Wouldn’t the world be such a simple place if someone’s nose really grew when they told a lie? Think about it for a moment, we wouldn’t have to spend so much time trying to determine if someone is telling the truth or a lie. It is much easier in person through verbal and non-verbal ques to tell if someone is lying or withholding the truth from you than it is through filing a Public Information Request. However, PIR’s are all we have here at Frisco Chronicles to get to the truth.
Recently we filed several PIR’s based on leads we received from “whistleblowers” to see if the city would disclose “The Truth” to us through PIR requests. One of the PIR requests read, “We would like the list of the complaints made about political signs to code enforcement or the city secretary for the period of 1/1/2024 to present. We would like a copy of any complaint made about electioneering at the election polls from April 20th to May 5th.” It is a very simple request and after we paid the $6.30 we thought we would get a handful of responses. Instead, we found that the city left a lot of complaints out of our request. We know this because many folks sent us copies of their complaints to the city and they are not in the disclosed information given to us even though it fits the criteria of the request.
The first email we received a copy of was from Councilman John Keating, sent to Kristi Morrow on May 4th, Election Day. It states “poll greeters are playing loud music at FS 8 (they turn it down, then turn it back up). Also, this truck passed through the parking lot several times. Within 30 minutes of receiving the email Kristi Morrow forwarded it to Amy Moore in Code Enforcement who made her way out to Fire Station 8. This is the incident we reported about in our blog Election Playbook: Code Enforcement.
The interesting thing about this email is that John Keating failed to mention to the City Secretary his own team including himself, The Cheney’s, and his friends were electioneering in the parking lot for almost four hours that morning. It is documented with pictures in our blog and proves our point that it is okay for John Keating to break the rules, but others can’t. Just “PAR FOR THE COURSE” in the city council world.
The next email we received in our PIR was about “Illegal Signs” that was sent by Judy Adams on May 3 to City Secretary, Kristi Morrow. It states, “These signs are placed by polling stations all over the city. It is in violation since there are no disclaimers. Very sad that ‘these people’ are claiming to uphold the law and order but are breaking the law by doing the things they accuse others of. I believe they should be removed immediately.” The picture just barely shows the corner of a sign, but we did recognize it.
Why did we recognize the sign? It is a Frisco Chronicles sign! Now to be clear we did not buy these signs, we did not put them out, and we have no clue who did. With that said we do love them, and they gave us a good laugh! We received an anonymous email from a whistleblower that they put them out to spread the word of our site. They did confirm they were all placed on private property and none of them were placed on city property or at any fire station. Lastly, it is not a political action committee, it does not support a candidate, so it does not need a disclaimer.
Judy, think about carpet cleaner signs or we buy ugly houses signs, do they need disclaimers? We suggest Judy Adams focus on what she does best which is blowing people aka blo me! Now get your mind out of the gutter! We are referring to her focusing on her new Blo Bar she just opened for those who need a good blow, or maybe her real estate career, or her closed coffee bar instead of silly illegal signs on private property. Better yet maybe she should make her own BLO ME signs with a phone number to make an appointment, if she does, we will make sure to have readers call them in for being illegal signs.
The third email we received was from April 22 from Jeff Cheney to City Secretary, Kristi Morrow. It is important to note the email was sent from JCheney@friscotexas.gov so clearly, he wrote this as the “Mayor of Frisco” and not as an individual resident. It states, “Pretty clear this is not in compliance with the maximum size of 10×10” referring to the Firefighters tent at Station 7. Kristi Morrow sent the email to Amy Moore in Code Enforcement and Amy replied Justin was on his way to the station. Then Kristi Morrow replied and asked Amy to call her when she gets a chance. Wonder what they talked about?
