Survey Says….

by | Jun 13, 2023 | Frisco Fire - Climate Survey / ICMA, Frisco Fire Chief Lee Glover, Frisco Fire Department, Frisco Firefighters Assoc, George Purefoy, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics, Wes Pierson

As a young adult, I loved watching game shows. The mid-1950s were a period of rapid growth in popularity for quiz shows. I remember watching Jack Barry, on-air host from 1947-1958 and 1960 – 1980 who produced and appeared on “High Low Quiz,” “Juvenile Jury,” and “Tic Tac Dough.” Then, there was Dennis James who is credited with hosting television’s first network game show in 1946 called “Cash and Carry.” One of the most popular of all times was, “The Dating Game” with Jim Lange. Rodney Alcala, a contestant on the show in 1978 is often referred to as “The Dating Game Serial Killer” because when he applied to be a contestant he had already committed at least four murders and decades later authorities discovered he was a prolific serial killer, but, I digress.

The best game show in my opinion is “Family Feud,” which started in 1976 and was hosted by Richard Dawson. He was the host known as the Kissing Casanova for his signature kiss on the cheek and lips to all his female contestants. The show would be hosted over the years by Ray Combs, Louie Anderson, Richard Karn (Home Improvement), John O’Hurley (Seinfeld), and Steve Harvey. My wife and I tune in every day to hear Steve Harvey say, “We asked a 100 people” and “The survey says!” Game shows give the audience the chance to live out our fantasies thinking, “Well, if someone must win, it could be me!”

Who uses surveys? And, what is the survey’s purpose? A better question might be “Who doesn’t use surveys?” It is common for companies to do employee surveys to measure staff engagement or companies may reach out to customers after a purchase to measure satisfaction. The overall purpose of a survey is to get feedback and ideas to understand areas of improvement. We were a little surprised and intrigued when we heard rumors in the last few weeks that the Local 3732 Executive Board of the FFA had done a survey of the firefighters in response to a new chief and in regard to some of the Mayor’s recent statements.

Let’s look at the questions in regard to the Mayor’s Statement Survey:

Question: Do you want Interim Fire Chief Glover to be the next Fire Chief of the Frisco Fire Department? The survey says 92.5% said NO, they do not want Interim Chief Glover to be the new Fire Chief, which is alarming considering he is currently running the Department. Have the firefighter’s lost confidence in Glover?

Question: Do you believe Interim Fire Chief Glover has improved/rebuilt morale and regained trust of the Department? The survey says 91.4% of the Association said, NO Glover has not improved morale or rebuilt trust.  Interestingly, this directly contradicts what Mayor Cheney said at the Star Patriot Debate where he adamantly said Glover has increased morale and is starting to regain trust. When the Mayor answered with such confidence, did he knowingly lie? Was it an attempt to mislead the public to win the election? Just listen to him in his own words…

Now, let’s look at the Fire Chief Questionnaire in regard to the future hiring process of the fire chief position.

Question: Do you believe the organization has any qualified candidates to assume the task set forth by the City Manager’s office?  The survey says 89.4% said NO that the organization does not have any qualified candidates as of now to assume the task. That is pretty telling that Frisco firefighters don’t agree with the Mayor’s view.

Question: Would you like the next chief to be an external hire or internal hire?  The survey says, YES, 93.8% would like an external hire which is mind-blowing because it shows they have no confidence in current interim Chief Glover.

Question: Do you believe the finalist list should be composed of National Candidates? The survey says 91.7% responded, YES it should have national candidates. So, if it were a “national” search, why did they need to be Texas Certified? Oh no, nothing to see here.

Question: Do you believe the finalists should have experience as a chief in a department of equal or larger size and city population density?  The survey says, 86.1% said YES they should have the current experience equal to Frisco’s department.

Question: Do you believe the department is appropriately preparing for the future or heading back to the past practices?  The survey said 91.5%, YES, that they are heading back to the past practices. Are they referring to Mack Borchardt, the previous Fire Chief, who works now in the City Manager’s office as a special assistant?

Question: Do you believe the Department is appropriately staffed?  The survey says 95.2% responded NO it is not adequately staffed. As a resident, that scares the shady shit right out of me that its own department feels that way.

Question: Do you believe there should be a stakeholders’ group of FF consisting of all ranks involved in the hiring process?  The survey said 96.6% responded YES, they want to have a say in picking their next leader.

After seeing the survey, we too had some questions and decided to do some research.

Frisco’s Fire Chief was Mack Borchardt who started as a volunteer firefighter in 1973. Then, in 1982, he became the Administrator and Chief of Volunteers until 1987 when he became the City’s very first Fire Chief. Oddly, in September of 2011, the City announced he would retire and then assume new duties as a Fire Programs Consultant and Special Assistant to then City Manager George Purefoy.

