Well we love a good boxing match and now we have one! Today we came across an announcement that John Redmond is running for City of Frisco – Place 3 against Angelia Pelham! He was once quoted as saying he wants to be a good civil steward here in the City of Frisco. We can’t wait to learn more about what issue or hot buttons he believes the city is facing. For now we at Frisco Chronicles can’t wait to learn more about this candidate!
OCTOBER 27, 2023 – John Redmond is announcing his candidacy for Frisco City Council. Service does not come without sacrifice. And service to others is what those that run for office are called to do. 6 years ago Redmond ran for City Council in the most contested field in Frisco history. Taking the lessons of that election while remaining engaged and active, Redmond brings deep commitment to the betterment of our community and a wealth of experience and passion for positive change. Redmond stated, “I am announcing my intent to run for Frisco City Council. As a vibrant, diverse and ever-evolving community, we will run a clean and dignified race to serve the people of Frisco. We will remind elected officials that they work for their constituents and should govern as they campaign. Together through teamwork, innovation and community engagement, we will address whatever challenges remain before us while we embrace the opportunities that lie ahead”. Redmond4Frisco will be grounded in fiscal responsibility and accountability, free enterprise and support for small businesses, law and order and the true support of public safety personnel. With a long list of potential platforms, Redmond said that a ‘listening campaign’ would begin immediately to understand all of the issues that Frisco citizens actually hold dear. “From traffic, to infrastructure, to apartments and density, the overall development (and/or re-development) of Frisco, public safety, city staff and its’ leadership, art venues, animal shelters and more…while some things change, many political topics here in Frisco remain the same”. Frisco residents are encouraged to get involved, ask questions and share ideas with Redmond as he embarks on this journey to serve the community. To learn more about John and the campaign, visit www.Redmond4Frisco.com
For media inquiries or interview requests, please contact: Chris Fields campaign@redmond4frisco.com About John Redmond: John Redmond is the Co-Founder and President of InspectIR Systems. A Frisco-based company, for the last 6 years, InspectIR has been focused on innovation and research, delivering breath-based devices and solutions to provide more equitable diagnostics and screening at or near the point of care. With more than 25 years of experience in Fortune 500 companies, John is a human capital expert in the technology and consulting industries with leadership positions in talent acquisition and diversity and inclusion. John has a BS in Business Administration/Marketing from the Gies School of Business at the University of Illinois. Married with two (2) adult children, John has been a Frisco resident for over 18 years.
In 1952, one of the most popular shows on tv was I Love Lucy and one of the best episodes was Vitameatavegamin. Lucy meets with the director of the commercial and he explains that Vitameatavegamin is a health tonic and gives her the lines to learn. What none of them knew was the health tonic was 23% alcohol. During the first practice set, Lucy reads her lines and then takes a spoon full of the health tonic and begins to make funny faces because it tasted so bad. Take after take Lucy got a little more drunk, and by the time it was over Ricky had to take her off the stage. The episode is a perfect example of truth in advertising.
Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, it’s time to spill the secrets once and for all! If you live in Frisco then you hear city leaders reflecting on how Money Magazine voted Frisco the #1 Best Place to Live in America. The truth is Frisco is a great city to live in, but it has not been ranked #1 since 2018 which is 5 years ago. In fact, in the 2021/22 Money Magazine, The City of Frisco was ranked #19 for the Best Places to Live. That means in 5 years we fell 18 spots so why do they continue to talk about a ranking from 2018? Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves; how did we drop 18 spots? Is this truthful advertising?
The City of Frisco puts together a series of video messages called Progress In Motion to talk about the change and growth happening in our town. The series is truly one the city’s greatest forms of advertising. These videos are so professional, and they cover an array of different topics. Wes Pierson recently stated in a July 2023 article in Frisco Enterprise that there is a powerful message behind the idea of “Progress In Motion.” For Frisco’s city manager, the city tagline inspires a focus on the concept of “growth” rather than “change. Sometimes when people talk about change, there can be a negative connotation related to change, but if you talk about progress, it really emphasizes, in my opinion, a focus on growth,” he said.