The next email we received was on April 25th, from Councilman John Keating (JKeating@friscotexas.gov) to City Secretary Kristi Morrow and Assistant City Manager, Henry Hill. He questions if “these are allowed as they are showing up at polling stations. He specifically notes the one at Fire Station 7 in the picture he submitted. He is referring to a Voter Guide Stand that is put out at every election by a political conservative group called Red Wave. You can see at the bottom of the voter guide it says Pol Ad Paid For Red Wave Texas.
Why does Keating not like the voter guide stand? Oh, that is because it has listed for Place 1 Mark Piland and for Place 3 John Redmond. We want to know how often John Keating votes in elections. These have been at polling sites during several election cycles. If he is just now seeing it, then we are curious if he has been doing his civic duty to vote? Maybe he just didn’t like it because it was not his name on the guide!
Lastly, we received an excel spreadsheet of complaints. Not sure what to make of it!
Here is the problem, our request was very simple and straightforward which states, “We would like the list of the complaints made about political signs to code enforcement or the city secretary for the period of 1/1/2024 to present. We would like a copy of any complaint made about electioneering at the election polls from April 20th to May 5th.” We have several emails sent to us which reported about in our blog, Breaking All The Rules related to John Keating, Angelia Pelham and the Safety-First Frisco PAC putting up signs at 9am on Sunday April 21st which was 6 to 9+ hours earlier than they were allowed. We have several emails about the 4 x 4 political signs at Station 7 and questioning if they are on city property that were sent to us.
We also have several emails sent to the city secretary regarding electioneering occurring at the polls, some even documented with videos and pictures.
Yet none of these emails and others we have were given to us in our Public Information Request. They fit the issue, time frame and criteria of the request we made so why don’t we have them from the city. What other emails have they withheld that we don’t know about? Readers and have sent them in but our own city will not be forthcoming and turn them over in a Public Information Request. We have proof the city HAS WITHELD PUBLIC RECORDS…AGAIN! The city claims TRANSPARENCY, yet they can’t even be honest with a public information request and fulfill it as they should. WHY DOES THE CITY LIE AND HIDE INFORMATION FROM TAXPAYERS?
We have a PIR out right now for the body cam footage from the Code Enforcement cameras worn during the election, but they have sent that to the Attorney General. Why do they not want us to hear the conversations they had at the polls with the political candidates or the firefighters regarding code enforcement complaints called in?
Most concerning is how our Mayor and Councilman Keating act like winey children when it is something they don’t like so they use their city emails and position to make complaints which are acted upon immediately by the city. However, the numerous complaints about the signs being put out early at the fire stations by these same folks had no action or fines taken against them for clearly violating the rules. Rules that they should know as they are sitting active council members. Remember John Keating has 16 years on council so if he does not know the rules by now, then he truly is dumber than a bag of rocks. In fact, those complaints are not even documented apparently, or they would have been in our public information request. This is Frisco folks! Rules for thee but not for me!
The other night our grandkids were over, and we thought we should introduce them to the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz. In The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy found the man behind the curtain, pretending to be the great Wizard of Oz, the spell of the Wizard was broken. The great and powerful wizard was exposed. He was simply an ordinary man, who was just able to perform some clever tricks. The trouble with fantasy is that, for some, the line between delusion and reality is blurred for those people who simply don’t deal in the truth. I am talking about those people with fantastical perceptions of themselves that are so great, that after a while, their fantasies become their reality.
After the movie was over, we played a game of Jenga. We told them, you must be careful because the game looks easy, but the truth is you must have patience as you carefully remove pieces of wood while hoping the tower does not topple over. I told them the game requires observation, strategic thinking, and sometimes a bit of intuition. Seeing young kids hold their breath while each piece of wood comes out, then mesmerized in the moment to see if the tower will topple is greatness.
