Back in September we wrote our blog All in The Family which was about Nepotism which is the practice among those with power or influence to favor, show bias, or give preferential treatment to relatives, friends, and close associates. Most companies have rules or policies about Nepotism in the workplace, including the City of Frisco.
The Employee Code of Conduct policy regarding Nepotism in the city has been the same since 2006. That is why we were intrigued in 2023 when we noticed the city made changes to the policy two times in a matter of months. Why did they change it? The reason for the change can be found in a memo from Lauren Safranek, Director of Human Resources. After reading the reason for the change it led us start investigating recent new hires and the possible relationships they had to someone in the city which you can read about in our September blog.
Several commented that we were making something out of nothing when in fact it was exactly what we suspected. The city was changing the Nepotism Policy in order to hire Interim Fire Chief, Lee Glover. On September 14, 2023, we filed PIR that stated we wanted all communications via email between city officials (for example HR, city manager’s office, and city council) regarding the change to the Nepotism Policy from 1/1/2022 to Present. Also, any emails regarding Lee Glover and Nepotism. We received a note back from the city saying they have released a few documents but that some of them were confidential and therefore they sent it to the Attorney General for an opinion.
What could be that confidential about a Nepotism Policy that a city would need to send to the AG? If you are willing to go on record and change the policy then why not be open and share why you want to change the policy? According to the letter the city sent to the AG they claimed a portion of the info contains confidential attorney-client information which was not intended to be disclosed to 3rd parties. Furthermore, a portion of the info involves interagency or intraagency communications which were intended to remain confidential.
This is where we have a huge problem with the city’s explanation and AG request. 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. How is this is okay, but we can’t release documents about a Nepotism Policy? Why can’t the council vote to release the documents we requested? Are you telling me there is something SO CONFIDENTIAL in a discussion about policy change that it must be hidden from the public?
We went through the items the city “released” to us and the most exciting thing we found was the alert Dana Baird, Director of Communications received from our Twitter Post on September 13, 2023. However, the rest of it is just copies of the memos and policy changes. All we could do at that point was wait patiently for the AG to give their opinion to see if they would release the rest of the documents. We learned on 12/29/23 via an email from the city that the AG had ruled that the city may withhold the information they claimed to be confidential.
I am sure the city was very excited to learn they could withhold the rest of the Nepotism documents. That’s okay, because as you know we file many PIRs and early this year we filed one on Lee Glover which included an interesting email. We were sitting on a chain of emails waiting to see the AG’s response to the Nepotism PIR. The email subject line read “NEPOTISM” dated March 8,, 2023, that was from Lauren Safranek, HR Director sent to Wes Pierson, City Manager.
The initial email to Wes simply has a link to the Nepotism Policy. Wes Pierson replied to her a short time later asking her to clarify the following: 1) Interim Fire Chief Lee Glover has learned that he now has (as of when) a second cousin working in Frisco’s planning department. 2) Your understanding of our nepotism policy is that Lee would be ineligible to apply for the open Fire Chief position because of his relative who is now employed by the City (regardless of the fact that the relative works in another department and there is no reporting relationship). He ends with, am I correct?
Lauren replies that evening to Wes and said: Wes, As of October 2022, Lee Glover’s second cousin has worked for the City of Frisco as a Planner I in Development Services. Currently, as interim Chief, I would not consider this a violation of the nepotism policy. However, regarding your second question, the policy states: The hiring, transfer, and/or promotion, of Identified Employees shall not be allowed, even in different departments, if that action results in a violation of this Policy and/or creates a conflict of interest, or the appearance of a conflict of interest for the City as determined by the City Manager and/or his/her designee. When any relationship prohibited under this Policy and/or that constitutes a conflict of interest exists, the City reserves the right to take appropriate action to eliminate the violation, which may result in action being taken up to, and including termination.
Therefore, while Lee can apply for the Fire Chief position, the policy indicates he cannot be promoted because it would create a violation of the policy since the policy states that No Identified Employees of a Department Director may be employed by the City of Frisco after the effective date of this policy. We could enact Section V. Procedures which would allow 30 days for a resolution or the City terminates the employees with the least seniority. Identified employees are employees related within the prohibited level of consanguinity and/or affinity, a cohabitant or a roommate, as specified in the policy. I hope this answers your question. Please let me know if you have any questions.
After the communication on March 8, 2023, Lauren Safranek requested a change to the Nepotism Policy at the April 4, 2023 city council meeting which you can read about in this memo here. In a nutshell Lauren requested the Nepotism policy be revised to remove the Third Degree of consanguinity (blood). Her reason, “In today’s job market, by going as far as the Third Degree of consanguinity, we may lose the opportunity to consider some possible dedicated employees.” What she means is “if we don’t change it we cannot hire LEE GLOVER.” Obviously, this is probably what the city intended to hide from us went they sent it to the Attorney General!
It was clear in March and April 2023; the city had every intention to change the policy to hire Lee Glover! So, why did they spend money to hire an agency to do a search for a new fire chief? Also why did they do the dog and pony show of “MEET THE CANDIDATES” for the Frisco Fire Chief position, on June 1st? Does the city really think it is fair to these candidates to let them believe they even had an opportunity. These dedicated first responders took time out of their schedule and away from their job to interview, travel, and meet the public. The reality they were never going to get the job, the decision had already been made.
