In the last week or so there has been a rush for some elected politicians to “REBRAND” their message because they realize it is not hitting well with residents who turn up to vote. If you are not paying attention, you might not catch the subtle “rebranding of the message” or what we simply call lying. Political messaging is a delicate dance. Mailers hit your mailbox with words that dance gracefully around some inconvenient truths. A candidate’s message is supposed to be consistent but in Frisco, politicians transform blatant contradictions into poetic ambiguity, crafting messages so elusive that even Sherlock Holmes would throw in the towel trying to understand. Candidates are the maestros who have turned gaslighting into an art form and when caught on camera they politically rebrand the message making deception look like a masterpiece.
Let’s look at Keating’s first mailer which reads “Leadership. Experience. KEATING.” He says his mission is to keep Frisco the #1 city in America by protecting our quality of life and ensuring it remains the best place in Texas to build a business and raise a family. On the back of the flyer, Keating points out his priorities to keep taxes low, support police and fire, and again mentions protecting our quality of life. Then in a bid red banner, it reads “Frisco Under Keatings Leadership” and is #1 Safest City In America according to Smart Asset 2023, #1 Best Place To Live according to Money Magazine 2018, #1 Best City To Do Business in Texas according to Better Homes and Gardens 2020 and #1 Suburb in North Texas according to Livability 2023.
If you ask the residents of Cobb Hill whose backyard now faces a future theme park if Keating and the council protected their quality of life, my guess is they would say no! On March 3, 2023, he admitted the night of the vote at the city council meeting that he did not meet with residents of Cobb Hill and instead chose to go on vacation and protect his quality of life. This proves Keating’s priorities are Keating, not the residents. He then said we do fully expect to be held accountable. He continued, “Accountability & Transparency is part of the Frisco City Council’s DNA,” and goes on to talk about how he says that with conviction. On May 4, 2024, we will know if the residents hold him accountable for his decisions.
Updating The Message or Spreading the Lies: Keating’s new social media ads have a bolder look with a blue background and bright yellow text that read “His Record” as being all the same #1 labels, but this time he leaves the dates off of the publication for the rankings. Why is that? We guess that people don’t care how we ranked in 2018 they care how rank today in 2024. A report in U.S. News listed the top 25 places considered the best places to live for families in the U.S. in 2023-24 and Frisco did not make that list. The same magazine has the top 150 most popular areas to live in 2023-24 ranking and Frisco did not make that either unless we fall under #113 DFW. What Keating has failed to realize is just because he says it is true does not mean that it is true. Many things have changed in 6 years but his Forest Gump brain still believes we are #1.
Changing Tunes on Public Safety and Proposition A & B: Keating was proud to jump at the forums this year and announce he supports the Vote No PAC which is bought and paid for by Frisco developers. He is also proud to be endorsed by Mayor Cheney and former Mayor Mike Simpson, both of whom are huge proponents of the Vote No PAC. He also had his friends and fellow council members out at the polls with him encouraging citizens to vote NO against the Firefighters. Yet in just the last 24 to 48 hours that message has started to shift. A poll greater for Keating emailed us and said they were told not to hold a Vote No sign if wearing the blue Keating t-shirt anymore. Wonder why a shift in political messaging?
In our opinion, double speaking is not a good political message. For years Keating has said he is an advocate for our first responders. In fact, in a video 3 years ago he stated that his personal goals were to provide first responders with the tools and training they need to stay safe. Keating also filed for an endorsement in the last election which we wrote about in our blog Jammed Up John Keating, and one of the questions was, “he supported four firefighters for ALL TRUCK COMPANIES” and that we have to grow accordingly to the population growth.