As we played, I continued to think about the movie the Wizard of OZ and how it describes our city council. Mayor Cheney is the man behind the curtain, the great Wizard of Oz. While people in Frisco put him on a pedal stool, he is really an ordinary man who can pull some clever tricks past the residents. As you continue to read you will find each council member fits a character’s persona. As we played Jenga I realized we use the same skills in the game of Jenga every other week as we look over the upcoming agenda for the Frisco City Council meetings. We often find behind every agenda, there is a “hidden agenda”, but you will not find it unless you delicately navigate through the list of items and understand their implications. We find ourselves asking what is the underlying motive or objective behind certain proposals, discussions, or agenda items? Much like in the game of Jenga, if you are not careful you may miss some things that could be very important for the tower to continue to stand.
The next morning, we sat down to look over the upcoming agenda for Frisco City Council meeting. We first noticed under “Individual Items” that both John Keating and Angelia Pelham will take the Oath of Office for their elected places. Then we noticed right after that they plan to nominate the new Mayor Pro-Tem and Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem. In our opinion, the political clique who are like characters in the Wizard of OZ, will probably nominate to keep positions the same. That means Pelham, or Glinda the Good Witch and Keating, who is obviously the Brain-Seeking Scarecrow, will retain their titles since they are the two top Wizard of Oz Enforcers.
As to why the others would not be nominated, well that’s easy. They hate Brian Livingston who they treat like the Wicked Witch of the West, since he supported candidates outside the political clique in the last two elections. Laura Rummell, or the Cowardly Lion, is known as the go along to get along girl and she won’t fight any nomination for fear of getting on the bad side of the political clique. Tammy Meinershagen who is the prefect Dorothy, is too busy writing a poem for why we need a $300 million dollar performing arts center. Lastly, Bill Woodard, the heartless Tin Man, just pulled out all the stops to create a larger divide between the city and the Frisco Firefighters. Probably would not be a good choice if they wanted to “find healing” as Pelham would say with the rank and file of the Fire Department.
After the May General Election every year, appointments to the City Council committees are brought to the City Council for review. City Council members may be appointed and reappointed to the various committees at the discretion of the Mayor and City Council. That is why the regular agenda item 34 stood out which is consider and act upon appointments to City Council Committees. If you remember last year, Brian Livingston was stripped and removed from every committee he served on by the great Wizard of Oz, Mayor Cheney. It was a punishment for going outside of the political clique we told you about above.
The current appointments to each committee are:
Budget and Audit Committee: Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem Angelia Pelham & Council Member Laura Rummel.
Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition: Mayor Pro-Tem John Keating.
Frisco Square Management District (FSMD) Board is composed of three (3) City Council members and two (2) representatives from the developer per the Local Government Code. The board members currently serving are Mayor Jeff Cheney, Council Member Bill Woodard, and Mayor Pro-Tem John Keating.
Governance Committee: Council Member Bill Woodard, Council Member Tammy Meinershagen, & Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem Angelia Pelham.
Legislative Committee: Council Member Laura Rummel, Council Member Tammy Meinershagen, & Mayor Pro-Tem John Keating.
North Central Texas Council of Governments Emergency Preparedness Planning Committee: Council Member Tammy Meinershagen with Council Member Laura Rummel as her alternate.
North Central Texas (NCT) 911 Project: Council Member Tammy Meinershagen with Council Member Laura Rummel as her alternate.
North Texas Commission is represented by Mayor Jeff Cheney.
Park and Trail Naming Committee is represented by Council Member Bill Woodard.
Regional Transportation Council is represented by Mayor Pro-Tem John Keating.
Animal Advisory Committee is represented by Council Member Laura Rummel.
Frisco Veterans Advisory Committee: Mayor Pro-Tem John Keating, Council Member Laura Rummel, & Council Member Tammy Meinershagen
On Tuesday, the city council can do one of two things. First, they could choose not to appoint or reappoint current appointees. Secondly, they can review it and make new nominations to the committees “IF THEY CHOOSE.” What do you think they will they choose to do? Will they do the right thing and put Mr. Livingston back on the committees or continue this petty behavior? Is Brian Livingston still considered the Wicked Witch of the West by his fellow council members for having independent thought?
