Everyone knows the saying, “Behind every successful man is a woman.” I searched for who originated this quote but that wasn’t too easy to find. I guess I should have asked my wife to hunt for it. What I could find is, it seems the expression originated in the early 1900s, implying, of course, that our wives or mothers were the major contributor to most of our success. Some argue that Groucho Marx’ came up with the quote originally. I joke that I prefer Jim Carrey’s quote, “Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.” Because, in my case, for every great idea I think I have, it’s really my wife that actually makes the idea come to life.
Now, most of you already know about my concerns about Fehmi Karahan and The Karahan Companies and his dealings in Frisco. They are completely out of control with Mayor Cheney doing his best to keep the train from jumping the tracks. We recently visited The Karahan Companies’ website to study some of his team players wondering if we could connect some dots. Well, I didn’t need my wife’s help on this one.
Sure enough, behind this man, is one great woman, the Company’s General Manager, Lori Decker. It says right there, she “has over 20 years in commercial real estate legal administration, managing client activities at the law firm of Grogan and Brawner, P.C. for 13 years.”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Why should we take notice of this? Well, R.J. Grogan, Jr. and Jeff Brawner have a firm in Dallas, off of Fairmount St., in the same building as GFF Architects who interestingly enough designed Cobb Farm. What a small world. Why we even take notice of these partners is the number of years that they have been donating to the various campaigns of the Frisco City Council. If you need to see more detail on this check out our story Dark Money
But, it doesn’t stop there. You guessed it, they are The Karahan Companies’ counsel too.
If that wasn’t one dot too many already, we continue to read on and learn from Decker’s bio, she previously worked for Abernathy, Roeder, Boyd and Joplin back in 2011. Really? For those that may not know, Richard Abernathy is the City of Frisco’s leading attorney. Well, it must be nice to know people.
Are we saying that Lori Decker is guilty of anything? Not at all! We are actually suggesting that perhaps she is the greatness that is behind all of these successful men. And, if so, she needs to ask for a really big pay raise!
Growing up we always had our hands in dirt or soil when helping dad with the Vineyards. I always complained and my Nona (grandma) would always say “oh, a little dirt never hurt anyone.” My dad would say “to most people dirt is just dirt, but to a farmer well that dirt is called potential.” I am sure these quotes belong to someone smarter than my dad and Nona but it did make me think, have you ever asked yourself, how much is the dirt below my feet worth? To an investor or developer dirt is like gold and depending on where it is located it can be worth a lot of money. Bill Gates began buying up land and farm operations years ago and while he leaves the farming to the professionals he understands land = asset appreciation. The dirt below the 2500 acres that PGA, Fields, and The Link is worth millions if not billions.
Developers and investors are betting heavily on Frisco which is great! With Mayor Cheney being so involved and so in love with the project I just assumed he would move out there to the greatest development of all time. Then at the debate he said he owns two pieces of property his personal home and his rental home (previous home). He said he does not own or have interest in any other land in Frisco. We were talking to a friend of ours who procured a lot in The Preserve, and we saw a picture he had taken of the builder’s map with written notes, and we thought, hmmm this looks interesting. Some realtor friends had said there was a rumor Jeff Cheney was given a lot or gifted a lot in The Preserve by the developer, but it was just a rumor.
Well by the looks of the picture Cheney and Keating have a lot under “Developer Hold” and it over looks …you guessed it…the 8th hole! It appears there is a “Friend & Family” row after all. I would love to hear from the Mayor what he plans to do with that lot next to his best friend Keating. Interestingly Cheney lives next door to Keating now in another community so I guess they are moving on up to the north side together like George & Weezy Jefferson. Cheney has to take his Florence with him which is Keating of course because you can’t leave Florence behind. Country singers Jordan Davis or Luke Bryan already said in their song “you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy dirt.” But did they buy it? I feel like breaking out in song since I don’t have any drums, and sing like Garth Brooks, ”Thunder rolls, And the lightnin’ strikes.”
