It is good to be back from our month long sabbatical otherwise known as a holiday in my country and we have been eager to check the tip line for some new Shade. While visiting my country last month, I got to take part in the Gentleman’s Club (it is not what you think). It is a monthly tradition where the village gentleman holds a club night, enjoys some bottles of vino on the terrace, and tell wild tales. Meanwhile, the women go inside to also enjoy the vino and a couple hands of cards. We began to share jolly chatter when Paulo looked at me and said, “since you live in Texas, tell me about LAJITAS?” I politely asked if that was the name of a cocktail and he said “no, it is the name of a small famous town in far west Texas that feels like it sits on the edge of the world.” Shocked, I said tell me more as laughter abound from the men on the terrace. Paulo said, “Clay Henry is a delinquent politician full of tricks who ran for mayor of Lajitas. He was known for consuming up to 40 beers a day and he had a penchant for headbutting constituents without any warning. He was Lajitas most “FAMOUS CITIZEN” and he was the only mayor in the US with hooves.” All of looked at Paulo not sure if we should laugh or think he lost his mind, when he blurted out yep, Clay Henry was a goat! We all began to google and of course there are many stories and/or legends around Lajitas and Clay Henry. So many that it is hard to know what is true or false. One story goes that Clay Henry was killed by his son Clay Henry Jr. for being a ladies’ man and his love rival. Another story said in in 1992 when the Goat Mayor died he was stuffed chugging a beer and mounted in the general store for all the visitors to see. The craziest story of all is the one where Clay Henry was castrated by a local name Bob Hargrove after he became jealous of Henry drinking the last beer in town on a Sunday. According to the ABC News report the goat was found lying in the streets with his testicles cut off. With that all the men stood up and it was time to call it a night. The fun stops when it comes a goat losing his testis’s. I said goodbye to all my local friends and their wives then stumbled just down the steps to my room where my wife was already in bed reading a book. I said, “DAMN HUN, be glad we live in Frisco, Texas and not Lajitas with a testicleless goat!” My wife looked at me with the usual disappointment and like I was an idiot and said turn off the lights.
You are probably wondering why the hell did I tell you this story. Well, because I was thinking we probably didn’t miss anything while we were gone and yet we missed everything! We quickly learned that the City of Frisco hired a new, but old, yet still unwanted Fire Chief named Lee Glover, who has a 90+ percent no confidence vote from the Frisco Fire Fighters. Then we learned the Frisco Fire Fighters have started a petition to become a civil service organization and to have collective bargaining. The cherry on top was a Frisco PD Resource Officer, Kendal Augustus was fired then arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child and sexual performance of a child and yet his bond was only set at $55,000? Jackie from the TV Series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel said it best, “Life is a basically an all-you-can-eat shit show!”
Jackie is right that life is basically a shit show and sometimes it can also be the gift that keeps on giving. After unpacking I went to water my roses and my neighbor was outside, so he walked over and said I have something to show you. He pulled out his phone and said, yesterday we were on the lake, and you won’t believe the photos we captured. I quickly realized it was photos of Mayor Cheney and his wife Dana on their boat. He pointed out Zach Cheney, the mayor’s oldest son (still under 21), who was doing shots off the back of the boat with some friends while the Cheney’s watched from the head of the boat like the kings of the world!
Obviously, the Cheney’s didn’t learn anything after hosting the viral keg party at their house for Zach’s graduation in May 2021 in which their son later posted to his snap chat account. Now they will quickly deny this happened, but boat registrations do not lie! In Texas, every watercraft must be registered just like a car and that is the number you see on the side of the boat. In this case the pictures show a black Bennington 25 ft Pontoon with the registration of TX 5306 KL. To look up the current ownership of a boat is simple, and a matter of public record at the State of Texas Open Data Portal. When we ran the registration it shows the original registration date of 09/07/2022 and is due for renewal on 09/30/2024. The owner is listed as Thomas J Cheney Jr. and it is registered to his home in Frisco. We won’t give out his address, but you can look it up just clicking on the Open Data Portal link yourself.
Just because it is okay for a Mayoral Goat to get drunk does not mean the same rules apply to humans. What are the laws in Texas when it comes to minors drinking? Drinking when you’re under 21 or providing alcohol to a minor comes with consequences. If a minor attempts to buy, possesses or drink alcoholic beverages, or if a minor is intoxicated in public or misrepresents their age to buy alcohol they could be in trouble. They could face a $500 fine, attend a boring alcohol awareness class, do up to 40 hours of community service and could potentially lose their driver’s license up to 180 days.