Fast forward to today, and now Keating says we have adequate staffing (which has not changed since the last election), and that this is a power play for those who serve themselves and do not have the best interests of Frisco at heart. Is Keating calling our first responders “self-serving?’ Keating has also filled out the Association’s (aka the bad Union they are trying to sell us today) required questionnaire for an endorsement which comes with money in each election. He had no issue with the Association (aka bad union) and the money they fed his campaign all these years. Honestly, we think he is hacked off that he did not get either public safety group’s endorsement this year and why would he expect to after how he has talked about them and attacked them as evil ogres of our city? The fact is Keating sold out our first responders for big-money developers and a house in the prestigious PGA Preserve community, and he has to live with that.
As we said now Keating has begun to update his message on public safety. His new mailer has red and blue emergency lights on the front and reads “In 2022 and 2023, Frisco was named #1 Safest City In America. Then a big bold yellow banner along the bottom reads “John Keating Kept Us Safe. Let’s Keep John Keating.” News flash Mr. Keating, when my house was broken into it was not you who showed up at my door to keep me safe, it was our Frisco Police Officers. When my wife had a medical emergency, it was not you who came to our home and provided that, it was our Frisco Fire Squad. Maybe we missed your get-well card in the mail, but I am pretty sure you never “KEPT US SAFE!” Quite frankly, the front of your postcard shows your arrogance and narcissistic personality.
The back of the newest mailer has a bright red banner that reads “John Keating Gives Police, Fire, and First Responders the Tools They Need to Keep Us Safe.” It goes on to say our safety is not just a promise it is a priority, but we don’t believe you. Then he says under his leadership Frisco has added 85 new police and fire personnel, which sounds great. Can you tell us what the breakdown of that is between the two departments? If you list that number out it might now look so good for the promises you are offering. As for supporting the bond for Fire Station 10, who cares? Let’s say we have a new shiny building, if you don’t staff it, what is the point? According to city hall insiders you only plan to have one truck there and no medical which in my tax-paying opinion seems like a damn waste.
Lastly, the mailer talks about Keating Public Safety Priorities which means, “Can you smell the ShXt Keating is selling.” Don’t defend the police – defend the police? How will that play with the Democrat vote you are trying to win? Support our police officers and firefighters by “advocating for maintaining adequate staffing levels WITHIN THE POLICE FORCE TO ENSURE RAPID EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIMES? Hmmm, read that again, “within the police force!” Guess he just forgot the Fire Department. Wait, he has promised to advocate for years on that issue and has not done anything and still claims HE IS THE TRUE LEADER FOR OUR CITY?
Can we just lay it out for you? Keating’s rebranding is like a symphony of semantics, where promises are whispered like sweet nothings and lies are wrapped in the velvet cloak of confusing rhetoric. He is dumber than Forest Gump and so is his political consultant Mustang Strategies. One might even say Keating’s campaign consultant spins their web of propaganda making the narrative so tangled that even Charlotte the spider might blush with envy.
He has sold out the frontline who have supported and endorsed him for developer money and the hopes of being Mayor Cheney’s Best Friend Forever. Keating loves to talk but his actions or food but then goes against everything he claims to stand for. We are ashamed of those who support him because it tells us a lot about their lack of morals, honesty, and integrity. Keating’s mailers are woven tapestries of half-truths, lies, and promises, painting a picture so vivid that even Picasso would envy their creativity.
Winston Churchill: ‘Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.’
Driving around our city today, we were very upset to find that Angelia Pelham, John Keating and the Vote NO PAC thought it was okay for them to just break all the rules. We passed our first fire station at Cotten Gin to see political signs out at 9am, then around 10:30 we passed our second fire station at the Denton Government Center, to see more signs displayed. Why is this a problem? The signs according to the rules should not be displayed until 6pm the night before the poles open.
Pelham, Keating and Bill Woodard who runs the Vote No Pac know the rules and they JUST DON’T CARE! It is an absolute slap in the face and show of blatant disrespect for the rules. It is a behavior that happens over and over because our council members feel entitled and special and as if the rules were made for the peons not the elite.
Angelia’s campaign slogan is “YOU KNOW ME!” Yes, Angelia we do! You expect us to follow the rules, but you are exempt from them. Neither you or your campaign team are naive campaigning and the rules around it, which means there is no excuse.