If they shun Mr. Livingston again who ran unopposed for his seat in May 2023, then they are essentially telling the 14,282 voters that came out to vote for him “YOUR OPINION DOESN’T MATTER!” Just for a point of reference, that is 2922 more votes than Mayor Cheney received the same year. It is also telling the 41,128 residents who voted for Livingston in 2020 that their opinion doesn’t matter. In 2020, Livingston faced two opponents, if you add together the votes of those 2 opponents, they still were 11, 192 votes short of Livingston. Now compare that to the other seat on the ballot in 2020 which Laura Rummell ran for. He had 24,773 more votes than her.
Lastly on the agenda we noticed items 23 – 26 which have to do with the Boards and Commissions. Apparently, they are changing the names of some of the committees. The Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) will now be the Hike-and-Bike Advisory Committee. Bill Woodard, the heartless Tin Man, must be so excited over the change since he is known as the Hike-Trike-&-Bike guy. Then the Frisco Arts Board and Public Arts Program will be renamed to the Frisco Arts and Culture Advisory Committee. We suspect this may have something to do with the “new performing arts center” the city is trying to sell residents. Item 25 will modify certain provisions governing the Parks & Recreation Board. Lastly, the Urban Forestry Board will be changed to the Frisco Natural Resources Advisory Committee. It’s no big deal they are changing the names we just find it the timing interesting that’s all.
It is time for us to click the heels of our red shoes and chant “There’s no place like home!” We encourage you to look at the agendas and enjoy the game of Jenga the city plays with us. The city hopes we are not paying attention to the pieces of wood they are moving around but the Whistleblower Team is always paying attention. It will be interesting to see if Pelham and Keating keep the Mayor Pro-Tem and Deputy Pro-Tem titles.
It is clear Cheney is setting up the path for Angelia Pelham to be our next Mayor at the end of his term. I wonder how Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Brain-Seeking Scarecrow, or the Heartless Tin Man feel about that? We would encourage the other council members (minus Cheney) to think about that fact that Brian Livingston is a pretty popular councilman to his base that elected him. None of them have come close to the accumulated votes he has received over the years so it will be interesting to see what path they all take on the yellow brick road Tuesday night.
Ah, the City of Frisco elections, where candidates pop up like mischievous moles in a game of whack-a-mole. The battle in the whack-a-mole arena begins and the candidates are ready to take their swing at the other. It starts with the Whack-a-mole Forums, where they take a stance and tightly grip their mallet waiting for the right opportunity to smack down the opposing candidate. To everyone’s surprise, candidates just keep popping up somewhere else. It is a constant battle through the political season as you whack and jostle for position, each promising to fix the potholes, and lower property taxes while dodging the inevitable accusations of shady dealings. As early voting begins, you wonder if you’ve nailed down your opponent enough that they will surrender and retreat to the darkness of their hole. They surprise you and pop back up and are ready to battle to the very end. As election day draws to a close so does the delightful game of whack-a-politician and soon a winner will be given the gold mallet. If only it were that easy!
Now that the recent election is over, we want to look at the “Election Playbook” or tactics used because you may be surprised by some of the underhanded measures that involved active and former city officials. Then again maybe not! The first tool in the election playbook is the power of social media. The Safety-First PAC, run by an ACTIVE SITTING CITY COUNCIL MEMBER BILL WOODARD, took the “take no prisoners” rhetoric approach which means victory or supremacy at all costs without any regard to consequences.
One post talked about how when there’s a fire in the city, they don’t want to see the Frisco Firefighters sitting on the sidelines campaigning and playing politics. “Don’t claim the department is understaffed when 6-7 firefighters are sitting at each of the polls every day doing the Union’s bidding” the post said.