On the other hand, adults who give minors alcohol could also face stiff penalties. Making alcoholic beverages available to a minor is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $4,000, confinement in jail for up to a year or both. Your driver´s license would also be automatically suspended for 180 days when they are convicted. Texas also has a “Zero Tolerance Law” which states, it is illegal for a person under 21 to operate a motor vehicle or watercraft in a public place while having any detectable amount of alcohol in their system.
Most interesting is that in Texas, a person may purchase an alcoholic beverage for or give an alcoholic beverage to a minor if he is the minor’s adult parent, guardian, or spouse and they must be visibly present when the minor possesses or consumes the alcoholic beverage. However, Texas Social Host Laws state it is illegal for a parent to provide alcohol to other minors who are not their children, and they could be responsible should that minor cause injury to themselves or cause property damage.
Rick Riordan, The Last Olympian once said, “patterns repeat themselves in history.” If that is true then one could say intentions are often hidden inside patterns of behavior and a good indicator of patterns is TIME! In this case history is repeating itself and just as publicly as it did last time. After watching the video which includes photos from the lake and Zach Cheney’s own open Instagram page it leaves us with a few questions.
How old are the young adults in the boat chugging shots like Clay Henry the Goat?
If they are under 21, then who purchased the alcohol for their consumption?
If the Mayor purchased the alcohol and provided it to his son that is fine, but if he provided it to his son’s friends (who are underage) that is ILLEGAL!
When the pontoon docked back at the marina – who drove the car or cars home?
Lastly, Mr. Cheney is not a secretary for the city he is the Mayor! The BUCK STOPS WITH HIM! He should be leading by example. How do you say this is okay, then say how important the Shattered Dreams program is at the high schools to stop underage drinking. As for Zach Cheney you would think his parents would have sat him down in 2021 and said “Son, you are an extension of us meaning what you do reflects on us and so you can not publish photos of you on social media platforms partying and drinking when you are clearly underage. Surely they told him to lock down his accounts so only his friends can see his debauchery. No, his Instagram clearly shows him drinking on bid day in 2022 when he was 19, as well as other times. It also shows him at AT&T Stadium tailgating – how did they get home after? It appears the Mayor and his wife were also attending the game and the Mayor clearly had on his City of Frisco Polo. Truthfully, old grouches like us are lucky – we did not have social media to get us in trouble. It is called common sense, if you are going to drink underage (most young adults do) and you are from a notable family then don’t post about it on an open social feed, and don’t take your kid out in the open to a cove on the Lake known for a good time!
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…“
Growing up in the countryside on a working vineyard was fun, but my parents had one rule which was always to be home before dark and never go into the fields at night. As a kid I remember my mom coming into my room each night to tuck me into bed and she would open the windows to let the cool air flow through the house since we didn’t have air conditioning. The winery fields at night were a desolate and eerie place. The vines, which during the day were lush with grapes, now hung like sinister fingers in the darkness. The only sound was the rustling of leaves and the occasional hoot of an owl in the distance. The moon cast an otherworldly glow over everything, illuminating twisted shadows that seemed to dance around my little feet at the end of the bed.
One day my brothers and I were playing hide and seek, and I decided to hide out in the fields because they would never find me. It felt like I was sitting there forever waiting for them and the boredom must have set it because I fell asleep. When I woke up it was dark and immediately I was terrified and my heart was pounding in my chest. I had to get home so I stumbled through rows and rows of vines, desperately searching for a way out but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. Suddenly, a pair of yellow glowing eyes appeared in the darkness, followed by a low growl. I froze in terror as a massive black dog stepped out from the vines, baring its teeth menacingly. I turned to run but found myself face to face with a group of shadowy figures with twisted limbs. They hissed and snarled, inching closer and closer until I could feel their hot breath on my skin. I screamed for help, but no one came and I quickly realized I was alone with these terrifying creatures. As the night grew darker and colder, my fear intensified, my small frame shivering with every step. The wind howled through the barren branches of the trees that surrounded me as if they were calling out to me in a haunting voice. With every rustling sound I heard I walked a little bit faster and that’s when I tripped over a stray root and fell face-first onto the dirt. When I looked up again, I found myself staring into two glowing red eyes that seemed to be getting closer by the second. I quickly realized it was not the scary vine creatures, but my dad and I started screaming Daddy, daddy. Next thing I knew he swept me up off the ground and carried me home. The next day I told my dad I was going to save every penny of my allowance so that one day I could leave the scary creatures behind and move to a new place. His reply was simple, “once you can pay your own way, you can move out son.”