Keating claims “Promises Made, Promises Kept!” If that is true, then he read the campaign booklet you get when running for office which states the rules. He also signed off on that he understood those rules and agreed to adhere to them. After 13 years on our council and multiple elections if Keating does not know the rules by now, then he is A) an idiot, or B) entitled and thinks he is exempt from the following the rules because he is THE JOHN CHEATING KEATING! Well, you made a promise when you signed off you understood the rules and guess what, YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE, AGAIN!
Now, we would bet money their response would be “oh our sign guy didn’t realize the rules and we are so sorry.” We would believe that but, the sign guy is Fred “The Lawbreaker” Lusk, and he has been doing this for years and been through many elections. HE KNOWS THE RULES INSIDE AND OUT but obviously does not care! The worst part is our council approves of “The Lawbreaker Lusks” ways and methods and use him over and over for the elections.
As we go into tomorrow, the first day of early voting, we hope residents realize that these people who claim credibility, integrity, transparency, and accountability yet they are lying to you right to you. The rules apply to you and me, but let’s be clear they do not apply to Jeff Cheney, Angelia Pelham, and John Keating. They are literally showing you they think they are above the law, so open your eyes and realize enough is enough. It is time to change Frisco!
Tonight, has been a roller derby of twists and turns in the Frisco political world. One political candidate did a post, and then the Mayor of Frisco, who tonight we will call Keg Chugger Cheney, lost his marbles and shared the post to his personal Jeff Cheney and Mayor Jeff Cheney’s Facebook page. In doing so we believe he broke the law by committing slander and defamation of character. To put a cherry on it, the mayor who should be a Statesman for Frisco discussed a former employee’s HR record and was also misleading in doing so.
The post from Mark For Frisco City Council Place 1 said in 2020, that Mark Piland received a Mayor’s Award as the Fire Chief for the City of Frisco. The post went on to say Mayor Cheney said the award was voted on by the entire city council and that it describes “the city employee we think exemplifies that more than anyone” and “there are no two greater people that walked the walk.” Then it asks who could be better to be Frisco City Councilman for Place 1.
Fact 1: The post is accurate! Each year, Mayor Jeff Cheney gives out a Mayor’s Award. He discussed this in a 2020 after-the-council live video that was posted to the City of Frisco’s Facebook page. Cheney stated while it has his name on it, the entire City Council votes on it in regard to who in the city is leading with innovation, thinking about their job differently, and moving their departments forward. Then he says in 2020 the award was given to two people because it has been a challenging year for public safety. Then he mentions how public safety is the number one priority for the city and this year it came to the forefront with COVID-19 so they gave two awards to both Fire Chief Mark Piland and Police Chief Shilson. He is quoted as saying they are a “well-deserved list of accomplishments this year that helped keep our community safe.” Then he let Cheating Keating speak and he said, “he thinks they’ve done a fantastic job through the Covid-19 pandemic and then in their day-to-day work they had to do.” It can also be seen at the 23:00 mark in the October 6, 2020 council meeting. It is item 5 on the Agenda under Reports, and you can watch it for yourself, there is nothing inaccurately quoted in the Mark Piland Post.
After Keg Chugger Cheney shared the post to his Facebook pages Cheney wrote, “There is literally no better post to understand Mark Piland than this one. He was given the option to be terminated or accept a parachute severance package at massive taxpayer expense to retire peacefully because he falsified documents, lied under oath, and was untrusted by city management. Great leaders give credit to others and accept responsibility for their faults. Mark Piland would still be our fire Chief if he took responsibility for his failures. Him and Chief Shilson were awarded the Mayor’s Award on behalf of all of hundreds of local public safety officials and health workers that did amazing work during Covid. To use the efforts of others now as a political move is well on brand for him, disappointing and not representative of the people that lead this community. Please join me in supporting John Keating, Frisco City Council, Place 1. A true humble servant that gives credit to others during our biggest wins and takes responsibility for losses in the face of criticism.”