For all of those saying we are grasping at straws we have proven again that the city is
1) Breaking The Law because they did not include this email in our original PIR which clearly asked for emails regarding Nepotism & Lee Glover.
2) We said the city changed the policy to hire Lee Glover and the response from many is “oh the city would never do that” … BUT THEY DID EXACTLY THAT AND THE EMAIL BETWEEN LAUREN AND WES PROVES IT!
3) The fact the request to change the Nepotism came just 2 ½ weeks after their email communication and basically solved their problem, it only doubles down the confirmation we were correct.
4) The city changed the policy to hire someone and they have used the same policy to disqualify others in the past. It is not fair to change the policy at whim or when it suits you. That is not why polices are in place.
In closing we find it very interesting what the city deems confidential and not confidential. They will vote to release confidential information on a political opponent but they won’t vote to release the documents regarding the decision to change the NEPOTSIM POLICY? This is our plea to Mayor Cheney and the council to vote to release the documents for all the PIRS we have. Stop hiding behind the AG because it is clear every time you have something to hide and that is why something smells like SHIT in Frisco!
To see the full documents of the snap shots included, click here!
Mack Borchardt began his career in the Fire Service in 1973 as a volunteer firefighter. In 1981, after serving with the McKinney FD, Borchardt became the city administrator in Frisco and the Fire Chief of the Volunteer Frisco FD. In 1987, Mack Borchardt had input on the hiring of the new City Manager, George Purefoy. Shortly after Purefoy became city manager he named Borchardt as Frisco’s first Fire Chief since the fire department had grown from a volunteer force to a department with 150 full time employees. You can imagine the loyalty these two have to each other, as they came up together in this city and worked side by side for years.
In 2011, Borchardt received the 2011 Fire Chief of the Year award from the Texas Fire Chief’s Association. That is why it is a little shocking that in the Fall of 2011 the city did a Climate Survey in the department that came out Jan 6, 2012. The report was not good, and it said in order for the “people issues” to be resolved the department needed to change from a negative, hostile, retaliatory environment to a positive, more supportive one that encourages communication. It said the city must make changes and it started at the top by bringing in new management.
The decision was made that Borchardt had to go, and a new Chief was coming. Borchardt turned in his resignation letter Feb 23, 2012, to his good friend George Purefoy. However, Borchardt was not going anywhere! His buddy and good friend George Purefoy created a position for him at city hall right next to him in the City Managers officer. In his severance agreement it states Borchardt on or before January 1, 2013, will be REASSIGNED by George from Fire Chief to Fire Programs Consultant reporting solely to the City Manager King George or his successor. The job was guaranteed until Feb 15, 2015. It is important to note he is still there today in a six-figure job doing who knows what with a city vehicle. King George his friend and confidant took care of him.
Why is the relationship between King George and Mack Borchardt important? When the city hired Mark Piland as Borchardt’s replacement it rubbed those loyal to Mack Borchardt in the department the wrong way. Folks like Assistant Chief Lee Glover and Barry Dixon in Fire Fleet Management. See their loyalty was always going to be with Mack which Piland did not know at the time, but it really left him a sitting duck.
Why are these relationships important to the Valve Report? Well, we are about to tell you. Snowmageddon 2021 was unforgettable for many Texas residents. Record breaking below freezing temperatures for nine plus days killed more than 200 people and resulted in millions being without power or water for days. In Frisco, starting February 15, the Fire Department responded to 162 calls in 7 hours which is 3 to 4 times more than the average call volume in a 24-hour period. Then came the news that Frisco FD was fighting the Circa Apartment fire that lasted over 36 hours. Over 260 units were affected by the fire, four Frisco Firefighters were transported to local hospitals with minor injuries. The FD had never experienced a fire of this magnitude, then add in record breaking temperatures.
As life started to return to normal the Frisco Fire Department had two parallel reports working in the department. The first was the Mayday Report which was supposed to be a learning tool for the department related to the Circa Fire. The other was a report called the Valve Report and if you are anything like us, you are asking the same question we did. What is a Valve Report? Well, during Snowmageddon several of the fire trucks suffered freeze damage to the valves, piping and pumps on the apparatus vehicles.
In an April 19, 2021, email to Henry Hill, George Purefoy the City Manager writes “I’ve heard that numerous fire trucks suffered freeze damage during the severe winter storm in February. It is my understanding that in the past, lines were emptied of water to protect the valves from freezing and the resulting damage; however, during this most recent event apparently that wasn’t done on the vast majority of the fire engines. I’d like to see a report which details the damage/cost to repair and, if accurate, what procedure(s) will be put in place to help keep this type of damage from occurring again.” Henry Hill replies we will investigate what occurred and get back to you. Then King George replies “It is my understanding that it was extensive and supposedly only one truck was drained as had been the practice in the past.”
To many, this might look like a normal email, but it is not! King George starts by saying I’ve heard…heard from who? Then he says it is his understanding that in the past, lines were emptied, how did he know that? How does he know what was or was not done in the most recent event? How would he know it is extensive and that only one truck was supposedly drained? How did he know the past practice of the department? The answer is Mack Borchardt, who was getting full reports and secret emails from Assistant Chief Lee Glover. No wonder why Assistant Chief Lee Glover was put in charge of the Valve Report for the department.