As we become adults there are so many things we must be responsible for, and one is our finances. My dad always told me 50% of my allowance should go to my needs, then 30% to my wants, and 20% should go to Mr. Piggy (that was my bank). I have practiced that my whole life because finances are one of our biggest responsibilities in our personal life as well as in our professional life. As business owners, we must be smart, responsible, and always on top of the P&L because we are the only ones responsible for the result. We must make sure our business is sustainable even during those difficult times. Real Estate is a good example of the ups and downs and how the market can change instantly from a seller to a buyer’s market or how interest rates can change buyers’ habits. Agents must be prepared for those slow times, or they could see themselves in a financial crisis because as our next-door neighbor says you only make money when you sell a house. We would think being fiscally responsible would be a requirement for most management positions, school board positions, or even city council positions because you are overseeing large budgets. That is why we were kind of shocked about The Hot Mess with Dynette Davis when we learned she had financial issues. Let’s just say there were circumstances that could explain it and we gave her a pass; does it make it okay for her to then lie to a direct question asked of her for a news article? The same questions are asked of every candidate running for the same type of position and they all have to tell the truth. Truth and financial responsibility have a direct correlation to your character. As the weeks have passed it made me curious (here we go again), how fiscally responsible the others are who sit on the ISD Board or City Council.
We started with a simple Google search of each council member’s name and the word bankruptcy. Imagine our surprise when we found an article in the Orlando Sentinel back on April 1, 1996, that says “Dono W. Pelham and Angelia E. Pelham, also known as Just for You Cosmetics and the Make Up, in Orlando filed for Chapter 7 listing Assets: $1,245 and Debts: $343,466. The Major creditors were Community First Bank, Jacksonville, $140,000; Eric Stern, Carrollton, Texas, $35,000; Schroder Center Management Inc., Dallas, $35,000. The creditors meeting was held that year on April 24.”
We then looked at her candidate interviews – was she honest about it? Well according to the Dallas Morning News Voter Guide she was asked, “Have you ever been involved in any civil lawsuits or declared personal or professional bankruptcy? If so, please explain.” Her response was “No lawsuits. One business filing almost 30 years ago in the early 90s for a small cosmetics retail business with 2 locations that I owned when I was in my mid-twenties in Florida. Did not have the financial capital to maintain inventory in both locations. Incredible learning experience as a young entrepreneur.” The answer to the question is yes she was honest that she had a business filing. Dono and Angelia filed Chapter 7 on 03/26/96 and it was discharged on 2/27/97 – related case number 6:96-bk-01808-ABB in Florida Middle Bankruptcy Court
In the DMN Voter Guide, she was asked, “What is an example of how you led a team or group toward achieving an important goal?” Pelham noted she had 30 years of experience as an executive with companies such as Walt Disney World Company, PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, Main Event Entertainment, and Cinemark. She claims to have been responsible for setting strategic plans and fully executing them, evaluating executive compensation plans, led massive downsizing and right sizing; led countless large-scale change initiatives; supported business acquisitions, and managed multi-million-dollar budgets all through effective leadership of others. At the time she filed for Chapter 7 (1996), Angelia Pelham’s resume also states she was the Director of Human Resources for Walt Disney World in Orlando from 1989-1998. That means she has a full-time demanding job while trying to operate her own business. It begs the questions did she have a good understanding of her own business and the debt she was accumulating? Why did she open a second location if the first location was not fluid? She called it a small business but $343,466 in debts for a small business is questionable and we are pretty sure her creditors left holding the bag would agree it was not “small.”
She noted at the time it was an incredible learning experience for her, so we assume as she moved forward in life she paid more attention to her money! Why did Griffin Park Residential Association file a lien against her property in November 2006 for $2,088.90, October 2011 for $956.80, June 2013 for $1335.65, then again in July of 2020 for $1233.70. Then Wells Fargo Bank filed against Dono Pelham in 2014/15 for what looks like a $10,375 civil judgement. Also in July of 2016, Carlos Avendando, owner of Dallas Green Landscape, filed an affidavit of mechanics and materialmen’s lien on the Pelhams home for $4039.00 for unpaid work. The County of Denton sent a Notice of Les Pendens on Feb 13, 2020 to the Pelham’s letting them know a lawsuit had been filed listing the cause of action for the foreclosure of the property due to unpaid tax lien (delinquent property taxes). It appears in February of 2022, The County of Denton released the Lis Pendens against the property so they must have taken care of it.