Why would a fire chief take a new role out of the blue? Multiple off the record sources tell us that Borchardt was caught in some compromising situations which could have been a factor, or it could have been his staff and the association just didn’t like him either. 

In the fall of 2011, a Climate Survey was done in the Frisco FD to identify growing concerns of firefighters and officers. It notes, “…there is a lack of trust, respect, and dignity between officers and firefighters. The culture… is very negative and one of intimidation, retaliation, and fear.” The examiner notes that in the conversations with the Chief and Officers they lead her to believe there is some truth to the claims. The report also notes there is considerable animosity regarding Chief Borchardt and that many in the department felt the entire senior staff along with the Chief needed to be replaced because they were all trained in Borchardt’s style. The most telling part of the report was that many firefighters believe the then Chief Borchardt was trying to run the growing department like it only had 20 employees, and instead of hiring those best suited for the job, he hired his friends.

Lastly, it notes the department is understaffed for the growing population (ding, ding, ding). At the time 76.3% of the respondents indicated they would leave the department if they could.

While we have no concrete evidence, multiple sources said Borchardt was pushed out. George Purefoy stood up for him and said, if he goes then I go, so instead Borchardt was moved into a new job at city hall working for George himself. After reading the report, it begs the question was Chief Borchardt removed “not retired” because of his personal behavior and management style that had torn apart the Department?

Did then City Manager George Purefoy save his friend with a cushy job right next to him at city hall? It is important to note that the current Interim Chief and candidate Lee Glover steadily advanced through the ranks of management in the fire department under the leadership of Mack Borchardt; so, based on the report, it might be plausible to assume Glover still has Borchardt’s management style and that is why the new survey shows no confidence in him. Either way, Borchardt and Glover are what some would call “thick as thieves.”

In 2013, the city hired Mark Piland as the new Chief of Frisco Fire Department. According to many of the sources we talked to, YES, change did start to happen, but it didn’t help that Piland was met by resistance from then Manager George Purefoy who conveniently had Mack Borchardt, the previous fire chief, in his ear. Think about it, if you are an old fire chief of 20+ years, would you want to see what you built in the Department change right in front of your eyes?

Tension began early on from what sources tell us, making it very difficult for Piland to make significant changes. Borchardt worked the ear of his longtime friend and boss George Purefoy for years, straining the relationship from the onset with Piland and Purefoy. We are guessing Piland realized early on he was facing a losing battle going up against the old fire chief in the City Manager’s ear day-after-day during his entire tenure. One has to wonder, is this why Piland thought he might better serve the City as Manager? One also wonders if the new City Manager Wes Pierson was really chosen because he would fall right in line?

As a side note, I had some of these suspicions months ago when I filed a PIR asking for Borchardt’s recent contract renewal by Purefoy that was signed just before retiring, which, NO, we still have not received.

Now, it’s 2023 and Glover, who has been the Interim Chief, is a candidate for Chief of the fire department.  You can bet he wants that position badly, and his mentor and friend in the city manager’s office, Mack Borchardt would not mind seeing him in the position either.  If that wasn’t enough, we asked around, and multiple officers told us shocking things regarding Glover that left us flabbergasted. YES, flabbergasted!

Obviously, out of fear of losing their jobs, I can understand why they would not want to go on the record. With that said, multiple firefighters spoke off the record. They have witnessed the Interim Frisco Fire Chief belligerently drunk multiple times in public and threatened them if they ever spoke up about it. The same firefighters confirmed he was recently seen in the street at a FD Conference, again belligerently drunk, peeing on a tree in the median during the middle of the day. Witnesses also say he drank heavily at lunchtime during some of these conferences. So now, the current survey makes total sense. All of these factors, history, and more, contribute to the survey results. We were told he has a known history of maliciously undermining all ranks of FD leadership for his own personal gain.

Based on what we were told, someone at city hall might want to ask the following interview questions of Interim Chief Lee Glover:

Is it true you have a history of being belligerently drunk at FD training conferences and FD apparatus purchasing meetings?

Do you have a DUI on your record from August of 1985? Were you sentenced to 2 years’ probation? Is the city aware of this?

Did you urinate on a tree in the middle of the street at an FDIC conference in Indianapolis? And is it true, you threatened FD staff if they spoke of the incidents and suggest they would “regret it?”

Is it true you have a history of using your rank to cause people in your department to fear losing their job should they go against you?

If we told you there was a tape of you making racially inappropriate statements how would you respond? Do you have a history of making racially inappropriate statements?

If the City had the guts to sit down with the staff today face to face for an honest conversation, would your current staff say all these incidents were true?

Lastly, does the Public Lewdness charge from 1992 and the indecent exposure charge in 2000 belong to you or your father?