On April 27, 2021, the first draft of the Valve Report was done, and several insiders told us Piland was not happy because Glover had not talked to anyone in operations before writing it up or sending it out. Piland felt the report needed to be fair and accurate which required feedback from those on the front line at the stations and those within operations, not just Fire Fleet Management, Barry Dixon (a Borchardt loyalist).
We were told from two inside sources Piland asked Assistant Chief, Cameron Kraemer to reach out to the stations and operations and get feedback on the original draft so that both sides would be represented. This report was emailed to Mark Piland on May 5, 2021. In fact, the report mentions the procedure for draining the pumps has been taught and successful for many years and is documented in an internal training bulletin in 2016. It also noted due to the high volume and the constant exposure these apparatuses had to history making extreme freezing temperatures contributed to the damage.
Then through our PIR we found two emails from Lee Glover to Mack Borchardt titled Pump Info. The first was on April 29 and simply says, “Enjoy the read!” Hmm, I wonder what Glover meant by that. Then the second email was on May 17, 2021, and has no message just an attachment titled Department Memo Fire Apparatus Valve Damage 04272021. So, two emails from Assistant Chief Lee Glover to his buddy, the man he considers the CHIEF which only undermines Piland.
Piland then asked Vetterick to take both drafts and merge them into one report so that all sides were represented in the report which created the final version that was emailed to Mark Piland from Deputy Fire Chief, Scott Vetterick on May 18, 2021. Was this report acceptable to King George and his minion Henry Hill, well of course not! That would be too easy.
Fast forward to June 25 King George sends out an email to a few different people asking them for feedback or advice on any changes. The first email was sent to Mack Borchardt and Henry Hill at 10:35 am and the second email was sent to Ron Patterson at 11:10 am. What could he possibly be asking for feedback on, well it is a letter to Chief Piland. Interesting King George goes to his buddies, confidants, and everyone else but the active current Fire Chief himself, Mark Piland.
The email King George sent makes it clear he is not happy with the final memo submitted. Our guess is because it was not written by Borchardt. What does the final draft look like, well we can only guess like the one we attached. The damage was going to cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars between parts and hours to replace. A few insiders told us Glover did a hastily report that put the blame on the fireman. We asked them why Glover would do that, and we were told to protect Barry Dixon (Borchard/Glover loyalist). According to a fleet expert it was Dixon who wanted steel and brass ball valves which were known to freeze. We were also told Glover sent his report to Borchardt and Purefoy instead of proper channels through the Fire Chief, Mark Piland . Why? Because he did not like that Piland asked him to get more perspective for the report.
Add to that we were told a complaint was filed against Barry Dixon in Fleet Management some time ago for falsifying records and for filing a false complaint on a fire captain. According to several inside sources Dixon was caught red-handed, but Glover came to the rescue to SWEEP, SWEEP, it under the Aladian flying carpet.
In closing, what did we learn from the Valve Report? It was another tool to try and undermine, discredit, and lay blame on Fire Chief, Mark Piland. Other than that, we learned nothing. One thing is clear, Mark Piland had a hard time because he was never going to be given the respect from the Frisco Insiders at city hall. He simply was not Mack Borchardt and from everything coming out it appears there was a concentrated effort to undermine him and disrespect him from HR all the way to the City Manager’s office. A city insider told us Purefoy never wanted Piland or any other Fire Chief there, he wanted Borchardt, but his hands were forced.
The question we have is WHAT DOES MACK BORCHARDT ACTUALLY DO? We know he played Fire Chief behind the scenes of the actual Fire Chief while Piland was there. My guess is he is doing the same with Glover. He was supposed to be over Exide and well that has not gone well. So, what is he making $200K+ dollars a year doing for the city? Now that Glover is Fire Chief do you think he enjoys happy hours with Borchardt? We are betting they do! The good old boy network is very alive and well at city hall. Just look at George Purefoy now, he has opened a consulting firm with Ron Patterson.
You are probably wondering why we are dropping tidbits each day. Well, that is because each of these items is leading up to our big reveal timeline of corruption. We need you to first understand the different incidents, so it all makes sense when we tie it together with a pretty bow.
Speaking of incidents, remember in Jeromy Porters exit interview notes which Wes Pierson took down he had number 3: Drinking (only while traveling). Well, he is referring to Lee Glover and his desire for the bottle which is a hidden secret that is not so hidden. Now, we had already heard of several Glover “incidents’ from whistleblowers before ever seeing Porters exit interview notes. His notes only added to the confirmation of what we had previously received and been told.
In fact, before we ever knew of Porters exit interview, we had already filed a PIR (Public Information Request) in Oct 2023. It reads “Lee Glover – Complaint regarding behavior being drunk on 2022 Wisconsin Trip. Copy of all emails between city management officials and firefighter officials. Copy of all emails regarding this incident that were sent to or from Henry Hill. Copy of formal complaint made to HR and the city. Copy of complaint or HR documents related to the complaint.” Imagine our surprise when we received a response back on 11/2/23 there were NO RESPONSIVE RECORDS. Do you believe the city, because we didn’t!