Well, in Keg Chugger Cheneys own words, there is literally no better post to understand the ARROGANCE OF JEFF CHENEY, than this one. His statements regarding Mark Piland being terminated are false, as we have pulled every EVAL for Former Chief Piland, we have pulled all of his exit paperwork from the city, and we have pulled and reviewed the entire Mayday Report which they claim he falsified. Nowhere in any of the EVAL’s was Piland ever given a negative review. Nowhere does it state that he ever “lied under oath.” Nowhere in all of his exit paperwork from the city does it ever say the word terminated, or that he was offered a parachute severance package.
We dug deeper and went back to the beginning and pulled PIRs from Piland’s’ other jobs and guess what,he has NEVER HAD A BAD EVAL, NEVER BEEN SUSPENDED, NEVER BEEN ACCUSED OF ANTYING ILLEGAL IN A 40+ YEAR CAREER BASED ON WHAT WAS TURNED OVER TO US.That made us curious, how could a man with a stellar career come to Frisco, and all of a sudden after calling out the HR director for falsifying his signature, did he become a horrible employee, violate the law, lie under oath, etc.? Also, if he committed such unlawful acts why would the city even give HIM THE OPTION TO RETIRE PEACEFULLY? Why not JUST FIRE HIM? I would be livid as a taxpayer to find out if someone committed these heinous acts that our city leaders offered him money to go away peacefully.
As for Keg Chugger Cheney’s statement that “Great Leaders give credit to others and accept responsibility for their faults,” is the pot calling the kettle black. Go back to October 6, 2020, and I do believe Fire Chief Mark Piland said this award was about his whole team and not just him and did give credit to the entire FD team. In case you have had too many cocktails Mayor Cheney, it is on tape! Second, you talk about faults, have you taken responsibility for your faults? I can think of a few words here, Keg Party, lying to the Dallas Morning News, real estate agent, and the residents of Frisco about your “exclusive” deals in Fields. What about how you bully people? We have received at least 50 stories from real estate agents where you have used your power, name, and position to bully them or flat-out threaten them.
MAYOR KEG CHUGGER CHENEY – YOU LIED AND COMMITTED SLANDER in your final statement! I watched your speech, over and over. Nowhere in your presentation or the after-the-meeting Facebook post did you say this award was on behalf of all hundreds of local public safety officials and health workers who did amazing work during COVID-19? You talked specifically about their leadership and by the way, both Shilson and Piland stood on that stage and said it was about their whole department. Not you!Your accusation that he used the efforts of others now as a political move describes you and your best friend John Keating. If sharing the fact that you won an award is a political move, then what would you call sharing the fact that you won the 2023 Chamber Executive of The Year across social media… vain or a political move?
Now, let’s look at the man you called “A true humble servant that gives credit to others during our biggest wins and takes responsibility for losses in the face of criticism.” Well at a recent forum, he accused Piland of being fired, and Maury Povich would tell you that is a lie! He also accused Piland of being a cheater, and Maury would tell you that it was a lie. I do believe it was that so-called humble servant Cheating Keating who stepped out on his wife, on a holiday weekend, in a PUBLIC COMMUNITY POOL, where any man, woman, or child could have walked in on them and had sex with a woman served on a Frisco Board, right? Curious, you said leaders accept responsibility, so has John Keating ever apologized to the public for his offensive behavior done in a public pool? Has he ever apologized for his lapse in judgment with the Get Naked photo? Has he ever apologized to the community, whose public pool he got caught in?
I also believe that same humble servant, Cheating Keating has claimed on the campaign trail that he made Frisco the #1 Safest City, #1 Best Place to Live, #1 Best City to Do Business, and the #1 Suburb in North Texas. Didn’t you just publish tonight that “Great Leaders give credit to others and accept responsibility for their faults?” On the campaign trail he has said over and over he is a true leader and that he made Frisco great under his leadership and because of his leadership today, we are all these #1 things. Where was the credit for the hundreds of police and firefighters who made this the safest city in this speech he gives over and over for “POLITICAL PURPOSES?” Maybe that is why the Frisco Firefighters Association and Frisco Police Officers Association endorsed him, OH WAIT, THEY DIDN’T ENDORSE HIM!!! THEY ENDORSED MARK PILAND, the one you claim is so awful.
