The ticking of time is the invisible heartbeat of our lives and affects every moment of our consciousness. Time and self are in perpetual handshake – for example, a human trapped in a completely dark cave would still be governed by the circadian rhythms of their internal clocks. There are many careers in which “time” is a critical component. Metrologists have technology that is incredibly accurate to measure the passing of minutes, seconds. Surgeons in an operating room live on a time clock and those who take too long could kill someone. Professional surf boarders must be able to catch the perfect wave and football players have to make the play in a certain space of time or face penalties. Various factors are crucial to our construction of the perception of time such as memory, concentration, emotion and the sense we have time is somehow located in space.
When it comes to the job of a firefighter, time plays a critical component. Imagine your house catching fire, flames coming out of the windows and roof line while you hear loud pop and bang sounds from things exploding inside. As you watch the firefighters attack the house fire, you become almost paralyzed, and time comes to a standstill. As you stand there seeing the chaos around you, it begins to feel like an eternity of time. For the firefighter the stress put on their body fighting your house fire can prompt their brain to speed up its internal processing which helps them face life or death situations.
When the process began to search for a new chief, the firefighters quickly realized the city had an agenda and that former Assistant Fire Chief Lee Glover from the “Un-Happy Days” was about to be their new commanding officer and Chief. The Frisco Firefighters Association did a survey and provided it to the City Manager and Council. In Survey Says we told you about that survey and its results. Question 1: Do you want Interim Fire Chief Glover to be the next Fire Chief of the Frisco Fire Department? Survey says … 92.5% said NO. City Manager Wes Pierson and his office, along with City Council, were given the results and they chose to disregard the voice of some 200+ firefighters and make Lee Glover the new Fire Chief.
When we were reading through the “In-Service Meeting” notes it was noted that firefighters believe it is their Chiefs job to fight for them and defend them but instead they feel Glover ignoring the staffing issues and only doing what is being asked of him by City Manager Wes Pierson. They don’t believe their current leader and Chief supports them in any way and the result is they have no voice with city management and city officials. One comment noted, “we are not being heard and it will take one of them dying before Glover or the city take notice of staffing issues.”
Who is responsible for hiring and firing in the city? Mayor Jeff Cheney addressed this issue in the 2023 Mayoral Campaign at the Star Patriots Candidate Forum. The Council hires the City Manager, and it is the city managers responsibility to manage and hire and fire department heads. If something goes wrong, you can bet Cheney will excuse himself from responsibility and put it all on Wes Pierson.
Another comment from the most recent notes reads, “we work under the fear of retaliation and feel we are disciplined for the simplest mistakes.” We feel like we have heard this before – oh yeah, we have in the 2011 Climate Report when Lee Glover was the Assistant Fire Chief. The 2011 Climate report reads “firefighters talk about getting in trouble for small things and being required to write memos on things they done (and re-writing them over and over until the Senior Officer is happy with it).” It goes on to read “they are being threatened with their job, being moved to the day shift, being belittled, yelled and treated like children.” Proof is in the pudding!
The “In-Service Meeting” notes also address promotions and annual evaluations. Officers feel they meet their rankings, do their job, and then they are told they must do more than that to get to move up. Now the promotional process is based on a “taskbook” which is a checklist that shows what a firefighter or officer understands and has been cleared in, to show they are proficient in the job they will be stepping into. It was recommended by one of the committees to implement the taskbook in 2025. The 50+ pages of notes said some complete the taskbook, but others can be prevented from completing it by the Battalion Chiefs which prevent them from testing. One comment was the process was very “subjective” and “some are allowed to test, while and others are not allowed to test for promotions.” We know from talking to several inside sources that just recently a handful of firefighters applied for the LT positions, and they were not allowed to test even though they qualified which matches the statements made by the firefighters at the meeting. We also learned that Fire Chief Lee Glover choose to ignore his committees (another complaint in the notes) and implement the taskbook requirement now and that did not give all the candidates time to complete it before the test.
After reading this, we honestly feel like we are on a Merry-Go-Round that is not so …merry. We pulled up the 2011 Climate Report that reads “firefighters’ perceptions of the hiring and promotion process is that it is manipulated by the Chief and Senior Officers.” It goes on to read “firefighters would like to see a hiring and promotion process established, published and followed that does not allow for manipulation of the data of tests and who is selected.” So basically, what is in the 2011 Climate Report matches the feelings of the 2024 In-Service Meeting Notes and the one common denominator is … Fire Chief Lee Glover!
We think that City Manager – Wes Pierson, Mayor Jeff Cheney, and the City Council suffer from Echolaia, which is the repetition or echoing of words that you hear someone else say. If not Echolaia, then they suffer from insanity which is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If they don’t have either of those two medical conditions, well then, they suffer from just simple stupidity. Voltaire noted that the more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it appears to be wisdom.