From the City’s recent meet and greet, we now know the candidate shortlist is Rob Bergersen, Richard Davis, Lee Glover, Kenneth Johnson, and Marc Pate. None of them have held the position of Chief. But, we learned of a few names that were removed, and we are interested in asking, why since they seem to have much more experience? Take Paul Henley, who is the Fire Chief in Flower Mound and President of the Texas Fire Chiefs Association–why was he taken off the list? Chief Lasky in Lewisville, a 40-year veteran and has served as a Fire Chief for the last 12 years–why was he taken off the list? Hello?  With the stellar background of on some of these candidates, one should wonder why they were removed from the list.  “Survey Says…“

Dynasty of A Development

by | Feb 16, 2023 | Cheney Group, Community Development Corp, Developements, Developers, Economic Development Corp, Fehmi Karahan, Fields - Brookside North, Fields - Brookside South, Fields West, George Purefoy, Hunt Realty, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Omni PGA Resort, PGA Frisco, Politics, Robert Elliott, Robert Elliott - The Associates, Stillwater, Taxpayer Dollars, The Link, The Preserve & Fields, Universal Kids

It started like any other January day residents across Frisco woke up and started getting ready to take on a new day. I stepped out of the shower and could hear the morning newscaster on the television giving the traffic report followed by the weather. The deep voice said, prepare for the warmest January day since 2009 because today we should hit a high of 83 degrees. Texans generally joke about how we hit all four seasons in one day.  Winter starts at 6 am, spring starts at 10 am, summer is at 2 pm and fall starts around 5:30 pm. 

Midmorning sitting at my desk I get a notification that Visit Frisco has gone live on their Facebook page so of course I tune in to see what is going on. Standing behind a podium is Mayor Jeff Cheney announcing all the officials and guests in attendance. He then goes on to quote Dr. Seuss and says “One Fish, Two Fish, Frisco has a new wish and that is to welcome Universal Studios and Universal Kids to Frisco, Texas.” I was thinking about why would we want a theme park, where would it go, and how did this development come about. Mark Woodbury, Chairman & CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts, share a rendering of a bright and colorful theme park geared towards young children with a hotel featuring 300 rooms. Page Thompson, President of New Ventures for Universal announced they just purchased land 97 acres east of the DNT and north of Panther Creek Parkway in the Fields development. Mayor Jeff Cheney takes his position back at the podium to thank Fehmi Karahan of Fields and Karahan Properties as well as Hunt Real Estate who brought PGA here and is now bringing Universal Theme Parks. 

In my head, I was thinking how did this dynasty development come about? The response on social media was swift and it soon became clear not all Frisconians were pleased about the park’s announcement.   Weeks went by and I passively watched everything play out online and at city meetings.  The key message being communicated by our mayor was how excited everyone was to welcome universal, and how the project had been fully vetted by the city and council. The key message from residents, they didn’t want the park.  I was just intrigued by how much our Mayor was trying to sell the project to residents and news channels, and how he advocated relentlessly for the development. 

Then one night while sitting in my recliner, I remembered back in October a post that I had seen from The Cheney Group that said his agents have been working on something very special for over a year now.  They were excited to announce The Preserve at PGA is about to tee off and if someone was interested in building their own custom home reach out to them asap.  He talked about early interest being historic levels and how they were the Fields Experts. My golf buddy in real estate around that same time was pretty upset telling me that The Cheney Group had snagged the exclusive to list The Preserve homesites.  He even showed me an alluring glossy mailer that he had received in the mail from The Cheney Group. The front talked about the residential communities of PGA, living at Fields with renderings of the development. It had an attractive picture of The Cheney Group in front of the Fields boxes we see along the feeder road of the DNT. The back talked about Fields West, from the visionary behind Legacy West referring to Fehmi Karahan and new communities The Preserve and Brookside.   

Growing up I always wanted to be like Perry Mason, Matlock, or Remington Steele probably because of my curious nature. It is that curious nature that leads me to ask how can The Cheney Group be the exclusive Fields Experts and now Jeff Cheney, acting as Mayor is advocating for Universal? Fehmi spoke twice at the February 7th, Special Meeting of the P&Z Commission and City Council meeting on behalf of Universal, so it is clear he has a personal interest in seeing Universal go through as it will be a part of the overall Fields project. I am no legal eagle, but I would think that if The Cheney Group is in any way financially benefiting from representing The Preserve for Fehmi Karahan which is part of the Fields Development then Jeff Cheney should recuse himself from any development talk regarding Fields and Universal as it is part of the same overall project. 

My curiosity had me wondering, is that why when several residents showed up to a city council meeting to speak at citizens input he responded to each of them like he was selling the features and benefits of the Universal theme park. Am I the only one who feels like the mayor is trying to sell this project so hard to the public? Am I the only one with these questions or think they may be a reason to be concerned? Am I the only one who thinks something feels shady about it? It goes back to that little word transparency, and the perception or appearance of a conflict of interest.