We have been playing PIR GATE with the city for a while now, so we knew the reply they provided was a clear LIE. The city was NOT COMPLYING WITH STATE LAW TO RELEASE PIR’S SO WE REFILED IT ON 11/6/23. We started by restating the previous PIR and the response NO RESPONSIVE RECORDS and it said, “The City of Frisco has reviewed its files and has determined there are no documents or emails responsive to Lee Glover regarding the behavior of being drunk on the 2022 Wisconsin Trip.”
Then we laid it out again in the new request and we wrote “To be clear and upfront we have a copy of a city email along with a video of the incident that the city claims to have no responsive records too. So, we wanted to clarify our request to make sure the city understands what we are asking for just in case. Copy of any email, document, or text message that included Henry Hill in regard to a complaint made by a firefighter regarding Lee Glover’s behavior at an event where he appears to be intoxicated in or out of the state of Texas. Copy of an email, incident report, complaint, or any other HR issue regarding or involving Lee Glover made by Jake Owen with then Fire Chief Mark Piland or any of his staff in 2022 or 2023. Copy of any email sent by the Fire Department staff/management that includes Henry Hill, the city manager’s office staff, and/or hr. staff regarding a complaint by Jake Owen that involves or includes Lee Glover in 2022 or 2023. We also learned of another FF leaving so we wanted to see a copy of any interview notes, documents, or emails in regard to or relating to the exit interview by Jeromy Porter and city manager Wes Pierson in 2023 or HR Department Staff.”
On 11/20/23 sitting here I yell out “What in tarnation” and my wife comes in the room saying what, what. For those who don’t know What in Tarnation is like your version of WTF or WTH. I said look and pointed to the screen, and she read out loud, “The City of Frisco has reviewed its files and has located records responsive to your request.” WHAT? IT IS A MIRACLE, A MIRACLE I TELL YOU!
First Response: No Responsive Records! Then only after we told you we already have the proof in a form of an email and a clip of a video that has a drunk Glover in it do we get this WAIT, WE FOUND THE RECORDS! Both requests had the same key words: Lee Glover, Wisconsin Trip, Complaint, and Henry Hill. Wow so we are to believe they just found these records the SECOND TIME AROUND.
You may wonder why is this PIR important and that is because is shows Lee Glover who at the time is the Assistant Chief talking about how he is going to be the new Chief when Piland leaves? However no one knew Piland was leaving, including Piland! So how did Glover know in June 2022 that Piland would be leaving in August 2022? How did Glover know he would become Interim Chief? What collusion was he a part of to be able to know that information?
No! No! No! We caught the city lying and breaking the open records law by not complying with the first request. The Texas Attorney should launch an investigation because we know they have had withheld other PIRs as well. In fact, currently we have a PIR in about a street flood and they have sent it to the Attorney General for review. Why, what is so secretive about a street flood?
We also filed for a copy of any complaint filed against Glover since 1991 when he started with the department, and they sent us back the same one. Do they want us to believe only one complaint has been filed against him? I can tell you we have evidence of others so why didn’t they turn it over when we asked for a copy based on his whole career span? WHAT IS THE CITY HIDING?
On the other hand, the city council on the same night can vote after an executive session to release a portion of a report to hurt a political candidate running against Mayor Jeff Cheney and they won’t fight that request by sending it to the AG. Keep in mind 4 of the 5 council members who voted for its release had already publicly endorsed the current Mayor when they held that vote. You want to tell me that was not a political hit job just like they had done to other previous candidates who ran against the inner circle.
It is clear the city of Frisco is walking a thin line…but it is clear to us the city clearly broke the law by not providing the documents. If they want to hide it they either charge an obscene amount of money like $100, they stall by sending it to the AG, or they just flat out lie they don’t have the records. Either way we proved the city is hiding public records.
Whistleblowers come in many forms. If we had to describe ours we would say they are like Twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. Recently one of our six geese-a-laying tipped us off to another high-ranking Frisco FD fire fighter who gave notice to retire.
Jeromy Porter is a 27-year fire service veteran. Most recently he served as Deputy Chief with the Frisco Fire Department. In 1996, Porter joined the Lake Cities Fire Department where he spent most of his years and climbed the rank to Deputy Chief. We asked ourselves why would a man with man years left retire now? Then we saw an announcement in Star Local Media that Jeromy Porter was now the Assistant Fire Chief for The Little Elm Fire Department. That made us ask, why would a man retire then go another city? We wanted to know if he did an exit interview so asked some insiders at city hall who told us yes, he did. We filed a PIR with the city to obtain those records and when we received them, well we were not disappointed.
We received a copy of the City Manager, Wes Pierson’s handwritten notes from the exit interview. At the very top it is dated 9/27 and has his name and initials next to it. Wes writes JP doesn’t want to leave but his relationship with Fire Chief, Lee Glover is unsustainable. Then we note 3 bullet points down the page.
The first point is titled Job Description Issue (preferred vs required). Pierson notes Porter said the job descriptions were changed without approval. On the side Pierson writes When, How and Why and we are guessing those were his internal questions or notes to himself.