In a nutshell the council hopes we are “STUPID” and if they just repeat the same thing over and over, we will begin to believe it. They are like Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ clicking together her ruby red slippers but instead of saying there is no place like home they are saying Chief Glover is the best, Chief Glover is the best! Just look at Mayor Jeff Cheney at the Star Patriot forum in 2023 when he was running for re-election. After seeing the FFA Survey showing a vote of NO CONFIDENCE in the new Fire Chief Lee Glover, he went to a candidate forum and directly lied to our faces talking about how great Glover was and how he was already improving things at the fire department. LET THAT SINK IN FRISCO RESIDENTS: MAYOR CHENEY KNOWINGLY LIED DIRECTLY TO VOTERS and thought he would never get caught.
Remember, the entire goal of the city and its leadership at all levels these past two years has been to blame Piland, blame the power grab on the “small portion of firefighters”, and to blame anyone and everyone but themselves. They have LIED…. and in the most recent election for the propositions the Frisco Fire Association even made a video pointing that out.
The only mistake the City of Frisco and Frisco City Council made was thinking people would not get tired of their BS and start to pay attention. That failure is what allowed the Whistleblowers to rise up!
The other day I was reading an article about the most common 6 phrases people say to gaslight and manipulate you. What is gaslighting? It is a manipulation tactic often wielded by emotional disruptive abusers and is insidious in nature making it hard for a person to recognize the tactic is happening. What happens when someone tries to gaslight you?
Gradually you begin to question your own judgement, memories, feelings and questioning reality. The article quoted therapist Shannon Thomas who stated that “people who cannot authentically argue their point of view or stand behind their words turn to gaslighting as a tool.” She went on to say ’they resort to confusion creating tactics, and that it really is a true sign of character weakness.”
It made me think back to our recent elections and the mixed messaging the city tried to sell to citizens while attacking our Frisco Firefighters relentlessly while also saying they support our first responders and dedicate at least ½ our annual budget to public safety. They also attacked and tried to destroy the reputation of Former Fire Chief, Mark Piland by saying he was the problem and the reason for the low morale. The solution, to make Lee Glover, the new “SAVING GRACE” Fire Chief. Based on the In-Service notes we have reviewed, the city may have failed “BIG TIME” and the leader driving the bus is our very own City Manager, Wes Pierson!
After the election was over there was a large disdain between our Fire Department and the city so they planned a weeklong set of In-Service Meetings, aka “Healing Sessions” to listen to the firefighters’ concerns. We filed a PIR for anything related to those meetings and after reading the 50+ page report of notes one thing became very clear, the city council knowingly and repeatedly lied to citizens during the election.
Example 1: The Vote No PAC, funded by Frisco Developers, and run by Mayor Pro Tem Bill Woodard
Councilman Woodard was interviewed by Jack Fink with CBS Texas and when asked why the Fire Fighters were bringing the propositions to the ballot, he specifically said due to the “FORMER LEADERSHIP” of the department, referring to Former Fire Chief Mark Piland. We assumed we would see some of those issues noted in this 50+ page report, however only 2 comments were made, which is one the environment is a little more relaxed now (uniforms) and that Piland may have tended to over communicate to the department.
However, they had a lot to say about the current Fire Chief, Lee Glover. When it comes to budgeting and purchasing new equipment, they feel the Chief Glover is out of touch with today’s firefighting tactics. Firefighters said Glovers’ only tactic since arriving has been cost cutting measures to look good to the City Manager’s Office and council and that means he his neglecting his duty to his command.
Remember the Blood Program, otherwise known as which was carried by the Squad Unit? Refresh your memory by reading our older articles “Another One Bites The Dust” and “Make It Look Pretty.” At the time Councilman Woodard was the “city mouthpiece” across social media supporting Glover’s decision to end the Squad program and transfer the blood program to two battalion chief vehicles. The report talks about Glover’s cost cutting measures and how the firefighters believe removing the Squad Unit and transferring the Blood Program was a huge failure as it took away two extra working people on calls and losing the expertise of the Squad members could be and will be deadly to citizens.
What is the end result of the firefighter’s statement above about their concerns with Glover being out of touch with today’s firefighting tactics? Chief Glover has cut valid programs, training and they believe he is purchasing the wrong equipment. Glover has also de-incentivized training under his command, and today they have less training which is dangerous. Courses and training are required for promotions to the next rank and other departments pay for employees to attend training, but Glover is telling his command to “put stock in your own training.” As for equipment, Glover is buying more Quints -the big bulky fire trucks of the old days, which are hard to get around the neighborhood’s tight and crowded streets. The firefighters prefer more engines and tillers. We are told engines are quicker and shorter in size making them a better choice. We are also told the tillers are an advantageous truck because they can go anywhere, carries more tools and is quicker to vent with 107’ ladder.
Are we done yet? Oh no, we are just getting started! There is so much to go over that we are going to break it up into multiple articles this week. Tonight, we leave you with three questions:
1. Why is the City Council and City Manager gaslighting residents into believing all of these issues are due to Former Fire Chief Piland who was endorsed by the Frisco Firefighters Assocation this year during the election?
2. Why is the City Council and City Manager gaslighting residents into thinking the problem is our Fire Association, who they called Greedy Bastards, power hungry and lazy during the election?