Is Angelia the only one? Well, we do know Councilman Livingston also hit some financial issues in 2018 with his food businesses but we could not find bankruptcy records. With more research we found a statement from Livingston that he has posted publicly on social media stating “while his lawyer recommended he file for bankruptcy, he had chosen not to do that and instead he worked with those he owed on a payment plan to pay out the debts and continues to make payments today to back any creditors. Mr. Livingston has a home mortgage in the amount of $294,800 and his home’s annual taxes are around $8500 that they purchased back in 2010. At the time the Livingstons drove a 2007 Chevy Silverado and now drives a used Tahoo which makes sense if you are paying off some large debts.
What did we learn? Angelia and her husband stiffed creditors out of $343,000 dollars and it appears they continue to have issues however they live in fancy neighborhood in a house with an estimated value of $971,422 and annual taxes around $12,000 and they drive a BMW or Lincoln which are some nice cars. The question is can they afford to live the way they are living? It would be easy to do if you didn’t pay bills. Mr. Livingston appears to be taking financial responsibility for his debts, we also confirmed he has paid off a huge IRS lien and his family live on a tight budget.
Back to me, I saved every dollar since I was a kid and today am proud to have no debt. It wasn’t easy and yes there were bumps in the road, but my wife and I have no outstanding debts and have never been sued by creditors let alone our HOA. We know there can be bumps in the road, those unforeseen things like medical bills which can knock a family right out of the comfort zone financially, but you get back up and wipe off your pants and move forward. If financial issues continue to plague you then the problem is you, and your bad choices and decisions. Our point – is that we should hold those who represent our city and boards to higher standards. They are representing us! Our character is defined by the choices we make, our values and our ethics. As Dave Ramsey says, “act your wage!”
Every channel you turn to these days has some “investigative” show worth watching. A&E is probably one of the best networks for bringing “true crime” drama into our living rooms. Every Friday night my wife and I get cozy on the couch with a bowl of extra butter popcorn, and we binge watch episodes late into the evening. We decided to go back and dig into some cold case council meetings to see what we could find. Imagine our surprise when we found this…
We have been told by Fehmi Karahan it was about March/April, a timeline by the city says May and council folks have said September/October – but no one said April 6, 2021? Listen to it again while talking about the approval for The Link, part of PGA Frisco Cheney clearly says Universal. He then stumbles and quickly says University. It left us asking ourselves, did he accidentally misspeak and leak that the city knew about Universal in 2021? Only he who sits in the Mayor’s chair can answer that!
Imagine it is the early 80’s and your family is about to embark on their summer vacation. The day before you leave your dad is packing up the sports wagon, aka Wagon Queen Family Truckster, trying to figure out how each suitcase needed to be positioned on the roof, so nothing got lost along Route 66. You see your parents sitting at the kitchen table looking at the map one last time planning the ultimate route with amazing pit stops and fun things to do. Morning comes and it is time to hit the road. As you pull out of the drive all you can think about it is your destination…Walley World. Okay yes I am talking about Clark Griswold and the hit movie National Lampoon’s Vacation. It is a classic, timeless, and hilarious comedy and in my opinion one of the best movies of all time. Well soon families with small kids across the nation will pack up for that summer trip right here to Frisco, Texas. If you are wondering why then you have been living under a rock or in a cave for way too long. Universal Studios will be the Walley World of Frisco!
In January 2023 when residents learned Universal would be coming to town, they did not receive the Griswold welcome by locals. Instead, residents had a lot of questions and concerns about the project and its impact on the city. The biggest question still to this day is when did the city first hear about Universals interest in Frisco for this project? The answer is not as easy as one may think, and it varies depending on who you ask. In a council meeting Mayor Cheney said they first learned about the project at the end of August or September 2022. Then in an interview with local reporter Brett Shipp back in late January, Mayor Cheney said council had been thoroughly vetting the project the last 4 to 5 months. When announced in January several council members and P&Z board members admitted to not having the so-called traffic study, economic impact study, or crime study. In fact, several admit to having very few details on the project other than the colorful rendering seen by the world.