Even our own Mayor puts out a series of videos on his Cheney for Frisco Mayor YouTube page. When we saw his campaign video this year announcing his re-election we were impressed because it was truly a professional video with amazing footage. Then my wife said, “I could swear I have seen this footage before” and I replied, yeah probably in another video he has done running for office. She was adamant that was not it and night after night as we sat watching tv she played on her iPad until I heard, “See, I told you I have seen this footage before,” and with a big grin on her face, she played me one of the city’s Progress in Motion videos. Then she played a portion of Cheney’s campaign video and sure as shady shit it was a match. We decided to do a little research to see how much of his election video matched up with the Progress in Motion videos put out by the city. We decided to do a little research to see how much of his election video matched up to the Progress in Motion videos put out by the city.
In Cheney’s election video at the 24 second mark you see the drone footage coming into the Cowboy Star which is from the NFLs HBO’s Hard Knocks: The Dallas Cowboys at the 07-second mark. Did he get approval from HBO, NFL and Jerry Jones to use that footage? Would any of them give him authorization to use that for a political campaign ad? Should we consider this and endorsement?
Now compare Cheney’s election video to the Progress in Motion – Public Safety Training Center video. On Cheney’s election video at the 1:17 mark you see footage of the fireman from the back in a training which is an exact match to the PIM at the 1:39 video mark. Then at the 1:18 mark on Cheney’s election video you see footage of a burning car which matches the 1:09 video mark in the PIM video. Then at the 1:22 mark on the election video you see a Frisco Police Car which matches the footage at the 1:22 video mark in the PIM. Lastly, at the 1:24 mark on Cheney’s election video you see footage of the FD training center which matches the 1:28 video mark on the PIM video.
On Cheney’s election video at the 1:43 mark he talks about The Rail District and the future of outdoor entertainment. Interestingly the renderings were produced by Kimley Horn and are on the city’s site and labeled with the Frisco logo. The renderings are show in an article on Frisco Enterprise and they note the renderings which match Cheneys election video were the courtesy of The City of Frisco.
On Cheney’s election video at the 2:16 mark he shows the ground-breaking of the Dr. Pepper Keurig office complex with Jerry Jones which is an exact match to the start of the city’s PIM – Keurig Dr Pepper Groundbreaking video.
On Cheney’s election video at the 2:23 mark he shows the ribbon cutting of Texas Health which is an exact match to the PIM – Texas Health Hospital Frisco video.
Cheney was even bold enough to use ESPN or PGA footage of Tiger Woods in his election video at the 2:25 mark. We found a few city videos and it appears as if the PGA may have given the city some footage to use for advertising videos. The question is did they give Cheney permission to use footage in a political campaign video? Did he have permission to use the professional golfer and their likeness in his video? Did he have permission from ESPN or the PGA to use this footage in a political campaign video? Do ESPN or the PGA endorse Mayor Cheney? Is Tigers appearance an endorsement? At the 2:30 mark he uses Universal’s Theme Park rendering given to the city for press releases. So, did he have NBC Universal’s permission to use their rendering in a political campaign video? Does that mean NBC Universal endorsed the mayor? Lastly at the 2:50 mark in his election video he shows aerial views of the new PGA which look very similar to the PIM PGA videos.
You are probably wondering, why is this important? Well, in 2021 a local resident filed an ethics complaint against the mayor for using his city email to solicit feedback from department heads which he later used in a personal Facebook post to endorse and support Angelia Pelham for council. In the complaint she cited it was a violation per the Code of Conduct Section 7. According to Section 7: Public Property and Resources it states a city official shall not use, request, or permit the use of city facilities, personnel, equipment and supplies for private purposes (including political purposes). Now his fellow council members voted against moving forward with the ethics complaint in 2001 but in our own opinion it was clear as day he violated it then. SO, DID HE VIOLATE THE CODE OF CONDUCT WITH HIS ELECTION VIDEO?