To be factual, we were the #1 Best Place to Live in 2018 and a lot can change in SIX YEARS. As for #1 Best City to Do Business in Texas, that was awarded to us in 2020 and a lot can change in FOUR YEARS. In his recent mailer that arrived in mailboxes across the city this week, he said he wants to protect our quality of life with more roads, quality infrastructure, and less traffic. He has served this city for 13 years, so why has he not done that the last 13 years and phased in growth better, so we don’t have the problem today? He also said in the same mailer he wants to support our Police and Fire, yet clearly, they don’t feel that support or they would not have endorsed his opponent, right? Lastly, look at his website, he never gives credit to the great team that helped make this city great. All of his statements are I did this, I did that.
Lastly, we have pointed out over and over that the citizens want a voice, you know those who live here and pay tax dollars who are often ignored. They are tired of outside developers owning this city and our council, but John Keating the humble servant disagrees. His website says, “Business leaders who invest in Frisco know they have a voice at city hall with John Keating.” No wonder the developers give him so much money – his vote is for sale. Maybe that is how he could afford a house in The Preserve, Frisco’s most prestigious new neighborhood when his campaign finance reports list him as retired or a house husband.
Keg Chugger Cheney, tonight with your post you crossed a line that we are pretty sure you will get sued for. You also look like a bully, with a bad attitude, stomping his feet and kicking rocks on the playground because you didn’t get your way. Speaking of accountability, did you ever step up and apologize for your laundry list of things like a keg party, selling lots on a secret VIP list stated in a 2019 email, or admit that you have a lot in The Preserve that was gifted to you by your developer buddies? Maybe lay off the late-night vino drinking Mayor!
If you live in Frisco and have not yet heard about the heated debate between the so-called leaders for The City of Frisco and Frisco Firefighters, then you need to come out from under the rock. On the May 4th ballot, we the residents, will see two propositions: Prop A: Civil Service and Prop B: Collective Bargaining and before you vote you need to ask yourself, why would the fire fighters be going for something like this unless they really needed to?
In our previous blog, we told you about “The PAC” formed by active Councilman Bobblehead Bill Woodard, which is being used to disgrace our fire fighters all while they keep a smile and say “we love our first responders.” We also told you how the Frisco Chamber of Commerce used their platform to advocate instead of educate, on behalf of businesses against the fire fighters. Then we told you how city leaders called in their favors with developers who helped the PAC raise over $100,000 which is how the PAC was bought and paid for. All if it could not be shadier!
Now what? Let’s talk about misinformation and how they city plans to use Sheryl Sculley, the former City Manager for the City of San Antonio to scare residents by telling how she successfully fought off the “Association” from “virtually bankrupting the city.” In fact, they are going tell residents she was so successful that she even wrote a book titled “Greedy Bastards” but is that really the truth? Here at whistleblower, we like to dig deeper. We want to introduce you to The Real Sheryl Sculley aka Sherylton.
In an article we found in SA Current, it stated that before arriving in San Antonio, Sculley came from Phoenix, Arizona, where she earned $173,000 per year. While in Phoenix she headed up the effort to expand Phoenix’s convention center in the late 90’s and made some big promises. She stressed the convention center expansion would involve “NO NEW TAXES” and instead could be paid for with existing visitor taxes and a potential $300 million commitment from the state of Arizona.
The article reported that Sculley pitched the expansion herself to the Arizona Legislature in a 2002 presentation that stressed “There is No Status Quo!” At stake were $32 million in annual state tax revenues and 12,000 jobs, which proved to be enough for the state who committed $300 million to the project. Now you can’t have a convention center without a hotel next door. Sculley failed in getting a private developer to build the new hotel, so Phoenix financed it and built it! The article reports that everyone bought into Sculley’s idea the city would be poised to emerge as the next great convention destination. Guess what, that didn’t happen!