3. Why is the City Council and City Manager dying on a sharp sword for Fire Chief Lee Glover who in all respects to his command his nowhere to be found and neglecting his duty to his command?
We leave you with a strong remark in the In-Service notes which we stated above, “Firefighters believe Glover’s only goal is to look good to the City Manager’s Office and City Council which results in him neglecting his duty to his command.” ….. come back tomorrow for part two
UPDATE: PLEASE NOTE WE HAVE MADE CORRECTIONS TO OUR ARTICLE BASED ON MORE DETAILS RECEIVED. CORRECTIONS CAN BE NOTED IN RED OR WITH A STRIKETHROUGH MARK.
We are glad the municipal election season is over, and life is getting back to normal, or as normal as it can be. Proposition A which was for Civil Service was, came down to a difference of 665 votes. That is not a landslide win, and it should speak volumes to the Frisco City Council and City Management to do better. On Proposition B, which was for Collective Bargaining, it came down to a difference of 2,383 votes. City leaders and the Safety Frisco First PAC did a good job of scaring voters that if it passed our Firefighters would become a group of “Greedy Bastards” and bankrupt the city.
Residents spoke and while most conveyed their support to the Firefighters, they didn’t feel Civil Service and Collective Bargaining were the right way to go about it. According to several voters we talked to, they believe the residents need to help fight for change at city hall and demand more from our city leaders. WHERE ARE THOSE RESIDENTS NOW? Did any of those who came out to vote, go home, and take the time to email the city leadership? Probably not! Did anyone write an email to city leaders expressing concern about the City Manager who is the reason we ended voting on these issues. Probably not!
We still continue to think about the call for “more staffing” and wonder do we have a staffing issue? Did you know that over the last four years the city applied for several grants related to staffing?
What is a SAFER Grant? The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER) was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase or maintain the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available in their communities. The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local fire departments’ abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by the NFPA which stands for the National Fire Protection Association’s codes and standards.
At the 01/18/2022 council meeting the council voted on an agenda item #21 authorizing the City Manager to submit a SAFER grant application in the amount of $5,420,500 over a three-year performance period for STAFFING that would help fund 15 Firefighter/Paramedic positions needed to staff a fourth Truck Company assigned to Fire Station 9. The memo we found was from Mark Piland to then City Manager George Purefoy, Deputy City Manager Henry Hill and the entire council. The resolution says duly passed and approved on the 18th day of January 2022.
The application states “Due to this rapid growth, the City’s ability to build and staff new fire stations and apparatus is limited. The City has committed to building a new fire station, Fire Station #10 and additional apparatus, such as a fourth Truck and additional Medic, but needs federal assistance to on-board additional firefighters to staff this apparatus. Without this funding, it takes our fire crews longer to establish effective response forces according to NFPA 1710 standards which increases the likelihood of property damage and risk to the fire crews. Without this funding, our response times will increase due to the first due truck not being within close proximity to the rapid areas of development that would need an aerial ladder response.
It goes on to say, “During 2020, the city began construction on 13 multifamily housing and completed 7 multifamily housing units that were already under construction for a grand total of over 26,000 units. The City houses 22 specialty care facilities to include nursing homes, free standing nursing facilities and adult living communities. Within the last 2 years, we have had 6 new high rises completed and we have 3 high rise buildings currently under construction. This additional funding will allow for a fourth fire truck to be put into service which will increase our NFPA 1710 standards for response to a high-risk structure to include multifamily housing, specialty risk structures and high-rise buildings. NFPA 1710 recommends that an agency place 42 or 43 personnel on a fire at a high-rise structure. The department is currently staffed to respond with 34 personnel.”
Yet the City Council and City Management Say, “We don’t have a staffing issue.”
We were also surprised to see at the 04/04/2023 council meeting the council voted on an agenda item #23 authorizing the City Manager to submit a SAFER grant application in the amount of $8,894,880 for a three-year grant performance period for STAFFING. The memo written by Interim Fire Chief, Lee Glover goes on to say, “if awarded, the FY22 SAFER Grant Program would provide funding for 24 Firefighter/Paramedic positions consistent with the Fire Department’s current five-year staffing plan.”
We pulled up the application and pulled some highlights. The first one states, “Over the past year, our department has seen the 90th percentile response times for first arriving fire/EMS apparatus in these areas increase to nearly ten minutes and NFPA 1710 single-family dwelling full alarm assembly time increase to over 20 minutes, well beyond the NFPA 1710 recommendations.” The second highlight states, “Without the assistance the city will likely be unable to simultaneously bear the cost of constructing two new fire stations and staffing/equipping firefighters, which would negatively impact Frisco FD’s ability to provide appropriate and timely emergency response and assembly of the recommended effective response force.”
The application goes on to say, “The Frisco Fire Department continues to experience increasing call volume and faces new risks. The total call volume for the department has increased by 76.7% since 2015.” It continues, “The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of America relocated to Frisco in 2022. While Frisco has experience with large special events, these attendance numbers are more than double the size of current venues in Frisco. In addition, Universal Parks and Resorts recently announced the opening of a new theme park scheduled to open in 2026. A new 2,500-acre development in northern Frisco is underway, with 14,000 homes and apartments planned, as well as commercial and retail development. These developments, events, and venues are new risks for the Frisco Fire Department in an area not close to an existing fire station which have resulted in significantly increased response times over the past few years.”