We are estimating about 75% of the election video is made from city footage. Are political candidates allowed to use city footage paid for by taxpayers? Does the city not have any copyright rules? Is it fair for anyone to use city footage? If so, then I could make a video and use some of the footage that includes Cheney speaking? Can a realtor in Frisco make videos using city footage to advertise their business? What about small businesses, can they use city footage to make social media commercials for their business? Can a local realtor use local renderings from P&Z documents to advertise their business and talk about new things coming to Frisco? Were all the candidates aware they could use city footage to make political campaign videos? If they were allowed to use the video footage was it disclosed to them or was that something the Mayor knew as an “inside tip” that he used for his advantage. A video of this nature could and probably does cost thousands of dollars if he had to film all this footage himself. Filming is not cheap or inexpensive. So, did the mayor pay the city for the use of the footage? Is this another example of Jeff Cheney taking Mayoral Privilege for his personal use and benefit?
We are thinking that someone needs to look in the mirror and decide if he is the FAIRest of them all.
Density is generally defined as the amount of residentialdevelopment permitted on a given parcel of land. Typically measured in dwelling units per acre – the larger the number of units permitted per acre, the higher the density; the fewer units permitted, the lower the density. Smart growth can reduce air and water pollution and preserve open space. Compact development that uses land efficiently is integral to creating neighborhoods that offer convenience, value, and a high quality of life. Density has always been and will always be a hot topic in Frisco among residents. So what is Mayor Cheney’s take on density?
Let’s get in our DeLorean and take a trip back in time to 2017.
In 2017, Jeff Cheney who was running for Mayor made a video on Density. He said the maximum build out was 350,000 residents, but that is not what people moved to Frisco for. People moved to Frisco for the quality of life and in order to protect that we need to build towards the original goal of 280,000 residents. We need to build out with world class level development’s with more open space, less multi-family all over the city and an overall less dense environment. Did someone just hit with me brick? Did you say LESS MULTI-FAMILY throughout the city? What have you approved the last 6 years? Mixed use with multi-family!
Where are we in 2023 then on density in Frisco? Currently we sit with an estimated population of 227,426 residents based on the city’s website. What are the projections now based on how Mayor Cheney has been “developing” our city? The current buildout population is estimated to be 325,000 by 2040.
What happened to protecting our quality of life? What happened to less multi-family?
Now to his credit he said in 2017 we need world class developments – and we have achieved that due to many amazing people, although Jeff would like to you to believe it is all him that made it happen. He said it is primarily a “political dog whistle used at election time for political mailers.” That must be why it appears on this his 8.5 x 11 full color Choose Cheney mailer sent out to Frisco residents last week. We immediately noticed “reduced the population projections at build out, from 450K to 325K” – what happened to 280,000 and protecting the quality of life and reason people moved here?
Then he said when you educate people, what? Over the years he has said that over and over, I don’t need to be educated Mr. Mayor as I understand it quite well and probably better than you do sir. Another example is when Edgestone residents organized last year and fought the developer who was going to try and sneak in town homes as part of their neighborhood. In front of him, resident after resident said we don’t want town homes and his response was let me tell you what you want, let me educate you as to why this is good for your neighborhood. Mr. Mayor let me educate you sir, maybe LISTEN TO THE RESIDENTS. What happened to 280,000 and less multi-family? Resident after residents has stood before our mayor and council telling them what we the residents want. Local resident, Mr. Pvale said it best and we agree with him. (If you need insurance look him up, and support local business) Does it matter what “WE” the residents say? No, and that is why one might think or say our Mayor was bought by developers.