The article reports in 2003 that an Earnest & Young study forecasted the new grand center would welcome 375,000 annual convention delegates. Sounds great considering in the past it was around 166,000 in 1996 and 193,000 in 1997. However, at the end of the fiscal year in 2011 the attendees were just about 156,000 and in 2012 about 233,000. With no boom, the new Sheraton hotel the city finananced dubbed the “Sherlyton” by city staffers struggled to pay off its debt and required continuing tax revenue support from the city. In 2017, the City of Phoenix sold off the Sherlyton to a private company and suffered a significant financial loss.
When Sulley became the new City Manager of San Antonio in 2005 it came with a hefty price tag of $265,000 and a large promise to turn San Antonio around. She admitted to inheriting a disorganized mess and in her first year or two she hired a new police chief, a new convention-bureau director, and two deputy city managers. She reshuffled the finance department, had the municipal courts redone, and restructured the management at the convention center and Alamodome. She also overhauled Development Services which had long been the focus of complaints from the local “development” community. By 2016 her base salary was $450,000 and she leveraged a $100,000 bonus making her total compensation $550,000 making her the highest paid city manager in Texas. That is a lot of money for a city whose median household annual income is around $58,829.
SA Current reported at the end of 2006, they were already calling Sculley out for her lack of transparency saying she gives the appearance of citizen participation but it just that appearance. Sound familiar? Sculley proposed the three largest bonds programs in city history in San Antonio totaling over $2 Billion dollars. Under Sculley, the city’s debt burden jumped 78 percent between fiscal years 2005 and 2017, reaching $3 billion. Those borrowings include general obligation bonds, which voters approved, and tax notes and certificates of obligation, for which voters didn’t have a say.
Maybe instead of fighting the Police and Fire Associations for years she should have worked productively with them to fight crime. Did she expect to fight and not have them fight back? In 2018, when Sculley left, several online reports said violent crime was up, calls to 911 were up, and it was reported it would take 341 new officers with no retirements or attrition to be near full staffing.
Sculley announced her retirement in 2018 and within hours San Antonio dropped its lawsuits against the Fire Union according to SA Current. According to media reports, The City of San Antonio has dropped its lawsuit challenging the evergreen clause in the contract of its firefighters’ union, potentially hitting restart for negotiations for a new labor deal. In 2024, the San Antonio Fire Association President said, we are looking forward to city and union leaders working together with a more polite dialogue this time around.” Funny thing, that is exactly what Frisco Firefighters Association Matt Sapp has said, they just want to have a seat at the table and have dialogue.
In the end, the truth is Sculley set the tone for her tenure as City Manager and the associations responded to that tone. Sound familiar? Don’t misunderstand, Sculley did some great things during her tenure in San Antonio to change the city into what is today. We can’t take away her successes but it sure does not mean she didn’t have any failures during the same tenure. She left San Antonio with some positive attributes and like other city has some not-so-great attributes. In the end, Sculley walked away from San Antonio with over $10 million dollars in pay over the years. I guess her salary didn’t hurt the city economics just the needs of the fire fighters and police officers, or at least that is what she wants you to believe. Maybe that is why there is a Facebook page dedicated to her titled Removed City Manager Sheryl Sculley
However, any good left behind does not take away the tone she set with first responders. Remember she sued 5 times and lost 5 times. Think about it, Sculley’s new book is called Greedy Bastards, that alone speaks volumes as to how she sees first responders and public servants. IS THAT WHAT THE CITY OF FRISCO IS PROMOTING HERE? Does the city want us to think our first responders are greedy bastards, I would hope not. While the City of Frisco would like you to believe these propositions would devastate the city, the firefighters are not looking to bankrupt the city, hell they want a paycheck. We have to believe our Firefighters have commonsense, and that means they know you can’t really get a paycheck and benefits from a city with a diluted bank account.