Fire Chief Lee Glover now says, “we don’t have a staffing issue.”
On a side note, we hope all the developers who donated $10,000 to fight the firefighters now realize the city is not prepared, they flat our said so in a federal grant.
As a resident, why do I feel like I need a shower and we are being blatantly lied too somehow! During the election Mark Piland said as the former Fire Chief he advocated over and over for staffing. Then we see this application by Lee Glover in 2023 which talks about how all the new development has put new risk for the FD and resulted in “SIGNIFICANTLY” increased call times. Most glaring is his statement “we have seen NFPA 1710 single-family dwelling full alarm assembly time increase to over 20 minutes, well beyond the NFPA 1710 recommendations.” Less than a year later we are hearing the complete opposite from Chief Lee Glover and every single member sitting perched up on the city pulpit.
For the last few weeks, we watched the Safety-First Frisco PAC scorch any ground left between the city and the firefighters. They implied they were Greedy Bastards, basically attacked their character, willingness to work, called them lazy, liars and power hungry. It was a nuclear response to an already tense relationship. Meanwhile over at the police department, Chief Shilson’s wife Jana Shilson is advocating with the PAC on social media. At the Fire Department, Chief Lee Glover’s wife Jamie Glover is also advocating with the PAC on social media.
On the other hand, the firefighters are scared they will suffer repercussions for being on the front lines of this fight for the propositions. The firefighter’s message has never changed which centers around staffing and the fact they have no confidence in city leadership or their Chief to do what is right. City leaders continue to try and blame this on former leadership which has nothing to do with it. The former leadership fought with them and for them at the polls, right next to them. Come May 5th, the firefighters said win or lose, if you the resident calls, we your Frisco Firefighters will answer that call and risk our own lives to make sure you the citizen is safe.” We ask again, what’s next? Where do we go from here?
A starting point is every resident should be asking the following questions of our City Leadership: The City Council, The Mayor Jeff Cheney, City Manager Wes Pierson and his staff and Fire Chief Lee Glover:
If we don’t have a staffing issue, then why did you “THE CITY” apply for several SAFER FEMA grants specifically for STAFFING?
Were you honest on the FEMA Safer Grants? If yes, then you have been lying to residents.
Were you honest to residents and lie on the FEMA Safer Grant? If yes, who thought it would be a good idea to lie on a federal grant application?
The 2023 SAFER grant says without assistance the city will likely be unable to simultaneously bear the cost of constructing two new fire stations and staffing/equipping firefighters, which would negatively impact Frisco FD’s ability to provide appropriate and timely emergency response and assembly of the recommended effective response force.” If that is the case, then why does the city continue to offer developers incentives to do business here, why did we build a 60+million-dollar library, and why are we considering a performing arts center? It sounds like we are broke or destitute.
The fact is only after the grants were denied did the city say we are fully staffed, trust us everything is okay, just trust your city leadership. Well, I don’t trust you….AT ALL! Will residents really get involved and express their concern to city leadership about what is happening in our city and demand they find a resolution to these issues or will we see the Fire and Police Association back on the ballot in two years fighting for Civil Service, again!
“Let no man’s ghost return to say his leadership and training let him down.” – A Firefighter
In the intricate dance of politics, strategic maneuvering often extends beyond conventional means. Employing a political infiltrator to gain an advantage over opponents is akin to deploying a subtle, yet potent weapon in the arena of power. You are maybe thinking this does not happen in Frisco, right? We received several emails from readers and insiders saying it did. The Infiltrator Playbook can unearth secrets about your opponent’s campaign. The result can make a candidate alter their political narrative and potentially shape the very fabric of political dynamics.
We received an email about how the Frisco Safety First PAC (aka the city) sent insiders to a private event held by a Stonebriar resident for John Redmond, Mark Piland, and the Frisco Firefighters Association. It was like a meet and greet but at the country club open to residents who lived within the community interested in meeting the candidates. According to the sender, former Frisco Mayor Michael Simpson and former Frisco City Manager, George Purefoy showed up. Other guests included Dick Peasley whose name appears on the PAC paperwork and represents the city on the North Texas Municipal Water District for the last 10 years. Steve Trent attended who serves on the Visit Frisco Board. Next, you had representatives from the Pelham campaign including Linda & Ed Kelley and Ann Harris. Linda serves as Angelia Pelham’s current campaign manager and Ann served as her campaign manager in 2021. That is quite a list of the Who’s Who of Frisco!