The last thing Mayor Cheney said was it was IRONIC that people who consider themselves CONSERVATIVES don’t look at the economics behind these developments and how it is driving our tax bills down. What does being a conservative have to do with any of this? Does he really think it is just conservatives who don’t understand the economics behind these developments? Mayor Cheney my tax bill has never gone down in 16+ years of living here. In fact I just got the notice from the appraiser and they went up the max 10% so please show me where this multi-family you speak of has lowered my tax bill? That is the biggest crock of shady shit ever!
So what does Mayor Cheney want to do to our city with his last term if re-elected? Just listen to him explain it himself below and remember the proof is in the pudding as my mom used to say.
Cheney has lied to us since 2017, and his talking points change as much as wind direction does in Frisco. The truth is he wants his last term to be about what it has been about for 6 years… himself! Do residents want to live in a city where we test the limits of what our city is capable of? What will we be left with? Not the 280,000 maximum density he said we should build out to in 2017. We are going to be a city of multi-family nightmares. I didn’t buy a Money Pit, but the longer I live in Frisco I feel like I am paying a money pit of taxes, and my city is being overrun by Cheney and his developer dipshits.
How do politicians win an election? Successful candidates must persuade voters they deserve their individual votes and garner critical votes from current friends and current followers. Every political campaign has ups and downs and sometimes they just go sideways. Locals will tell you they were surprised to see they had a choice this year for Mayor since previously Cheney ran unopposed. Others would say its a “Long Shot” but there is power in grass roots movements. Cheney said at one of the debates the reason he needs these “large donations” is to run a campaign like his it takes big bucks. Sometimes its not just about the money, it’s about the desire for change and truth that can set things in motion depending on the political climate. Cheney is right, the easier way would be to simply “buy an election!”
With all the drama surrounding the city and the Frisco Fire Department, it makes you wonder what is Cheney thinking? Cheney constantly touts we are the “Safest City” and he holds the Police Department in high esteem, which he has mentioned many times. However, he has not said much about our Fire Department in quite a long time. Looking back at Cheney’s words in 2017 we must ask how is this all sitting with him today? He has been silent on defending our fire fighter first responders and that is not sitting well with me.
Benjamin Franklin once said these powerful words, half a truth is often a great lie. The Armstrong Lie is a powerful documentary about Lance Armstrong, a sports legend who won the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 – 2005 after surviving stage 3 testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. Armstrong will go down in history for committing one of the best kept lies in sports history while he amassed a fortune from the sport and its sponsors. Over the years he was plagued with rumors that he was doping or using performance-enhancing drugs which he denied emphatically. Then a teammate became a whistleblower which caused Armstrong to be stripped of his titles, sponsors ditched him, and he faced several legal cases. So why did Armstrong lie? Why did he risk losing it all if it ever became public? Sports writers and enthusiasts have questions for years, but will we ever really know the truth?
The art of lying is among the most sophisticated accomplishments of the human mind. Children must learn how to lie, how to assess the reactions of the listener, and how to adapt a story to fit a believable narrative. Kids also need to learn how to decipher a lie to protect themself. Learning to lie during the impressionable years of our life is why some adults conquer the art of lying. But are all lies bad lies? Studies have been done for years to answer this question. I was blown away when I read one article that said there were 10 types of lies or deception. In Armstrong’s case he lied by omission (partial truth), used lies of falsification (lie to get attention or sympathy), told bold face lies (one tells a lie, and everyone knows it’s a lie), used lies of exaggeration (lies based on some truth), and he was a pathological liar (lies for no apparent reason).
Lies, regardless of whether they are big or small can cause a physical change in our bodies. It can trigger increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and elevated levels of stress hormones in the blood. It can also cause dry mouth, upset stomach, vomiting, sweaty hands, nervous facial twitches or hand twitches and can cause your skin to break out in a rash or turn red. I know what you are thinking right now, where are we going with this Shady Shit? Well forum after forum Mark Piland mentioned transparency and how he wanted to put in place an ordinance, like the City of Plano’s that said if you received over $1000 from any individual you could not hear any case or be involved in any discussion that could come before the council to avoid a conflict of interest or perception of wrongdoing. You can still accept large donations, but you just can’t be involved in items that come before the city – seems simple and common sense.