The City of Frisco has set the tone with our Fire and Police Associations, and it is like an abusive relationship. The city has verbally berated them, scolded them, and told them what they don’t deserve, in a nutshell how much of a POS they are. Think of the narrative, just look pretty like a trophy wife, and stand there, don’t talk, or have an opinion. Then we can shout from our pulpit as the city council leaders that we give almost ½ the city budget to public safety so that proves we love our men and woman who serve. Now, please pat us on the back and tell us how amazing we are as a council.
Bobble Head Bill is making the most noise in this, why? He is termed out and cannot run again, so who cares if he burns the house down as he leaves. I truly hope those who are not termed out like Bobble Head Bill, understand that when this is over, you can’t just apologize with a cocktail or some red roses. That will be for Cheney, Meinershagen, Rummel, and the two other folks elected this year to fix. We end this one question for you to answer.
DO YOU THINK OUR PUBLIC SERVANTS / FIRST REPONDERS ARE GREEDY BASTARDS?
Political Affiliation: According to TransparencyUSA.org, since leaving San Antonio, it appears Sculley has become a consultant for Strategic Partnerships and in 2022 she donated $15,000 to Act Blue Texas and Beto O’Rourke.
Ah, the riveting world of campaign finance reports – where every local candidate in Frisco must parade their fiscal acumen before the discerning eyes of the public. It’s like Christmas for political sleuths, unwrapping the financial mysteries behind each contender’s bid for office. Because, let’s be honest, nothing screams “transparency” like the stress-induced wrinkles of trying to get those reports done on time. In Frisco, Campaign Finance Reports must be filed by local municipal politicians or political candidates seeking office and they must be filed with the City Secretary, Kristi Morrow.
We give each candidate the benefit of the doubt and assume from time to time there may be a mistake on the reports. If a candidate finds a report has a mistake they can file to correct the report. A candidate must file using a correction affidavit and make sure the pages of the report being corrected are attached. Easy, Peasy!
January of 2024, we download the semi-annual report or the annual report of unexpended contributions for each candidate for the time of July 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023. We were surprised to see on page 4 of Angelia Pelham’s report she had a donation of $1000 dated 12/26/23 that had the name of the Contributor and the address redacted. You cannot redact the field of the contributor as that is a public record. At the time the report was released, we of course saved it and filed it away with all the others.
On March 7th we noticed Angelia Pelham had filed a Correction/Amendment Affidavit for Candidates with the City Secretary. It noted she neglected to include an In-Kind amount in the total contribution. She attached the updated “totals” sheet, and the update changed her total political contributions from $3,630.00 to $8630.00 which is a difference of $5000. We were curious about what the In-Kind donation was and what it was for. We went back to the website and looked at the original report filed, and the contribution dated 11/1/23 was from Scott Ellis for $5000. The description stated it was for web design and hosting.
As we began to scroll back up through the report, we immediately noticed something was different than the first time we reviewed the report. That item from 12/26/23 reporting a donation of $1000 that had been completely redacted now showed the name of the donor. It was the very own Dono and Angelia Pelham who donated to herself. We thought for a minute, are we crazy we were pretty sure when we looked at this report in January that it was completely redacted. Luckily, we saved the report back in January, and thank goodness it confirmed we were not crazy!
Now is this life shattering or ending – no of course not. But when did Pelham or the city “un-redact” the report? Why did they not file a correction or make a note of the change on the report that the redaction was incorrect and updated? What it does do is build mistrust, because now we have no idea when the redaction was corrected. If we file a PIR to find out, they will probably send it to the attorney general to avoid answering our question.
If someone made a mistake (ok, no problem) but now it feels like they tried to change out the reports and hoped no one would notice the mistake. It feels shady that there would not even be a note that it was incorrectly redacted, and the new one was updated. Sound familiar? It should. Remember Sassy Safranek, the City HR Director, who edited a job description for the Fire Department that ultimately affected the pay of firefighters. You can read all about it in our Twelve Days of Christmas stories.