Simpson, Harris, and the Kellys, qualified per the invite we received a copy of because they reside in the community. We were puzzled, why would they want to go to a meet and greet when they support Keating, Pelham, and Safety Frisco First PAC? Then you have Peasley and Trent who live in Frisco Lakes, and Purefoy who lives across the tollway who did not qualify per the invite. Peasley is on the Safety-First Frisco PAC paperwork and that is why we are confused. Call me stupid, but WHY WOULD YOU GO TO AN EVENT FOR CANDIDATES THAT YOU DON’T SUPPORT AND COULD CARE LESS TO GET TO KNOW?
According to the email someone from the club asked Purefoy, Peasley, and Trent to leave because it was a private event. The person close by heard one of them say, “We are with Mike Simpson and want to offer an opposing view.” I asked my wife if she would want to sit through a meet and greet for candidates, she had no intention of voting for? Her answer was short and to the point, “hell no!” Then she asked me if the party crashers invited the opposing FOR view to their meet and greets. She has a valid point.
We keep going back to WHY DID THEY COME? The only clear answer is to spy with their own little eyes, cause trouble, or infiltrate the event to hear what the other candidates had to say and to disrupt it with the opposing view which we find to be rude and classless. If they felt strongly about hearing the opposing view on the propositions, why didn’t the same people insist that the Frisco Chamber of Commerce invite the Frisco Firefighters Association to the Chamber community forum?
Next up we heard about the Frisco Firefighters Association holding an event at a local restaurant and they invited the community to come out and talk to them. My wife and I went to eat and check things out. As we sat there, I said to my wife, don’t those guys look familiar? We pulled up the email sent to us, and there were some familiar faces, Dick Peasley and his Vote No Friends.
We thought it was so nice of them to show up and offer so much support for the Frisco Firefighters (just kidding), but they were there to watch and listen to what was happening at the FFFA Meet and Greet. We are guessing they paid close attention so they could report back to Frisco Star Enterprise. Now it is a public restaurant, but it was no accident Dick Peasley and his friends showed up and kept trying to engage with firefighters. If we had to guess, they probably were recording them and everything they said to try and use against them later in the campaign.
If we were to ask Dick, why are you here? My guess is we would be told to make sure the “opposing” side was represented. How many times do you think the Frisco Firefighters, Piland, or Redmond showed up at their private events? Just a guess, but we would say zero! It was clear they would attend every event they could based on their orders from Frisco Star Enterprise. WHY WOULD YOU GO TO AN EVENT FOR CANDIDATES THAT YOU DON’T SUPPORT AND COULD CARE LESS TO GET TO KNOW?
The best one, we saved for last! We received an email tip that Keating may have put a plant into the firefighter’s campaign station at the polls. At first, this was a stretch even for us, but we kept reading. The email stated they had been at the Fire Station to do a few hours of poll greeting and noticed an older lady sitting with the firefighters. They stopped to say hi to them and asked if the stranger was one of their mothers out to help for the day. They responded no, she just came over and sat down with them and said something about she would not hold a Vote No sign and wanted to support the firefighters.
When their time was done, they went about the day when she realized one of her earrings was missing. She wanted to backtrack her steps and ended up going back to the fire station. She pulled into the parking lot and noticed it was empty except for two cars across the way from her. She recognized the “older woman” from earlier that day sitting with the firefighters and already knew who the man was from seeing him at the polls.
Well, who was it? Jason Zelovics, owner of Mustang Strategies LLC, a political consultant and guess who he represents, John Keating! In fact, Keating has paid Mustang Strategies over $85,446.50 from October 2023 to April 2024 for political consulting, mailers, signs, digital media, flyers, and polling expenses. Why was this woman talking and being so friendly with Zelovics, who DOES NOT support the firefighters? The email said, something felt off, so she started taking pictures and videos of them in the parking lot. She saw them exchange a little “black thing” and then after about 30 minutes they said goodbye and drove out of the parking lot.
Flustered, she forgot about her earring and drove home. Later that evening her husband shows her the new Safety-First Frisco post which talks about yellow firefighter shirts, and it has a close-up photo of the so called “union” logo. The next day when she went to complete her two hours at the polls and noticed the same woman wearing a “KEATING T-SHIRT” and holding a Re-Elect Keating sign. As she walked by the firefighters, she said hi and stopped to tell them what she saw, and they said they knew something was off by the questions she asked and because she wanted a shirt so badly. They seemed to blow it off, the writer said.
After reading her email and looking at the pics we thought, this woman was not crazy. That leaves us with one very important question. Did Keatings “political consultant” put a mole in with the firefighters to try to get a shirt, take pictures and record them? Did they use the little bit of info they obtained to adjust their communication talk track? The lady came back every day until election day, never talked to the firefighters again and held a Keating sign every time.
In closing, it was clear the Safety-First Frisco PAC, Keating and Pelham’s people were going to go to any lengths to win. There was a lot of “Fields Developer Money” at stake and expectations to pull off a win. We should all be asking the following questions: Why did Dick Peasley and his buddies show up over and over at both private and public events held by the “other side?” Why did Dick Peasley feel the need to berate the firefighters at the polls telling them they are overpaid and under worked? What level of desperation did you feel that you had to send a 70-year-old mole into sitting with the FFFA at the polls to gain intel? Is Keating proud of his Cheating (in many ways apparently)? We would also like to know if Keating will release the itemized bill from Mustang Strategies. Why, well something does not add up that he spent $85,446.50 more than any other recent local and even some state-run elections.