Frisco’s Transition from Then to Now

by | Feb 5, 2023 | Current City Council, George Purefoy, Mack Borchardt, Politics

Thirty-four years ago, a car drove into town carrying a man named George Purefoy. When he arrived in Frisco, the population was around 5000 and it had one red blinking traffic signal at the corner of Preston and Main Street. Purefoy was named Frisco’s first City Manager. At the time he took over the helm, the city was essentially broke, which lead to some budget cuts and staff reductions. In many articles, he said employees referred to him as the “hatchet man.”

One of the most important goals for George Purefoy was to build a strong foundation in the city so it too had an opportunity to grow and compete with cities like Plano. He strongly believed he had to find the “right professionals” to head the various departments in the city. As a leader, he felt it was incumbent upon himself to set the tone and be the example of what a professional city manager should be. Purefoy had a vision for the city that included growth, potential, and future developments.

One of the first “big” projects to hit Frisco was Stonebriar Mall in 2000. Frisco had to compete in the bidding process against Plano to win the Stonebriar development. Purefoy knew that was not going to be an easy fight. He also knew what kind of economic engine it would be for the future city. Purefoy believed sports, tourism, and private-public partnerships would be what sets Frisco apart from surrounding cities. He was right and, just around the corner were future landmark developments that would forever change the landscape of Frisco.

When Purefoy announced his retirement in 2021, it was important to him and many others that the new city manager continued the “strategic vision” for the city. Ask anyone walking down the streets to heavy hitters in the city about the Legend George Purefoy, and you’ll hear he was a salt of the earth, behind-the-scenes guy. He had a reputation for being kind, soft-spoken, trustworthy, creative, and with integrity, and most of all, he was dedicated to getting projects done.

The reason it is important to tell you about George Purefoy is that he was the mastermind that set the tone for this city, its employees, and the citizens. Mayors and council members would come and go over the years, but Purefoy was here for the long run and had the biggest impact on the city over time. No one is willing to question his motives and intentions.

It just makes us wonder if he knew some of the shady sh*t that was happening around him here?

The Frisco Chronicles – Introduction

by | Feb 1, 2023 | George Purefoy, Politics

Driving up the Dallas North Tollway (DNT) towards Frisco, Texas all you can see are the rows of new developments that line the feeder roads. Gone are the days when Frisco was a residential bedroom community of North Texas where most locals had to commute to a nearby city for work. Stop and talk to the original Frisconians, and they can tell you Frisco dates back as far as the 1840s and was once located along The Shawnee Trail, also known as The Texas Roadway stretching from Texas up to Missouri. Later it would be called the Preston Trail (hence the name Preston Road).


Fast Forward to 1908, Frisco incorporated, and had grown to a population some estimate to be 1000 people. Around 1940, Frisco became part of “the great cotton belt”, which was unique in that it was nestled in both Collin and Denton County. Around the 1970s, the cotton gin business began to dwindle, and real estate developers and their investors began buying cheap land bordering Preston Road. By 2000, Frisco had grown to almost 34,000 residents; in 2019, the city had over 200,000+ residents. Frisco was no longer that little town outside of Dallas. It was on its way to becoming named one of the “Best Places to Live” in the nation.


What changed and spurred this growth? The answer depends on whom you ask. In my opinion, the change began in 1994 when State Highway 121 was extended along with the extension of the DNT to 380 in 2007. You then add Stonebriar Mall in 2000 at the intersection of 121 & DNT and life becomes easier for those in the suburbs of Big D. Frisco’s city manager at the time realized it was time to develop a long-term plan for the city, and they began to focus on sports. They added the Frisco Rough Riders in 2003 and in 2016 America’s Team, The Dallas Cowboys moved in. Development became key and everyone wanted a little piece of the pie.


Today, if you ask residents if they love Frisco, you will get mixed reviews. The original Frisconians believe the city has lost the heart and nostalgia of what it once was. Frisco leaders have forgotten that the heart of Frisco is and will always be its residents. For the last several years, the biggest complaint from residents is density which is the number of people living in a particular area and an important aspect of how a city functions.


In 2019, the Dallas Morning News did an opinion piece by Sharon Grigsby about how residents are tired of bright-and-shiny change, and they are working to become more effective in fighting city hall and the city council. Now in 2023, Frisco is congested with traffic on most side streets, major intersections, and feeder roads exiting the highway. Yet, residents continually hear from the council about how their traffic studies tell them these developments will not affect them. Residents are now calling it “BS” and are demanding change, and many believe it starts with the head of the snake, Mayor Jeff Cheney. So, who is Jeff Cheney?