At one debate Cheney said campaigns are expensive and without donations it would be hard to run a campaign of this magnitude. This go around I have received a postcard, a magazine, and newspaper all with Mayor Cheney’s “Vote for Me” message. Unless you are living under a rock everyone knows who Mayor Cheney is, his record, and his accomplishments, so why is there a need to spend that kind of money? At the forum, Cheney responded and said Plano’s ordinance was put in place two years ago after all their developments were done or largely done. He said he spoke to a Plano elected official recently (no name mentioned) about their policy and the official told him that the ordinance is not even enforceable, there are no teeth to it, and it was put in place because of a political ideology in their community who was having a tough time getting traction for their candidates that they wanted to support. Now they have a situation where PACs and Super PACs along with other special interest groups lead the outcomes in elections. Watching the forum, I noticed Mayor Cheney would twitch his hands, blink his eyes and his face would turn red so it made me wonder, was he lying?
The morning after the forum I woke up, had coffee and white powdered donut (love those), and talked about the Forum with my wife. While we were perplexed we let it go and went on with our life because we did not think for a minute this was some smoking gun. Several days went by and we got an email from a follower who said they too were curious about Piland’s idea and Cheney’s response, so he emailed the Plano City Council. He forwarded us the emails and responses and that is when I the light bulb turned on. The whistle blower asked which one of the council members spoke with Mayor Cheney, could they confirm or deny his statements made at the forum, and what is their personal feeling regarding the ordinance. Surprisingly several responded and all of them had a similar consensus. We are publishing the first two responses in full below as we just don’t have time to post them all.
Shelby Williams responded, “the ordinance truly does have no teeth—that’s something I’d like to fix.” Williams went on to say, “ Whomever Mayor Cheney spoke to from Plano was not correct, A) The only political ideology that drove the campaign finance ordinance was the desire to rein in the massive amount of commercial developer money influencing Plano’s elections and B) while it was argued that the ordinance would cause PACs to dominate our elections, it never happened. After the ordinance was adopted, PACspending went down significantly. He also said he wrote about this in 2021 when the new council proposed to repeal the ordinance. Here’s my article from then, which includes links and screenshots to more data: https://shelbyhwilliams.com/campaign-finance-recusal-ordinance-up-for-repeal/.”
Anthony Ricciardelli (Place 2) responded, “I voted for the ordinance when we enacted it, remain a big fan of it, and believe that it is meaningful. I agree that there are still loopholes in it, unfortunately. I would like to close those loopholes. Respectfully, I don’t think it would be prudent for me to comment on something attributed to a different council member. I can tell you that I’ve never said anything like the statements that Jeff Cheney attributes to someone on the Plano City Council.”
Like we said earlier, lying is an art form!
TRUE: Mr. Cheney was correct that there is a loophole in the ordinance that needs to be fixed and they hope to do fix it in the near future.
LIE: Mr. Cheney said it was put in place by a political ideology in Plano’s community that was having a tough time getting traction for candidates that they wanted to support. Williams said it was to rein in the massive amount of commercial developer money influencing Plano’s elections.
LIE: Mr. Cheney said they now have a situation where PACs and Super PACs along with special interest groups lead the outcomes in elections. Williams said after the ordinance was adopted, PACspending went down significantly.
Martin Luther King, Jr., once said “A lie cannot live” and he is right. Lies may take care of the present but they have no future. If you tell one lie and get caught then all your truths become questionable. I have always believed that when someone lies to you what they are really telling you, is that you were not worth the truth. That is a slap in the face, it tells you what they think of you and how little they value you or think you are worth to them. In the end we are left with one question, Mayor Cheney, who did you speak to on the Plano City Council that you quoted at the forum?
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