That is where we thought the story would end until one day I checked our email and there was a letter with a copy of two PIR’s by two different residents and I will admit I was a little verklempt and excited. The requests were for all communications regarding P117 / Universal, travel plans and expenses and more. Buried in one of the requests we found a picture of a timeline titled “Genesis of Universal Project” and after reading it we were very confused and perplexed.
Hold up! If the timeline provided by the city is correct then we have a lot of questions. It does not match the verbal statements/timelines given by the mayor and some council members and it does not match the emails received in the PIR. Who wrote the timeline? Who put the timeline in the PIR? Why are there no emails supporting this time frame? Are we to believe not one email went back and forth from May to the end of August regarding this big project that was in discussion?
According to this timeline the city officials supposedly had 3 meetings in June. The first was June 7, the second June 14, and the third June 21, 2022. However, when you get to July 13 it notes the June board meeting was canceled so the EDC board did not get a briefing until July. Let’s pretend we have a multiple-choice test question: Which June meeting was canceled? A) June 7, B) June 14, C) June 21, D) All of them or E) None of them. May, June and July? That is very different than September or October, which were the city officials statements given at city council meetings and meet and greets. I find it hard to believe my wife and I are the only ones asking why the timeline keeps changing. Why do I feel like we are being lied to and if they are lying, why? If the city council was briefed on a regular monthly basis since July 2022 then why is it when confronted after the big grand announcement most of the city officials and members of P&Z had little to no information about the project? When asked most looked like “deer in the headlights” and could not try to exit the conversation fast enough. What they did have were the same talking points that we later learned were lies and part of a bait-and-switch to what was really in the development agreement.
Confused we decided to go through the emails sent to us and we found the first email dated 8/22/2022 at 1:57 PM from Laura Cuzman (Sr. Admin Asst at the Frisco EDC) to Holly McCall and Sharon Perry (City Mgr. Admin Asst) is regarding a “High Priority Meeting.” It goes on to say Jason Ford (President of the Frisco EDC) would like to coordinate an “important meeting” with a “prospect” at the Frisco EDC office to be held 8/31/2022. It notes that city staff should include Wes Pierson, Ben Brezina and John Lettellier. Laura asks Holly to confirm if Mayor Cheney and/or Angelia Pelham from the council could attend and what 2-hour window would work so they could coordinate a meeting. Immediately Sharon Perry responds and asks, “Is this for Project US?” If it is Wes can be available all day. Laura responds that she believes so but will confirm with Jason Ford. Then an email is sent from Jason Ford to Ben Brazina (Asst. City Manager) and he states Cheney can be available, Angelia is on vacation and then he asks if Ben and Wes have suggestions of other council member(s) they should include. He specifically says, “ Mayor Pro Tem perhaps as part of protocol?” Then Jason asks Ben to make a call to Richard the next day to discuss any potential issues with the other member we discussed with related experience.
In my best Beyoncé I want to scream, ring the alarm, ring the alarm! Why would you not invite all the council members? Why exclude any of them from important conversations regarding such a big project? Is this typically how the city conducts business? What member could be a potential issue due to their related experience?
In the next series of emails that started on August 29, Emily Pollard (Marketing & Special Events – Frisco EDC) sends an email to Jason Ford and Leigh Lyons with a draft of the P117 Site Visit Presentation for August 31. Then Jason Ford sends an email to Wes Pierson, Ben Brezina and a cc to Marla Row (Visit Frisco) where he shares the first working draft of pitch decks for Wednesday’s meeting. That evening, Ben Brezina responded back they should highlight the month of May 2023 and talk about how many people are coming to Frisco with the PGA Frisco opening, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp Kick Off Party, ACM Music Awards and KitchenAid PGA Senior Championship. His point “inertia is moving…time for Project US to join us as our Partner. The next morning Marla Row sent 2 emails, the first talked about what statistics they should use for economic impact and the second email adds they should reference the meeting they had with all the venues to discuss them activating events around the ACM which further shows partnership beyond developments. Ben Brezina replies he likes that angle, it’s not just deal making, site development, construction, and grand opening but a partnership that extends far beyond the doors opening. Later that day Jason Ford sends out a revised “pitch deck” and working draft agenda for the August 31, 2023 meeting, along with a note to Jeff Cheney, Brian Livingston, Tammy Meinershagen, Wes Pierson, Ben Brezina, Marlo Roe, and John Lettellier with the subject line: Please sign NDA ASAP for meeting tomorrow. He goes on to say the meeting will be at the Frisco EDC office and the client has asked every participant to sign an NDA, which was drafted by Richard Abernathy.