We had heard rumors that some shady stuff was happening in HR but we still were perplexed by Porters comments. We went back to some of those who had reached out to us earlier from inside the city to ask more specific questions and the responses were eye opening. It started us on a new quest of digging.
The second point is titled Lee Glover. Pierson writes that for over 9 years Lee Glover has constantly insulted him, belittled him, made jokes on his height. It also goes on to say Glover yelled and cussed at staff and that he would flex. We asked an insider what “Flex” might mean she told us that Glover would Flex like he was going to shove or hit someone to intimidate them. Pierson notes that Porter was concerned about leaving because Glover may retaliate and go after his son who is a 3 Year Firefighter with the City of Frisco.
Are we surprised by Porters claims? No! In a previous blog we told you about the City of Frisco, Fire Department Employee Climate Survey done in the fall of 2011. It noted in the survey that this was the FOURTH one done over the PAST 10 YEARS. Why would a city need to do so many climate surveys? The firefighters felt that unless Chief Mack Borchardt and his entire Senior Staff, which included (drum roll) Lee Glover were replaced with someone from the outside, there was no way to correct the issues. The report said from the top down they ruled with things like a temper, iron fist, and threats. In 2023, a recent survey was done by the Fire Fighters Association and over 200 fire fighters gave Glove a vote of no confidence, so not much has changed since 2011.
The third point only confirmed what we already reported that our new Fire Chief, Lee Glover, has an alcohol problem. Pierson writes 3. Drinking (only while traveling). He writes JP claims that Vetterick, Owen and others felt peer pressure to stay and “close the bar.” Based on the notes we are only assuming that Porter may have told then Fire Chief, Mark Piland about the incident because in Pierson’s notes it reads Piland (response). Then there is a star symbol and a note it last happened at inspection of tiller and names the 3 fire fighters. It is hard to read Pierson’s writing, but it looks like Gilliam, Odum and Dixon.
Here is what we find interesting about Porters exit interview with Pierson and his personal notes. When it comes to point 3, we know of a July 2022 complaint about Lee Glover on a “travel trip” to inspect fire trucks and the names of those involved are different that those written in the exit interview notes. So, it appears when we wrote about Groggy Lee Glovers behavior in a previous blog, we weren’t wrong! It is called a pattern of behavior.
In closing, we believe Jeromy Porter and that he is telling the truth in his comments. He is leaving and has no reason to lie and he left on a professional level. We sent an email to Porter however we have had no reply to our inquiry. What we are curious about is what did the City Manager, Wes Pierson do after this interview. Did he file the notes and act as if these issues don’t possibly exist? Did he start asking questions?
Stay Tuned to learn about Sassy Lauren Safraneks acts of possible Malfeasance!
The season 7 opener of the tv show The Office was an episode entitled Nepotism. What is that? Nepotism is the practice among those with power or influence to favor, show bias, or give preferential treatment to relatives, friends, and close associates. The episode started off with everyone returning from summer to the office to find a new office assistant named Luke. It quickly became clear to those who worked at Dunder Mifflin that Luke liked to goof off, deliberately mess up food and coffee runs, and had a poor attitude that led everyone to quickly not like him. When complaints were made to Michael Scott (the manager) he was quick to defend Luke and soon it was revealed that Luke is Michael’s nephew. He had hired him in hopes that would end the bad relationship he had with his half-sister. After the staff’s concerns were ignored they found packages in Luke’s car that he never mailed and because of it they were losing customers. They went to the CEO of the company Jo Bennett and she called Michael the manager in and quickly told him to deal with the situation. During a team meeting later that day, Luke pulled out a laser pointer and started to annoy people so a frustrated Michael ended up spanking Luke in front of the entire office and Luke quit and ran away crying. Due to his actions of assaulting a coworker, Michael was sent by HR to six hours of counseling. After watching the episode, it is clear why Nepotism has no place in a work environment for everyone’s benefit.
If you really want to know what’s going on in the City of Frisco, be sure to tune in to the Consent Agenda for each City Council meeting. Consent Agenda items are considered routine in nature and are considered non-controversial and can be acted upon in one motion. I am curious who determines what is “routine in nature” and “non-controversial” before it is approved to go on the consent agenda?
On June 20, 2023, my wife and I noticed Item 22 on the Consent Agenda for the city council meeting. It read, “Consider and act upon adoption of an Ordinance approving the revised Nepotism policy and the revised Employee Code of Conduct policy. Nepotism? We thought it was such a random and odd change that left us with questions. Why is the city wanting to revise the Nepotism policy? How often does the city’s HR department go to the council to ask them to revise the Employee Code of Conduct Policy?
As you know the city’s Code of Conduct policy has been a hot topic on FriscoChronicles and our Curious George mentality came out. This policy was originally developed in 2006 so why now in 2023 are we suddenly changing it? We started with doing a meeting search for the word Nepotism and what we discovered was the city had already set the stage and made some changes to the Nepotism Ordinance at the city council meeting in April 2023. Item 24 of the consent agenda asked to revise the Nepotism policy to remove the 3rd Degree of consanguinity (blood). They argued it could cause them to lose the opportunity to hire some dedicated employees. The revision ordinance 19-11-91 can be found in the City of Frisco Personnel Policies.