Residents were quick to respond that the post was appalling, arrogant, and ignorant. City Councilman, Brian Livingston responded to the post and said he was pretty sure firefighters get days off and if called upon would have been happy to assist. He specifically pointed out we can disagree on the props without personally attacking them. Sapp, President of the Frisco Firefighters Assoc was also quick to respond. He said, “to insinuate that our OFF-DUTY engagement in exercising our First Amendment rights suggests we don’t care about our department or our brother and sister firefighters facing a fire is GARBAGE! He continued, if the city had called for help, he could guarantee the polls would have been empty and every OFF-DUTY firefighter would have shown up.”
We quickly noticed each time a negative comment was made, the PAC just hid or deleted it, and then they swiftly blocked residents from the page to control negative opposition. These were the actions of councilman, Bill Woodard, and his city sidekicks. Wait, are you telling me the Safety-First Frisco PAC (aka the city) which fought so hard and nasty against the firefighters don’t believe in FREE SPEECH? You know your FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT! Ultimately the post was removed from the page probably because burning down the house (figure of speech) was not the best idea.
Another post called the firefighters association “soldiers without a war, and they follow a playbook of confusion, fear, and intimidation.” After talking to residents, we are sure the VOTE NO PAC put out the confusion, created fear, and used intimidation tactics with the DEVELOPER MONEY they had in their pockets. Over the next several posts they released several takeaways from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s conversation with Sheryl Sculley regarding the “big bad Unions!”
In the first video Mayor Jeff Cheney called his “BIG AHA MOMENT” related to the playbook of unions and how they operate. The first was that Associations/Unions try to pit citizens against their elected officials, city manager, and city government.
Then he goes on to say they intentionally put out misleading information. For example, the signs across town say Frisco Firefighters “really big,” and the “association” is very small. What we find interesting is that Mayor Cheney had no issue with the Frisco Firefighters’ signs when they endorsed him and put it on a billboard. We found this on social media, that says Frisco Fighters REALLY BIG, and where is the word association? Ouch, it hurts to look like a crybaby!
The next post was about the Cockroach Theory. We must assume since the video was posted that the Safety-First Frisco Vote No PAC agreed or endorsed Sculley’s comments. It starts with her claiming that the San Antonio unions during elections would tell candidates to give them what they want, or they won’t support them and will run someone against you.
What we find humorous is that Bill Woodard, Jeff Cheney, Laura Rummell, Brian Livingston, and John Keating have all WILLING APPLIED AND ACCEPTED the endorsements from the Association (OH SORRY, UNION), over the years. Since they supported another candidate other than the incumbent, we are now we are supposed to believe they are in a power struggle and blackmailing people.
She then goes on to say the machine of the Union has to keep the “PRESSURE ON” the council members, and once they have them under their shoe like a cockroach, they had to apply pressure and change their tactics to keep them reeling until the Union’s goal is achieved.
We see this very differently because it was the city’s Vote No PAC that sent multiple mailers with different messages, multiple text messages with different verbiage, and talked about higher taxes and outsiders. At one point we felt like if we voted FOR the proposition “outsiders” being Aliens might abduct us in our sleep and take us to their leader to brainwash us and intimidate us into voting NO.
The next post was a video of Sculley and Cheney talking about how you can love your firefighters and disagree about having a union in your community. We could not agree more with Mr. Cheney. You can disagree civilly, however, that is not what you, the council, city and former city officials, and the Vote NO PAC funded by your friends choose to do.
Would you like examples? Angelia Pelham personally attacked the Frisco Firefighters Association board members at a forum and threatened to oust the firefighters who spoke to her in private. Then the Chamber did not allow the firefighters to present at an educational community forum. Lorie Medina, your former Chief of Staff, and campaign manager repeatedly shouted that our firefighters were liars at the polls. Mr. Dick Peasley verbally berated them saying they were overpaid and underworked. Friends of the council in a large social media group then accused firefighters of setting the fire in Chappel Creek to help their cause for the propositions. The Vote No PAC constantly attacked the character, integrity, and qualifications of the Frisco Firefighters. It was “NASTY” Mr. Cheney but it was one sided and the choice was yours, the councils and the Vote No PAC on how that played out.