In the last week we have been sent a treasure trove of information from citizens who are “spilling the tea” and telling us they are tired of the Shady Shit happening all around Frisco. The note with this little tidbit read “my discussion with a builder rep out at The Preserve.” The builder rep talks about how some lots were held back then the rest of the lots were distributed to the builders which is what he has to sell. The builder rep says that the lots on the Golf Ridge and the Hilltop were part of a VIP Program. Upon more questions the builder rep says the VIP program was put on Jeff and the owner of the development. He says some of those lots still remain for example “JEFF HAS A LOT AND THE DEVELOPER THEMSELVES HAVE SOME LOTS.” He goes on to say “kind of like hold this lot for me because my family may want to build on it, maybe hold for a client.” Then the rep notes the development is owned by multiple billionaire families from Dallas and they reserve the right to hold some of those back, so in summation these will be held but they may fall out so stay close to the builders.”
Now we are pretty sure that Mayor Cheney said at every single debate or forum that he owns two pieces of property his personal home and one rental property. That appears to be true by tax records but if they are holding a lot for him isn’t that just semantics and slightly dishonest if he plans to build a personal home there next to his new friends the “BILLIONAIRE” families from Dallas.
Now you may ask who our source and we will just say another Frisco Whistle Blower! Thanks for tea friend! We have sent the rest on to a source in the local tv news since we learned Mitchel at the DMN omitted this from his Cheney story.
Ah! Spring! Spring is the most popular of the four seasons for obvious reasons. It means warmer weather, more hours in the day, and more sunshine. The buds are starting to show, early flowers are beginning to bloom, and the birds are singing a new tune. Spring is a sign of new beginnings, it symbolizes life and how good always triumphs over evil, light over darkness, and life over death. Hibernation has ended! It seems that many people in Frisco are starting to open their eyes, and many are expressing their concerns for the first time over what appears to be some questionable negotiations, developments, and deals throughout the years. The spring awakening always seems to be heightened when an election is on the horizon.
One of the most important aspects of Spring is baseball otherwise referred to as America’s National Pastime. Dr. Gerald Early, a Washington University Professor once said, “There are three things that America will be known for 2000 years from now: the Constitution, jazz music, and baseball. They’re the three most beautifully designed things this culture ever produced.” From an immigrant’s perspective, he is right on point. I remember the first game I went to after moving to America. The sound from the crack of the bat, watching a player slide into home, eating a famous hotdog and relish, and trying to catch the foul balls that came our way. Back in the day if you caught one of those balls you could turn them in for a ten-cent snow cone.
In 1958, Damn Yankees hit the widescreen and it is one of the best musical sport romantic comedy films of its time. It was about a frustrated fan of the hopeless Washington Senators who made a pack with the Devil to help the baseball team win the league pennant. One of the most famous quotes from the movie was “One long ball hitter, that’s what we need! Honest to God, I’d sell my soul for one long ball hitter!” Mmh? Something about this story is hitting close to home. Has someone in Frisco soul their soul to the devil?
Frisco has gone through many changes over the years and with each one a little bit of Frisco’s history seems to be erased. The most obvious was in 2020 when the council considered renaming Rockhill Parkway. Established in 1854, Rock Hill was one of the oldest communities in Collin County and earned its name from the white rock escarpment on which it was built. By 1898, it had a thriving community featuring two schools, four churches a grist mill, a cotton gin, a blacksmith, a drugstore and a grocery store. In 1902, St. Louis and San Francisco railroad bypassed the town and within months most of the businesses, townspeople and churches had relocated. By the mid-1930s, only one African American Baptist church remained. In the 1960s the black school closed and in 1973 the general store was razed leaving Rock Hill and its rich history a distant memory to many. One of the last connections to its history was the street named Rockhill Parkway.