The coward must abandon his dignity before he abandons the field of battle – James B. Donovan
Ah, the City of Frisco elections, where candidates pop up like mischievous moles in a game of whack-a-mole. The battle in the whack-a-mole arena begins and the candidates are ready to take their swing at the other. It starts with the Whack-a-mole Forums, where they take a stance and tightly grip their mallet waiting for the right opportunity to smack down the opposing candidate. To everyone’s surprise, candidates just keep popping up somewhere else. It is a constant battle through the political season as you whack and jostle for position, each promising to fix the potholes, and lower property taxes while dodging the inevitable accusations of shady dealings. As early voting begins, you wonder if you’ve nailed down your opponent enough that they will surrender and retreat to the darkness of their hole. They surprise you and pop back up and are ready to battle to the very end. As election day draws to a close so does the delightful game of whack-a-politician and soon a winner will be given the gold mallet. If only it were that easy!
Now that the recent election is over, we want to look at the “Election Playbook” or tactics used because you may be surprised by some of the underhanded measures that involved active and former city officials. Then again maybe not! The first tool in the election playbook is the power of social media. The Safety-First PAC, run by an ACTIVE SITTING CITY COUNCIL MEMBER BILL WOODARD, took the “take no prisoners” rhetoric approach which means victory or supremacy at all costs without any regard to consequences.
One post talked about how when there’s a fire in the city, they don’t want to see the Frisco Firefighters sitting on the sidelines campaigning and playing politics. “Don’t claim the department is understaffed when 6-7 firefighters are sitting at each of the polls every day doing the Union’s bidding” the post said.
Residents were quick to respond that the post was appalling, arrogant, and ignorant. City Councilman, Brian Livingston responded to the post and said he was pretty sure firefighters get days off and if called upon would have been happy to assist. He specifically pointed out we can disagree on the props without personally attacking them. Sapp, President of the Frisco Firefighters Assoc was also quick to respond. He said, “to insinuate that our OFF-DUTY engagement in exercising our First Amendment rights suggests we don’t care about our department or our brother and sister firefighters facing a fire is GARBAGE! He continued, if the city had called for help, he could guarantee the polls would have been empty and every OFF-DUTY firefighter would have shown up.”
We quickly noticed each time a negative comment was made, the PAC just hid or deleted it, and then they swiftly blocked residents from the page to control negative opposition. These were the actions of councilman, Bill Woodard, and his city sidekicks. Wait, are you telling me the Safety-First Frisco PAC (aka the city) which fought so hard and nasty against the firefighters don’t believe in FREE SPEECH? You know your FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT! Ultimately the post was removed from the page probably because burning down the house (figure of speech) was not the best idea.
Another post called the firefighters association “soldiers without a war, and they follow a playbook of confusion, fear, and intimidation.” After talking to residents, we are sure the VOTE NO PAC put out the confusion, created fear, and used intimidation tactics with the DEVELOPER MONEY they had in their pockets. Over the next several posts they released several takeaways from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s conversation with Sheryl Sculley regarding the “big bad Unions!”
In the first video Mayor Jeff Cheney called his “BIG AHA MOMENT” related to the playbook of unions and how they operate. The first was that Associations/Unions try to pit citizens against their elected officials, city manager, and city government.
Then he goes on to say they intentionally put out misleading information. For example, the signs across town say Frisco Firefighters “really big,” and the “association” is very small. What we find interesting is that Mayor Cheney had no issue with the Frisco Firefighters’ signs when they endorsed him and put it on a billboard. We found this on social media, that says Frisco Fighters REALLY BIG, and where is the word association? Ouch, it hurts to look like a crybaby!
The next post was about the Cockroach Theory. We must assume since the video was posted that the Safety-First Frisco Vote No PAC agreed or endorsed Sculley’s comments. It starts with her claiming that the San Antonio unions during elections would tell candidates to give them what they want, or they won’t support them and will run someone against you.
What we find humorous is that Bill Woodard, Jeff Cheney, Laura Rummell, Brian Livingston, and John Keating have all WILLING APPLIED AND ACCEPTED the endorsements from the Association (OH SORRY, UNION), over the years. Since they supported another candidate other than the incumbent, we are now we are supposed to believe they are in a power struggle and blackmailing people.
She then goes on to say the machine of the Union has to keep the “PRESSURE ON” the council members, and once they have them under their shoe like a cockroach, they had to apply pressure and change their tactics to keep them reeling until the Union’s goal is achieved.
We see this very differently because it was the city’s Vote No PAC that sent multiple mailers with different messages, multiple text messages with different verbiage, and talked about higher taxes and outsiders. At one point we felt like if we voted FOR the proposition “outsiders” being Aliens might abduct us in our sleep and take us to their leader to brainwash us and intimidate us into voting NO.