So why did they change it again two months later in June 2023? In a memo from Lauren Safranek, Director of Human Resources to the city council, she asked them to consider a revision to modify the employment relationship of a Department Director with other employees. In the past a Department Director could not have an immediate relationship with someone else in another department. Now, with the June revision, it allows for a Department Director to have someone by blood, marriage, cohabitants, or roommate to work in the city as long as they are not in the same department. They also took the step to add to the list of blood, marriage, cohabitants, and roommates. In Section 3: Definitions the city added and defined the terms Identified Employee and Director. Further down in the policy under General Provisions/Violations, Section A: Supervision, they added No City employee shall be employed in a department in which the Director is related within the prohibited level of consanguinity and/or affinity, a cohabitant, roommate (“Identified Employee”) as specified above. Why now? Why all of the sudden is the city changing the policy 2x in a year, not even 2 months apart when it comes to Nepotism?
After talking to my wife, we thought the only reason to change the policy is if you wanted to promote someone to Director, want to hire someone, or have hired someone that violates the Nepotism policy. The first question we asked ourselves, who are the most recent new hires announced by the city in the last year? The second question we asked ourselves, who has left the city and did they leave because Nepotism was an issue? Wes Pierson was named our new City Manager, and he has since hired two new Assistant City Managers Rob Millar and E.A. Hoppe. We looked at all three and could not find any issues of Nepotism in our research.
The biggest loss for the city this year was Jason Cooley who served as Frisco’s Chief Innovation Officer. He accepted a position with The City of Allen, but we don’t think he left due to Nepotism as we could not find anyone he would potentially be related to working in the city. Cooley was the primary person who taught employees about Frisco’s Core Values. Frisco has a set of core values? Yes, they are Integrity, Outstanding Customer Service, Fiscal Responsibility, Operational Excellence and Our Employees. Ironically, they lead with, “Integrity is honesty, trustworthiness, ethical behavior and always doing the right thing. Integrity matters because we are entrusted with building and maintaining our community. Integrity is the foundation of all other core values.” Hmmm….
Next, we came across an article in Government Technology from July 19, 2023, talking about how the Chief Information Officer in Dallas County was leaving to go lead IT operations in Frisco, Texas. It stated Melissa Kraft made the announcement via her own recent social media post. The article stated that the Frisco FY23 budget included funding for a server and wireless refresh, disaster recovery expenses, switch and network replacements and a Police Department firewall refresh. It also planned to add a data governance program, according to budget documents. Kraft is so new she is not even listed yet in the online city directory, but she is listed on the FY24 Annual Draft Budget. Interestingly in our research we learned that Cory Kraft works as a Sergeant in the City of Frisco Criminal Investigations Unit. Could they be related? Both Melissa and Cory live at the same address, and we believe they are husband and wife which would prevent her from being hired under the Nepotism policy. Has Sergeant Kraft stepped down? Not according to the city’s online directory. Now it is starting to make sense why they made the June 2023 change to the Nepotism policy. Hiring Melissa Kraft would have violated the policy because she would have been a director. So, the city changed the rules to hire her, the pieces are starting to come together.
Now, one would have to wonder what Susan B. Olson, who is currently the Assistant Director of Information Technology, felt about this announcement. Olson has over 20 plus years of employment with the city and sources tell us she applied for the position. Sources also told us they believe she was not considered for the new Chief IT Director because of a “relationship” as defined in the city’s Nepotism policy and Employee Code of Conduct. Did the city of Frisco use the old Nepotism policy to push Susan Olson out and then change it to allow this new hire? If the information we have is correct, and I were Susan Olson I would be furious.
While looking at the Police Department directory we noticed Animal Services was listed. My wife and I were surprised that in a city of 200k+ people it would fall under Frisco PD as we thought it would have been its own department. We noticed from the directory that the Animal Services Supervisor was Steven Lerner who has served the city for 16 years. The positions of Supervisor and Director have two very different pay scales and one would think Steve Lerner would want to be a Director for the pay increase, as long as it didn’t violate the policy. We searched the directory and found a Shelby Lerner who is a Sr. Environmental Health Inspector and the two share a home address. According to the Nepotism policy, Steve Lerner could not have been the Director of Animal Services (if it was its own department) while his wife worked for the city. That means Shelby Lerner would have to step down, or should we say, “retire” as that is the Frisco way.
We connected the dots to the change of the June 2023 Nepotism policy, and we could have stopped here. Something was nagging at me and this time it wasn’t my wife. It was the lingering question, why did they make a change to the Nepotism policy in April 2023? What was happening in April to warrant a change then to the 3rd Degree Relationship that they removed? That is when the alarms went off in my head that the city was going through the hiring process for a new Fire Chief and the acting Interim Chief was Lee Glover. We decided to look into Glover’s relationships and we learned through research that he is the nephew to Glenda Sue Hess, who is the sister of Alvin Lee Glover, Sr., his father. Glenda has two sons, Jason and James Darren Ponder. James has a son by the name Jarred “Daniel” Ponder who works in the city’s planning department. That means he is Lee Glover’s, second cousin.