Pictures of the P-117 Meeting Agenda show a list of participants and notes topics from prior meetings which may be revisited or carried over (site specific).
Discussion on workforce (i.e., how far would employees need to travel in from): A primary benefit mentioned over and over promoting this project was the jobs it will create for Frisco residents. If this was about local jobs then why are we talking about how far employees will have to travel.
Would the community be receptive to this project / land use?If not, why? Let’s just do a quick look at the City of Frisco’s social media Facebook page. On average daily posts can generate anywhere from 1 to 50 comments and maybe 3 to 4 shares. When you see posts with 100, 500, 1000 comments you can bet it is something citizens are paying attention to. Just look at the City’s Facebook page when it comes to Universal posts. On 1/11/23 the first post “The Announcement” had 1.9k comments and 4.8k shares and was one of the highest responded to posts on the city’s page in two years. It is important to note that most of the comments were against the project. Then a second post on 1/11/23 had 161 comments and 42 shares, 1/13/23 third post had 50 comments and 73 shares and the fourth post on 1/16/23 had 30 comments and 60 shares. February was not much different, on 2/10/23 the fifth post had 213 comments and 11 shares, and the final post announcing it had been approved on 3/7/23 had 349 comments and 76 shares (the majority saying it was a big mistake to approve it).
What sort of upgrades would be needed to facilitate the park (infrastructure)? I would be curious what the discussion was they had on this one.
What are the public approval hurdles we’d need to prepare for? Under what circumstances? They obviously were clueless to the opposition this project would face because they were not ready for the public hurdles that came after the announcement.
How might State/Local Economic Development help us (expedite permitting, political help, incentives, etc.)? I bet they didn’t expect the citizen opposition to incentives.
How hard is it to get a definitive answer to one simple question…When did the city first learn about Universal? Two months ago, at the council meeting, which was packed with residents, Fehmi Karahan spoke and said he was approached 10 months ago which means that would have been April 2022.
Depending on the timeline you believe, are we supposed to buy that for two months, Fehmi didn’t tell the city about the inquiry from Universal? If the city first started discussing this in May or even August 2022, and the project was thoroughly vetted as Mayor Cheney said, then why were some citizens told in January 2023 by council members and P&Z staff members that they really didn’t know too many details about the project? Why had the council or P&Z members not seen a crime study, traffic study, economic impact study from May/August 2022 to January 2023? Mayor Cheney besides using resident tax dollars (in excess of $10,000+) for a trip to vet Universal Orlando in person, what else was vetted?
At the climax of the Griswold’s Road Trip to Walley World in National Lampoons Vacation, everything had gone wrong that could go wrong and Clark’s wife and kids announce they vacation is not worth it and want to just go home. At his wits end, sitting in the sports wagon you can see the whites of Clarks wide eyes and the grinding of his teeth, and his meltdown begins. He launches into a foul-mouthed tirade: “I think you’re all f**ked in the head! […] This is no longer a vacation! It’s a quest! It’s a quest for fun! […] You’ll be whistling ‘Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah’ out of your a**holes!”
We agree with Clark this is a quest but ours is for something so simple called “THE TRUTH.” I was one of those residents in January sitting at home watching the announcement live stream on Facebook and thinking to myself what in the nuclear detonation, I mean tarnation is going on in Frisco. All I could picture was the final scene in National Lampoon’s Vacation when the Griswold’s gleefully race to the entrance of Walley World, “America’s Favorite Family Fun Park,” in slow motion only to find the park is closed for two weeks for repairs and cleaning.
After doing all this research we are left with more questions than answers and we can say the inaccuracies in the timeline are very questionable, glaringly obvious, and truthfully alarming. A smart person once said, “Trust the timeline of yourself.” And with that Walley says, until next time…
“We The People” is one of the best-known phrases in the American political lexicon. They are the first three words of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States and propose that the “people” should be the driving force behind government and what is does and does not do. These words should hold great significance because of the implication and meaning behind them but sadly many Americans today could not even tell you what the Constitution says and what it stands for.
We The People have the right to question our elected officials and our government which is why The Freedom of Information Act was passed in 1967. It requires the full or partial disclosure of documents controlled by the government, state or other public authorities. My entire life I have enjoyed putting in FOIA requests because it creates a checks and balance system so to speak. It is an easy and simple reminder to our elected officials that they work for us, they are responsible at the end of the day to “We The People” and they need to remember that.