The next post was a video of Sculley and Cheney talking about how you can love your firefighters and disagree about having a union in your community. We could not agree more with Mr. Cheney. You can disagree civilly, however, that is not what you, the council, city and former city officials, and the Vote NO PAC funded by your friends choose to do.
Would you like examples? Angelia Pelham personally attacked the Frisco Firefighters Association board members at a forum and threatened to oust the firefighters who spoke to her in private. Then the Chamber did not allow the firefighters to present at an educational community forum. Lorie Medina, your former Chief of Staff, and campaign manager repeatedly shouted that our firefighters were liars at the polls. Mr. Dick Peasley verbally berated them saying they were overpaid and underworked. Friends of the council in a large social media group then accused firefighters of setting the fire in Chappel Creek to help their cause for the propositions. The Vote No PAC constantly attacked the character, integrity, and qualifications of the Frisco Firefighters. It was “NASTY” Mr. Cheney but it was one sided and the choice was yours, the councils and the Vote No PAC on how that played out.
In closing, social media has serious fire power when it comes to getting out a message. Maybe that is why the social media appears to be scrubbed and cleaned up. We could not find any of the previous posts from Safety First Pac who deleted their page, or photos of the council holding the VOTE NO signs at the polls.
While residents were shocked by some of the posts, employees and former employees of the city were not, according to insiders who emailed us. One said, “That type of behavior is standard operating procedure for the city from the departments to the king of the hill better known as City Manager, Wes Pierson.” Another insider email said, “The only difference is now the residents are seeing what happens behind closed doors at all levels of the city.” They concluded by asking us not to use their name for fear of losing our jobs at city hall. Fear of losing their jobs is something we hear often from City of Frisco employees.
When I was a kid, my dad used to say “listen to your 5 senses” because they will protect you. As a kid, I had no idea what he meant but as an adult, I understand the information collected by our five primary senses helps detect danger and allows our brains to understand and react to our surroundings. Personally, I always thought it was my bull shit meter, you know the internal gauge for detecting deception, insincerity, or exaggerated claims that made me smart. I think my wife got it right because she tells me the reason, I am such a good detective is due to the marriage of my “spidey senses” and my bull shit meter. She hit the nail on the head!
When we first heard in May 2023 that the City of Frisco fired 27-year veteran, Cameron Kraemer from the Fire Department over a work-related illness, we knew there had to be more to the story. Immediately our team started reaching out to sources within the city and it was a game of silence from all sides. Then we heard Mr. Kraemer might speak at citizens’ input, and we wanted to make sure we watched the meeting. First person to speak was Matt Sapp, President of the Firefighters Assoc and watching it today, it explains so much why our FD is fighting for Prop A & B during this election cycle.
Then we watched Mr. Kraemer speak at the city council meeting and it was enough to break anyone’s heart. A man poured out his soul and admitted to the public he had PTSD, a mental health issue, and the city should be ashamed of how they have treated him and the response from the council…nothing. We have a video with some highlights, but you can see the full video by clicking the link.
At the end of citizens’ input, we were caught off guard when Mr. Wes Pierson, our new city manager leaned forward and announced he had something to say regarding Cameron Kraemer. This is the man who through the whole meeting sits back with a smug look on his face, swaying in his chair with an overall arrogance about him. We listened to him, and his words were so cold, so impersonal, and then we thought how did he have this whole speech prepared and ready to go that night? Had he heard that Kraemer maybe attending the meeting, or did he write it on the fly? Either way, alarm bells were ringing in my head.
My spidey sense bull shit meter went through the roof, and I was sure we were on to something, but what? Time went by and we followed the case. Kraemer and the Fire Association fought the city on whether his illness (PTSD) was work related and he won. Simply put, the city should hire him back or offer him a path back to work. However, the city is choosing to dig in their heels and skirt responsibility so Kraemer will likely end up suing the city which will cost the taxpayers. Because it is under wraps it is hard to follow the case and we thought our research was over.
Then fast forward to election time, where a new PAC is created called Safety Frisco First. We told you about this PAC in our blog The Secret PAC. We quickly noticed that Bill Woodard and City Shady Bunch running the PAC were putting out a lot of details and documents and none of them went to fighting the purpose. This raised our curiosity because the documents seemed more personal in nature and directed at a few specific individuals to malign and attack their character. It felt like the page was being used by the city to say the things they want to say but cannot say.
We filed two PIRs with the City. The first was for copies of any PIR requests and the corresponding documents made from Bill Woodard, Mike Simpson, Dick or Richard Peasley, Safety First Frisco PAC from 1/1/22 to Present. As you can guess the city has sent that to Texas AG in order to delay releasing the documents. What do you think they are hiding?
Then we filed another PIR for any emails, text, or handwritten correspondence between city officials regarding the Frisco Fire Association Prop A & B. Guess what…they sent it to the Texas AG to delay releasing the documents. What do you think they are trying to hide until after the election is over?
The PAC website has a document called “Letter from Weston Fire Chief regarding Asst Chief Kraemer,” but what does that have to do with fighting civil service or collective bargaining? The letter was a clear attack on a 27-year First Responder who worked for the City of Frisco, to discredit him. We kept asking ourselves, what does this letter have to do with the PACs purpose? Time to find some answers.