We initially wondered why the city would choose Glover as the new Fire Chief after a recent association survey where he received an overwhelming vote of no confidence by the fire fighters. How was Glover promoted to Fire Chief when he has a second cousin that works for the city? Oh, that’s right, back on April 4, 2023, the city quietly eliminated the 3rd Degree relations of employees in the Nepotism policy via the Consent Agenda. The Nepotism policy should have disqualified Lee Glover and eliminated him from the “candidate pool” and in our opinion should have applied to him from the start of the search, just like it had for so many other city employees. But wait, there is more, should Glover have been named Interim Chief back in September 2022 while his relative was “pondering” in the city planner’s office? As Interim Chief he was running the department which is a clear violation of the Nepotism rules. I would even bet, with Lee Glover’s long history, we could find a few more “relatives, cohabitants, and roommates”.
Where there is smoke there is fire and in our research we found that Keith Siebert a Captain with the Frisco FD is the brother of Paul Siebert. Paul Siebert joined Frisco FD in 1991 and retired in 2017 and now works in Prosper FD. He applied in 2013 for the Frisco Fire Chief position which was later given to Mark Piland. Paul Siebert was more than qualified for the position but was eliminated from the running due to the Nepotism policy. We were told he could have given any candidate at that time a run for their money had he not been disqualified.
It really is some shady shXt if you ask me. A city insider confirmed our suspicions, telling us that there have been multiple other city employees disqualified or denied the opportunity to pursue director level positions within the city of Frisco because of this same policy. You know, the one that has been in place since 2006 and was used time and time again to control the candidate pool for years.
Remember Lauren Safranek told the city council in the original April memo that the reason they wanted to remove the 3rd Degree is they potentially could lose great candidates and future dedicated employees. Clearly the rules were changed for Melissa Kraft and Lee Glover. It also leaves us wondering did Lee Glover disclose his relationship or did city management and human resources already know this information? Either way they casually tried to sweep this nugget under the rug first in April and two months later in June, thinking no one would piece it together. How does the city determine who it will and will not bend the rules for? Is this more of the Frisco Way? The most important question we have for Ms. High Horse Safranek is don’t you think since 2006 we have lost many internal candidates who already were amazing employees due to this policy? Why didn’t you want to change it then? Why now?
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
We were curious why in 2023 the City of Frisco was trying to go back to a broken system in place back in 2011/12 after several years of positive change. Maybe because that is “The Frisco Way.” Many times, we have heard council members and city leadership refer to “The Frisco Way” and we have always been curious what is it? Well, it is a mindset that only Frisco leaders and city management know what is best for the city and the citizens living in it. It is a mindset that the City of Frisco is the only city who could possibly do things the right way and every other city is second fiddle. It is the mindset that we do things the way we have always done it and someone should not question that. It is also the institution of the good ole boy network, scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
Let’s pretend it is 2011 and that Humpty Dumpty is Mack Borchardt, Chief of the Frisco Fire Department, sitting lofty up on that wall. Next to him perched high up is his team which includes his buddy Lee Glover, Assistant Fire Chief and Paul Siebert, Assistant Fire Chief, 3 Battalion Chiefs Shannon Britton, Shawn Eft and Paul Farrow and Division Chief Cameron Kraemer.
Then the wind blows and causes a great fall which refers to the 2011 Employee Climate Survey. What we found interesting was it basically said the culture that management created was horrific. Our first responders went to work every day risking their lives in an environment with terrible morale and worried about their job security. At the time 76.3% said they would leave the department if they could and the report noted the city can only correct it by making DRASTIC CHANGES. What would the city do?
All the king’s horses and king’s men refer to the King of Frisco, Geroge Purefoy, the City Manager and his “people” who had to find a solution since it was clear the Fire Chief could no longer be Chief. Chief Borchardt wrote a letter to Purefoy dated 2/23/2012 stating in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Retirement Severance Agreement and Release he was submitting his resignation for retirement effective February 2015. All the King’s Men, aka The Good Ole Boy Network or The Frisco Way” had to figure out how to put Borchardt together, just in a different way.
One would think after the negative survey results regarding his leadership that Borchardt would be terminated or forced into retirement. Hail Ye, Hail Ye, King George to the rescue! After Borchardt retires, he is REASSIGNEDto a newly created position as the Fire Programs Consultant which reports solely to King George himself until he is set to retire in 2015. Why would you reassign someone that you are forcing to retire? A city insider that works at city hall told us that when the decision was made to remove Borchardt as Fire Chief, King George threatened to quit and submitted his written resignation which is why the city “reassigned” Borchardt to King Purefoy.
So why the loyalty between King George Purefoy and Mack Borchardt? Well, what many don’t know is that back in day Mack Borchardt was the city administrator and he is the one that hired King George Purefoy as the first city manager. Then George Purefoy acting as the new city manager hired Mack Borchardt as the cities first paid Fire Chief. Funny thing is Mack Borchardt is still with the city in 2023, in the same consultant position making big bucks and assigned a city vehicle. A PIR was placed for Mack Borchardts employee records which we are still waiting on.