So why is it the City of Frisco delays turning over PIR requests? Based on what some citizens have sent us they get the same responses over and over such as we need you to clarify, or it has been sent the attorney, and so on. Our team has filed PIR request in cities across Texas for years and generally they are prompt (within 15 days) to provide the required details. So why does it take the City of Frisco 30, 60, 90 days to respond? Why do they constantly find excuses to delay turning over information? How can the city operate on an honor code since many of our elected officials use their personal devices and email for communication? They also think very highly of themselves because they charge more than any other city we have dealt with which is probably there way of trying to stop the public from making requests.
One example, a resident requested “All electronic communication via email for Project P117/Universal from 1/1/22 to 2/27/23 between all city council members, Wes Pierson, Maria Row, Ben Brezina, and Jason Ford. The city released a few details after 45 days but the guts they have delayed for over 2 months now. Recently the resident sent us the email that city has now sent it to the Attorney General which allows another 45 days of delays. WHAT ARE YOU HIDING FRISCO WHEN IT COMES TO THE UNIVERSAL PROJECT?
Based on the recent city council meeting where the city set a precedent to release information protected by an NDA (which the city insisted on) that included human resource records we decided to have a citizen ask for a copy of George Purefoy’s Severance Package, copy of any signed contracts between George Purefoy for Mac Borchardt, any monies paid by the city to lawyers, investigators, outside organizations, and associations to conduct internal investigations, and if Ben Brezina had any write up or complaints. The request was made April 10, 2023, and we assumed we would receive this one rather quickly but instead the city sent back the following message on April 25: Please clarify whether you consent to Frisco redacting any and all information it believes is confidential in accordance with the TPIA without the necessity of a request to the Texas Attorney General. Confidential information may include, but is not limited to, attorney-client privilege, attorney-work product, confidential personnel information and/or witness informer information.
On April 28, the citizen responded the request was clear and it should not be an issue to release it based on current actions taken by the city and city council. If it was an issue the resident suggested they hold another city council meeting and vote to release it. They also noted they have no issue with the city redacting it. The citizen sent us an email today they are still waiting and now the request shows “sent to attorney.” WHAT IS THE CITY OF FRISCO HIDING? THEY ARE THE ONES THAT SET THE WHEELS IN MOTION AND NOW DENY THIS REQUEST? If they don’t release this request it will be clear the reason for the previous release was solely as a POLITICAL HIT JOB!
Another example is a PIR that requested “All electronic communication including emails and text messages between John Keating and Veton Krasniqi from 2020 to the present and Angelia Pelham and Veton Krasniqi from 2020 to the present.” Within 11 days of filing the response received was there are no documents responsive to your request. It seems weird that not one email exists with Veton when he donated $10,000 to John Keating’s campaign on March 10, 2021 and $5000 to Angelia Pelham on May 15, 2021. Surely there would be at least one email that details the relationship between these two sitting council members and a mystery man. What we did find is several cases in Collin County regarding debts with the name Veton Krasniqi attached to it. Things that make you go, hmmm!
Lastly a PIR request was made for a copy of the “Public Safety Study regarding the Police Department Staffing funded by federal grants.” The response was it would only be available to be viewed at city hall. They won’t actually give anyone a copy of it which has me curious. Maybe because it tells us that staffing is an issue just like we have been hearing. What we can tell you, is that you can bet Susan McFarland with the DMN won’t report on it because that would be a real news story with real truth.
My wife said she had this crazy dream, and my first mistake was asking her what it was about. She said I was White Goodman from the movie Dodgeball and I was strutting and striding on up to the City Secretary’s Office at city hall. Magically the song Apache by The Sugar Hill Gang began playing, “Ho, ho, ho, Tonto, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it, Kemosabe, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it.” When I walked into the office, I was greeted by the public records militant who said, “White, what are you doing here?” I responded, “it is called FOIA, The Freedom of Information Act. The hippies finally got something right. Just Kiddin’, not really!” I learned an important lesson – don’t ask my wife about her dreams and if I am White Goodman then I think I am damn sexy!
The questions we are left with are simple, why does it take the City of Frisco so long to respond to PIR requests? Why do they play games and delay releasing information that “we the people” have the right to ask for and receive? What is the city hiding?
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