City of Frisco’s Ethics Policy

by | Feb 8, 2023 | City Council, Home Rule & City Charter, HR Department, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics

As Frisco has grown so have residents’ concerns and questions about future developments, density, and the lack of transparency between the city, its leaders, and residents.  In recent years residents have called for transparency and filed ethics complaints against members of the city council.  Before we get into the complaints and why the system is rigged, you first need to understand the process. 

The process for filing a complaint under Ordinance number 09-04-25 with the city is for any person who believes that there has been a violation of the ethics laws to file a sworn complaint with the City Secretary.  The complaint must identify the person or persons who allegedly committed the violation, provide a statement of the facts on which the complaint was based, identify the rule of rules allegedly violated, and be sworn to in the form of an affidavit. 

As for confidentiality, the ordinance also states that no city official shall reveal information relating to the filing or processing of a complaint except as required for the performance of Official duties.  All papers relating to a pending complaint are to be confidential.

After filing a copy of the complaint, the notification process begins.  A copy of the complaint shall be promptly forwarded by the City Secretary to the City Attorney and the person charged with the complaint.  The person charged with the complaint shall receive a copy of the ethics rules and be informed that within fourteen days of receipt of the complaint, they may file a sworn response with the City Secretary.   

A copy of any response by the person charged in the complaint will be provided by the City Secretary to the complainant, who may within seven days reply to the sworn response with sworn writing filed with the City Secretary and a copy of the response will be provided to the person charged in the complaint.  Then the person charged with the complaint may request a hearing. 

The ordinance states “at any time assistance is required, the City Secretary shall provide information to the persons who inquire about the process for filing a complaint.”  

Once the complaint has gone through the process it will be reviewed by the City Attorney.  Within seven business days after the attorney receives the complaint the City Attorney shall make an initial assessment of the complaint.  The City Attorney is to assume that all facts alleged are true and determine if the facts constitute a violation of the ethics law.  After that is completed the City Attorney meets with the City Council in executive session at its next regular meeting to present a written report describing in detail the nature of the complaint, and the attorney’s assessment of whether the facts as alleged constitute a violation of the ethics laws.   Then in an open session of the council meeting, a majority of the council members not implicated in the complaint may dismiss the complaint based on certain grounds,  determine that the complaint on its face does not state a violation of the ethics laws, or refer it to an investigation. 

Sounds easy, right?  Sounds fair, reputable, and honest right?  If you ask Ms. Rouse she might disagree with you!   Next, we will dig into the Shady Shit of one of the complaints.

Who Is Jeff Cheney

by | Feb 3, 2023 | Cheney Group, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics

Jeff Cheney is a man with a diverse and successful career path. Back in 1998, he was a Senior Associate for Price Waterhouse Coopers. In 2000 he became the Director of Portfolio Operations for Highland Capital Management.  Two years later, he joined Keller Williams forming The Cheney Group. Then in 2007, he became a councilman for The City of Frisco and served until 2016. During that time, around 2014 to 2015 he also became the President of Earth 911. 

As his council term came to an end, Cheney decided to run for Mayor of Frisco, which paid off as soon as he won the election. In May of 2017, he officially became Mayor Jeff Cheney for The City of Frisco. Then in November of 2017, The Cheney Group joined The Associates, owned by Robert Elliott.  In 2021, The Cheney Group moved one more time to join Monument Realty Group. 

You thought we were done?  Cheney also served as the owner of Frisco-Online.com from 2004 to 2017.  In 2017, Frisco Online merged into Lifestyle Frisco that Cheney maintains a partnership. Today, Lifestyle Frisco touts on their website they are the guide for “What to Do, Where to Go, and Who to KNOW” around Frisco! In 2021, Jeff Cheney told David Arkin with CheckoutDFW.com that shortly after his second child was born he unloaded their life savings to buy FriscoOnline.com, and looking back, what a smart investment, it was. He went on to say that FriscoOnline.com was hitting 4-5 million page views a month which played a big part in his real estate business.  Finally, Jeff is known to love Yoga and his family owns Hot Body Yoga in Frisco.

Some might say when he took office in May of 2017 that Frisco became Cheneyville and a sanctuary for wealthy people!  He is known to love urban planning and development and has been quoted many times that he loved how Frisco was a blank slate.  Cheney takes great pride in that he helped plan out the remaining space in The City of Frisco.  One key thing he wanted to pass was an ordinance that future developments have a certain percentage of open space.

Unfortunately, Cheney has advocated for growth and big named developments all while ignoring residents’ calls to slow down!  Truth is, some of these developments are great for the city and its residents, and then some leave people to question, why did Mayor Cheney and the City Council approve that?

In the last few years, Frisco has been recognized as the fastest-growing city in America, and the best place to live by Money Magazine.  Without a doubt, Jeff Cheney has played a big role in Frisco! The only question now is, did Cheney do all this for the residents, or did he do it for himself?