Our first question is, how did the PAC get these documents? Well of course they would have to go through the formal process like us and file a PIR, right? On 2/26/24 we filed a PIR that reads, “We recently visited the Safety-First Frisco PAC website, and we noticed a section called Resources that has the following documents which we listed out. All of these documents would have to have been obtained through a PIR or a series of PIRs so we would like to see the specific PIR(s) requests for the following information above.”
We got an email back on 3/8/24 and a few things piqued our interest in the city’s response. It said the Presentation to City Council regarding Salary Adjustments was NOT a PIR release. The document was released at the November 21, 2023, Budget and Audit Committee Meeting. Then they said the Letter from Western Fire Chief re Asst Chief Kraemer was NOT a PIR release. Lastly the Report on Residential Fire – 4 on a Truck was NOT a PIR release. HELLO, how did SFF get three documents, one appearing to being related to an HR file without filing a PIR and how would they know such a letter exists like that if it is in an HR file? Councilman Bill Woodard must have known about these documents due to his position which he is now using for political purposes for a PAC that he heads up. Ethical?
Next, we filed PIRs with the City of Weston and asked for a copy of any PIRs, and corresponding documents made by Bill Woodard or representatives from the City of Frisco. The response, “The City of Weston has not received any PIR request from Bill Woodard or any requests from the City of Frisco.” We also did a search of Weston’s agendas for the last few years, and you won’t believe what we found.
Guess who the City Attorney is for the City of Weston? Richard Abernathy (same as the City of Frisco)
Guess who the City of Weston hired as a city manager consultant? George Purefoy (former city manager for the City of Frisco)
Guess who the City of Weston hired as a fire consultant? Mack Borchardt, who CURRENTLY WORKS FOR THE CITY OF FRISCO AS SPECIAL CONSULTANT FOR THE CITY MANAGER. Wait, so we taxpayers are paying Borchardt, and he is allowed to work for other cities and make money at the same time?
Next, we went to Weston Fire and Rescue and filed a PIR and we asked for four things, response from Weston F&R are in bold;
I would like a copy of any PIR request and the corresponding documents returned in the PIR request from the City of Frisco relating to Cameron Kraemer and his time volunteering, serving as Captain, or working in the last three years. The PIR or request could have been done by text, email, or handwritten (formal or informal). WFR has no documentation.
I would like a copy of any PIR or request (formal or informal) from consultants named Mack Borchardt and/or George Purefoy (who are also consultants for The City of Weston) relating to Cameron Kraemer and his time volunteering, consulting, or working with the Weston FD in the last three years. WFR has no documentation.
I would like a copy of the letter from Kevin Deal (Former Fire Chief) supplied to the City of Frisco regarding Cameron Kraemer and the time he spent with Weston FD, and I would like to know if anyone else has requested this letter in the last two years. Attached and only you requested it
We could not believe our eyes! They attached the letter and right there in front of us we started to compare the letter supplied to the City of Frisco. We about fell over because the letters don’t MATCH!
What are the differences:
Weston F&R: No Date vs The Safety-First Frisco PAC: The letter is dated
Weston F&R: To Whom It May Concern vs The Safety-First Frisco PAC: addressed to whom it may concern and Attn: Wes Pierson
Weston F&R: Signature vs The Safety-First Frisco PAC: Signature = TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT SIGNATURES!
We would love it if the City of Frisco and/or The Safety-First Frisco PAC tell us how we have 2 totally different letters. While the body is the same nothing else is and that is alarming. It very clearly looks like the letter was forged or is a fake. Now we have so much more to this investigation to come but ask yourself, why does the City of Frisco want you to believe former Fire Chief Mark Piland was this horrible Fire Chief but according to his EVAL and his employment history he has NEVER been written up in 40-year career. Yet when he comes to work for Frisco, they want us to believe with perfect EVALS that he was such a bad leader? Now we have the Assistant Fire Chief whom they want us to believe is this horrible person even though he was only written up once in 27 years for bringing a smoker trailer on the property. They provide a letter that looks nothing like the original sent to the city and somehow the PAC gets it to post on their website. This letter just happens to show up to help the city’s case and they have 3 people contracting with the city with ties to The City of Frisco. We would think that this letter would be a part of someone’s personal or HR file, so how did the PAC get it? If you released it to the PAC, then does that mean we can go back to the Texas AG to review previous requests of HR files to reopen where you made a claim, they were confidential?
We have so much more on this to peel apart and will blog again soon. Ask yourself does this look like a targeted campaign to destroy two men’s lives and reputations? It does to us, and the question is for what? It all goes back to Sassy Lauren Safranek the HR DIRECTOR who falsified records. Also ask yourself if The VOTE NO PAC is willing to post a forged letter what else have they lied to you about? Lastly, did any of our current council including the two running for re-election know the letter had been modified before posted to the PAC site? What we do know for sure, is something smells like Shit in Frisco, and we are curious what part Bobblehead Bill Woodard is involved in?
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