After reading Mack Borchardt Agreement & Release we had many questions. Under the “Release By Borchardt” it says that Mack releases, acquits and discharges Frisco from any and all past or present claims relating to #3. All Allegations ever made or that might have been made by Borchardt against Frisco regarding his employment – well that sounds interesting. In another section it says Borchardt does not admit to any unlawful or discriminatory conduct or any other wrongdoing – well that sounds interesting too. Then the agreement appears to turn into an employment contract for his new position and lists some very specific reasons that he maybe be terminated for such as a conviction for any felony involving moral turpitude, drunkenness, or excessive use of alcoholic beverages, being under the influence on city property or city sponsored activities and fabrication or falsification of city records. The whole thing reminds me of the questions we asked in our Survey Says blog.
The city began its search for a new fire chief and in March of 2013 after a 3-month search the city announced the hiring of Mark Piland. Todd Renshaw, the city’s director of public safety, told a local newspaper Frisco Enterprise, “Chief Piland a very affable, very personable individual. He’s highly educated and has a great deal of experience, which are obviously big pluses,” he said. “He has a strong sense of command and will be a tremendous asset for the Frisco Fire Department going forward.”
According to insiders in the FD, Piland came up with some good ideas to change the department the first being to listen to the organization. Piland implemented In Service Training programs 2x a year for the Officers and Companies. Fire fighters also tell us he had an academy for those FF hoping to move up the ladder over their career. Piland also focused on The Squad Program which responds to almost all calls so they could have enhanced ongoing training to meet state and national standards. Piland also moved the FD away from the quint model based on the FF feedback. Their department centered more on the single engine / pumper truck with a goal to add a 4th ladder truck. He said with 70% of the calls being EMS, the Quints which are rather large and bulky, were slower and more difficult to turn and get down Frisco’s narrow streets. Piland quickly met resistance from King George himself. Imagine going to work in a new city where the City Manager who is your direct boss, is sitting next to his 25+ year buddy (the former Fire Chief that you replaced) at city hall.
In fact, today as the fire fighters fight for collective bargaining so they can have a seat at the table, the city said they oppose it because they already have a seat at the table because more than 200 seats are filled by Fire Department employees on 16 different committees/groups. Examples of these committees/groups are Engine / Truck / Rescue Focus Groups, Promotional Process Review Group, Peer Support Group, Peer Fitness Trainer, Health & Safety Focus Group, and the Driver / Operator Focus Group. What we find interesting is that these groups were created during Piland’s time as Fire Chief based on feedback from the organization. Insiders say over the years tension grew as he was challenged and questioned by city leaders about every change he tried to make because it didn’t fit “The Frisco Way!” Mark Piland retired shortly after applying for the City Managers position (as did many other candidates) and after several differences of opinion with city management on how the department should be run. The question we have, did the city really want change in the department, or where they happy and want to go back to the old “The Frisco Way?”
With the search on for a new Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief Lee Glover was named Interim Fire Chief. City Manager Wes Pierson said in a statement. “Public safety is a top priority for me and our City Council. I intend to be deliberate in the search for Frisco’s next fire chief to make sure we find the right person to lead our department to the next level of service, building upon the city’s reputation for excellence.” The city hired a firm to do a national search but one of the requirements was they had to have Texas Certification. Why did we waste time, taxpayer dollars, and resources doing a national search when most likely someone in another state would not have Texas Certification? Five Texas finalists were announced, and Interim FC Lee Glover made the list. It was surprising because he was Borchardt’s #2 and was listed as a part of the problem in the 2011/12 Employee Climate Survey. The association immediately responded by doing a survey in which 220 out of 233 firefighters responded. It was not a surprise that 92.5% of the association did not want Glover as the next Fire Chief. The survey also said 91.4% do not believe Glover has improved morale or regained any trust during his time as Interim Chief. The association made city management and city councils aware of the survey results. It is clear the department does not trust, nor did they want to go back to Borchardt /Glover regime.
No one was shocked in June of 2023 when Wes Pierson, City Manager announced he is promoting Lee Glover to Frisco Fire Chief. Since September of last year, Chief Glover has served as Interim Fire Chief. “Lee’s combination of experience, knowledge, and leadership was the best fit for the department,” said Wes Pierson, City Manager. “I believe Lee is deeply committed to the success of Team Frisco and will work hard to serve our community and members of FFD.” Pierson probably never read the Employee Climate Survey which says, “ There is considerable animosity regarding the Chief.” It also says most believe things won’t change in this department unless the Chief and the entire Senior Staff are replaced. Glover was #2 on that Senior Staff for years.
When the announcement was made I thought to myself about what J.K. Rowling wrote in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, “Honestly, if you were any slower, you’d be going backward.” Wes Pierson is slow or just stupid and that is evident in his backward ridiculous decision which is the reason the Fire Department is now fighting for Civil Service and Collective Bargaining. Now many will say Lee Glover has changed and does not have that “mentality” anymore but he does and the proof is in the survey and an article in the Frisco Enterprise where he announced his first 100-day priorities. Glover said the department will continue to build on what the city has today and went on to say, “We’re going to continue to do what we’ve been doing since the day I walked in this fire department.” Wait, did he just admit that he wants to do what he has always done, well that makes sense because it is “The Frisco Way” which is why they hired them.
The question citizens should be asking, why hire someone that clearly the fire firefighters did not support back in 2011/2012 and still do not today?
Read Borchardts Retirement Severance Agreement and Release click here
Read the Entire FD Employee Climate Report from 2011/2012 click here
Reach The FD Climate Survey Action plan click here
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