In closing, social media has serious fire power when it comes to getting out a message. Maybe that is why the social media appears to be scrubbed and cleaned up. We could not find any of the previous posts from Safety First Pac who deleted their page, or photos of the council holding the VOTE NO signs at the polls.
While residents were shocked by some of the posts, employees and former employees of the city were not, according to insiders who emailed us. One said, “That type of behavior is standard operating procedure for the city from the departments to the king of the hill better known as City Manager, Wes Pierson.” Another insider email said, “The only difference is now the residents are seeing what happens behind closed doors at all levels of the city.” They concluded by asking us not to use their name for fear of losing our jobs at city hall. Fear of losing their jobs is something we hear often from City of Frisco employees.
If you attend a council meeting, town hall, or local event all you hear is Frisco is the #1 Safest City. It is drilled into us over and over that the city spends 50% of the budget on public safety and that is why we have #1 this and #1 that. The Frisco EDC has an entire list on their website of all the accolades the city has received going back to 2017.
We are curious, IS FRISCO THE SAFEST CITY? Well, it depends on who you ask! According to a study done by SmartAsset we were ranked #1 Safest City In America in 2022 and 2023. Yet the page does not show we are ranked #1 in 2024. According to Safewise in 2024 we are not the safest city. We are not even in the top 10, top 20, top 30, and top 40 of Texas Safest Cities. Drum roll please, according to Safewise, we are NOT IN THE TOP 50 SAFEST CITIES IN TEXAS. The study said all of the top ten cities reported zero murders. Eight of the top 10 cities reported zero robberies.
What North Texas cities made the TOP 50 Safest City List? Well, #1 is Melissa, #5 is Colleyville followed by Fate, Heath, Sachse, and Trophy Club to finish in the top 10. Wylie comes in #12, Murphy #13, Flower Mound #15, Prosper #27, and so on. What you won’t find is Frisco anywhere in that Top 50 list.
Recently we received a campaign mailer by TREPAC for Angelia Pelham and John Keating that states across the top Two No-Nonsense Leaders “Putting Our Safety” First. It also states they have stood with local law enforcement and firefighters, but the Frisco Police Officers Association and the Frisco Fire Fighters Association have endorsed Mark Piland.
Keating continues to advertise the #1 status of Frisco on his Facebook post which says again #1 Safest City in America. Another mailer he sent out says #1 Safest City in America right across the top. Why is the city not publishing our ranking by Safewise? Maybe BECAUSE WE ARE NOT EVEN THE TOP 50!
The Vote No PAC which is bought and paid for by developers tells you on their mailers public safety is always a top priority. Fifty percent of your property taxes go to public safety. If that is true, our city leaders have failed the residents because we are NOT EVEN IN THE TOP 50 SAFEST CITIES IN TEXAS.
Who do you believe our council, SmartAssest, or Safewise?
In an open letter to Frisco citizens on August 3, 2023, the Frisco City Council announced they “firmly oppose” the measures by the Frisco Firefighters Association to seek civil service and collective bargaining. The letter stated the department holds International Accreditation and Class 1 Public Protection Classification (ISO 1) from widely respected third parties, which distinguished the Frisco Fire Department as one of the top departments in the country.
Recently we read an article in the Dallas Morning News regarding Frisco voters and how they will soon decide on civil service and collective bargaining for fire fighters. It questioned if it was ethical for Council Member Bill Woodard, who opposes the measure to lead the PAC. The article points out that by law, Woodard is prohibited from speaking out against the measure that is on the May ballot.
In a recent announcement we obtained from a source, it showed that Woodard was set to speak on March 21st at the Frisco Rotary meeting to give an “explanation of the propositions.” How is he going to speak if it is prohibited by law from him speaking out against the measure? In the DMN article, Woodard said “that he can have both positions from two distinct capacities.” He went on to say, “I am doing this as a citizen, as a member of this PAC, and anything that I say is in no way representative of my position on council.”
