely successful businessman could just “forget” about a fraud case that involved a real estate developer and millions of dollars. At the time it was plastered in local DFW papers and the top story on most local news stations. To be fair, Cheney and Keating accepted a campaign donation and nothing illegal occurred. They were never named in allegations that involved Phillip Carter and both returned the donations. Again, this is just another situation that “doesn’t look good” and could lead many to believe that something improper was happening, even if it wasn’t. That old perception is reality for many folks is a stinker.
Another thing we learned from Grigsby’s March 2019 DMN article was Cheney’s personal policy of not accepting more than $10,000 from a single donor when it comes to campaign contributions. I am not sure when that became his policy because he accepted $20,000 in 2017 plus $6000 in 2020 from Ali Kahla who we believe was a representative for IGO-USA, The Gate developer. I guess he also must have been ridiculously busy and forgot his personal policy almost 9 months after his interview with Grigsby and the article because in 2020 he accepted $15,000 from Fehmi Karahan (Fields). Again, we want to say there is nothing illegal about the donations (we don’t want to be sued) other than they seem to break his personal policy. I guess it is good to have a flexible policy that benefits you when needed.
Philip Anthony Hopkins who played Odin in the movie Thor said, “Even with two eyes, you can only see half of the picture.” If that is true, then we should all go to the Ophthalmologist to get our eyes checked out. The problem is repetition, the action of repeating something that you have already done or the recurrence of an action or event. The repetition of “it just looks bad” starts to become a theme and that can have a detrimental impact on the citizen’s perception of you and the city. The conversation becomes about the lack of trust and confidence in our city, the city council members, and our mayor.
I don't know, Patrick, and I'm not familiar with SREC, so I'm unable to answer your questions.
Hi Patrick—when is your SREC30 meeting. Missed the one and want to together before Sept.
We hope to write about it all soon. Most of the content in question - was from 3rd Party comments…
Shining a light in the dark here to just get this out of the way and moved past—who started the…
Bunch of Nepotism, buddy system promotion. If you ain’t white you ain’t right