Why was it a big deal what Sassy Safranek did? She lied when caught back in the day and continues to lie today. She said Piland was aware of the change and that she didn’t feel it was a big deal to remove one word and not get an updated signature from the Chief. Based on emails from a PIR it was clear Piland had no clue the change had been made. The City of Frisco requires each department head to sign off on each job description. Sassy Safranek, THE HR DIRECTOR, knows that. If you change anything on a document that requires a signature, you get A NEW SIGNATURE! Imagine Fire Chief Mark Piland’s surprise when one of his firefighters inquired about the change and that is how he found out about the Sassy “Cover Up!”
Our point, if you upload a report to the public and you need to change something like a redaction there should be a note as to why, when, and who made the changes. It is simply a note in the ledger or the report. Are we surprised the city tried to change out documents and withhold the change from the public? No, it is a standard practice apparently for both internal and external documents.
In our blog Legal Logo Woes, we told you how the city website clearly states you cannot use the City of Frisco logo in any way for campaigning purposes. Multiple residents complained to the city secretary regarding the obvious infractions by the candidates using the city logo while campaigning, we were shocked the response from the city was it is not their problem. Morrow said, the city does not own the logo, BNSF Railway does. She went on to say the license agreement the City of Frisco has does not address the use of the logo by candidates in city or other elections. Then she ended the city does not have any jurisdiction in the matter.
Makes you wonder why if the city has no jurisdiction and the license agreement the city has does not address the use of the logo by candidates, why would they put a rule on their website and in the candidate packs that clearly states the logo is not legally available for your use during the campaign. The city documents and website 1000% imply the use of the city logo is not allowed. If they can’t enforce the rule why have the rule?
We reached out to BNSF Railway for a comment regarding the complaints. On February 6 we received a note back from them that they had forwarded the issue to their legal department to see what the next steps were for them. Then on February 8, we received an email from Kendall Kirkham Sloan, Director of External Communications that said “BNSF does not endorse political candidates. We are working with the city on the use of the logo.”
We decided to check back to see if BNSF Railway, The City of Frisco, or Wes Pierson, the City Manager would make sure his current sitting council members followed the rules. Attending a city event is fine but “the purpose of campaigning” is when you cross into dangerous territory. For example, the Keating For Frisco website is being used FOR CAMPAIGNING and the point of the site is to get him reelected which is why it is on every campaign printed piece of material. “Learn more at Keating For Frisco” or just click the QR code which takes you to his website. Even though we pointed out the RULE VIOLATIONS back in early February, imagine our surprise to learn Keating still has the City Logo in two different places on his website as of today. Just another way Keating is giving the middle finger to the rules that apply while campaigning.
Then we learned about a Private Meet & Greet held by none other than our first family, Jeff and Dana Cheney. The invite states it is a Mix and Mingle Happy Hour, not the same as a Keg Party, for candidates John Keating, Angelia Pelham and the Safety-First Frisco Vote No PAC. To us, this is a campaigning invite since they are using the “Re-Election” logos that belong to the candidates and the logo telling citizens how to vote for propositions. Surely, we will not see the City of Frisco logo here, right? Wrong!
Several pictures have been posted across social media of the event and it is CLEAR, Angelia Pelham is breaking the rules of the use of the city logo while campaigning. She is wearing her City Council Member Badge with the city logo. Now many would say this is no big deal, but it is because if anyone knows ‘THE RULES’ it is our current city council members who have already been through a campaign in the past. We can prove Angelia knows the rules, just look at previous events like the Frisco Chamber Forum or SLAN Forum, she is wearing her Re-Elect Angelia Pelham badge.
We plan to reach out to BNSF Railway again because their last email to us said they were working with the city regarding the proper use of the logo, so either A) they endorse the candidates or B) they don’t, and they make them stop using a trademark logo that the city does not own while campaigning. It is simple folks, follow the rules, not sometimes, but all the time.
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