Honk, Honk! Did you hear the horn blow? If Bill Woodard wanted to speak on these measures as a resident, then why did he use campaign contributions to help set up the PAC? Campaign contributions generally come from the public to help you fund your election for COUNCIL. Woodard donated $200 to help the PAC from his Campaign Contributions. It is noted as In-Kind Contribution at the UPS store for a PO Box for Safety First Frisco.
Is that all he donated? On the same campaign contribution report, he also shows an expense on 9/5/23 for $216.92 paid to Bluehost for webhosting. Then on 10/10/23 there is an expense to Google for URL registration fees in the amount of $196.91. Woodard terms out next year in 2025, so what type of website would he need to be buying and hosting now? Drum roll please…our guess is the PACs website. We did a search to see who is hosting the website and well, you guessed it, Bluehost and it was created on 10/18/23. That is just days after registering the URL’s.
Remember in the DMN article he said he could speak out as a citizen, so why not fund the PAC with his own personal money? Why not pay for it from his personal bank account? Why did he fund it from his political campaign contributions? How can he say now after funding it from his campaign contributions that he is just a REGULAR JOE citizen speaking out against the measures?
Next, we wondered how does the audience distinguish between Councilman Bill Woodard and resident Bill Woodard? Bill Woodard was elected to the Frisco City Council in June 2016 and his current term expires in May 2025. Bill Woodards name has been in front of residents as Councilman Bill Woodard for 8 years now. If an announcement says Bill Woodard is coming to speak and explain the propositions, as an audience member or a resident you are automatically going to make “the connection” to the Frisco City Council. The only way we could take Bobblehead Bill’s opinions from the perspective of a resident is if he was NOT AN ACTIVE council member or had never served on the council and then we would have never known who was anyways.
This is no different than the concern residents have had for years now with Mayor Jeff Cheney, wait should we call him Jeff Cheney Real Estate Broker, or resident Jeff Cheney. Do you see the confusion? Do you think Real Estate Broker Jeff Cheney would be asked to speak at Chamber events? We have never seen the Chamber invite any other Real Estate Broker to headline an event or win Executive of the Year. Do you think resident Jeff Cheney would be asked to the Dallas Cowboys Christmas Kick Off to speak at the podium? Probably not! When you hear the name Jeff Cheney, you immediately associate him with his position as Mayor of the Frisco City Council. So, resident Jeff Cheney could not speak at the Rotary either and be an independent resident in opposition to the measures. The audience does not make that separation.
We did notice one interesting thing today as we poked around. The Frisco Rotary website now shows two names speaking on the proposed measures. First up, “resident” Bill Woodard, followed by Matt Sapp, President of the Frisco Fire Fighters Association. At least the Rotary Club came to their senses and invited both parties to explain their positions. We wonder if the invitation to the association was extended after the original announcement, which is why they were not listed.
When is ENOUGH, ENOUGH? The city continues to play between the lines. They had published online and several other places where they were opposed to the ballot measures and had to take them down because it was illegal. Backed into a corner it now appears they are using Bobblehead Bill to speak against the measures. It is the “BACKDOOR” plan that teeters on legal vs illegal, or ethical vs unethical. It all comes down to the city, and the city council who think they are above the law, and they don’t have to be accountable to the residents. It is the “FRISCO WAY” they always talk about. When will someone, a reporter, residents, or maybe the district attorney, call them out on the Shady ShXt behavior they continue to display? This is an obvious “F U” to the residents and the fire fighters of Frisco.
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.
Mr. Thakur will be getting my vote!
I came down here in 1988 to interview with TI in Lewisville. While going down 121 every so often I…
there are several massage "parlors" behind LaHacienda that are foreign run..very questionable activities..one parks a junk car on the street…
there are several massage "parlors" behind LaHacienda that are foreign run..very questionable activities..one parks a junk car on the street…
Thank you for the correction.