On June 23, 2020, a letter was sent to residents informing them of the road name change and they could respond with any input by July 14, 2020. Renaming Rockhill Parkway to PGA Parkway hit a nerve with many locals who felt like the council was erasing what little history was left of the old town. While doing research we came across an article in the Frisco Enterprise that reported in July 2020 that Assistant City Manager Ben Brezina acknowledged the name change had been a topic of conversation for at least 8 to 10 months. John Lettellier of Development Services for Frisco said moving forward with the proposal happened in just the last 6 to 8 weeks. The article also noted The Heritage Association of Frisco learned about the proposed change by way of a community member who received the notice and, they had never been approached by the city for its historical background. Lastly the most interesting thing in the article was a statement posted on the Facebook page by then councilman Tim Nelson that the item was proposed by a member of the council and consensus was to move forward. Hmmm… I wonder who proposed the name change?
Here is where it gets interesting, in our research we found that many who supported the name change were big businesses with big money and investments in Frisco:
Kyle Wilks – President of Wilks Development (who is behind Firefly Park in Frisco)
Edmund Garahan – CEO of Carbon Companies (building Luxury hotel near PGA)
Triad Frisco Partners (developer of 1310 urban living units, 8 retail buildings, 1 convenience store with gas pumps, 5 parking garages on the southwest corner of Dallas Parkway and Rockhill Parkway)
David Fogel – Manager of Rockhill Legacy (Development at Rockhill & Legacy)
Blake Nelson – Managing Partner (7-Eleven located Rockhill Parkway & Preston)
Darrell Crall – COO of PGA (letter specifically notes they feel strongly there is a long-term value to the PGA branded and the roadway would showcase to millions the PGA Frisco partnership and evolution of Frisco)
Michael Smith – TRT Holdings, Inc. (Part of Omni Stillwater Woods Golf Resort)
Fehmi Karahan – Fields Development (July 17, 2020 letter writes that the city has made an extraordinary financial commitment to the new PGA project and should use all available means to support the success of that project. We strongly urge you and the city council to support the full renaming of Rockhill from Teel to Coit)
Clay Roby – PGA Frisco / Stillwater Capital / The Link (the renaming will further establish Frisco as Sports City USA and appropriately showcase the HQ of the PGA of America)
On Aug 4, 2020, citizens made their way to the podium for Citizens Input to against the change. If you watch the meeting, the mayor remarked that the city of Frisco has always made it a commitment to preserving our history and they even invested 3 to 5 million into the Heritage Museum. He was on city council in 2009 when the road was changed to Rockhill Parkway but he doesn’t remember it and until a few months ago he does not believe many people even knew the story of why it was named Rockhill. He believes Prosper ISD naming the their new high school in Frisco city limits Rock Hill Highschool is a great way to remember the community of Rock Hill. Sadly, he seems to criticize the volunteers at the Heritage Museum for not being accurate on the history and calling the exhibits dated and we need to do better there telling our story. He noted that the PGA and Fields wants to write their own story and they have been good partners to the community. Councilman Woodard suggests renaming Northeast Park to Rock Hill Park he is willing to help get that done.
Today the only reminder that Rock Hill once existed is a historical marker located on the northeast corner of PGA Parkway and Preston Street. The name change passed to PGA Parkway but the question is did it ever have a chance to be kept Rock Hill Parkway? Almost every developer who wrote in support of the name change donated to the campaigns of several sitting on our council. When Fehmi Karahan the King of Fields writes that the city should use all available means to support the success of that project and that he urges the city council to support the full renaming of Rockhill from Teel to Coit the city is going to do just that. Cheney accepted over $30k in January 2020 from the big names on these letterheads and he needs that money to pay back his $99,000 personal loan that he took out for campaigning because as he said at the recent debate he is not an independently wealthy man. Has Bill Woodard followed through on working on the renaming of Northeast Park? Not from what we can see. When Universal was recently in front of the council we heard each of them say that they listen to the residents and this is just another example where big money, big investments, and big companies take priority over residents. Words can come from one’s mouth but actions are what matter. That night a man said the citizens of Frisco are being exploited for money and by its actions that is the way it looks. It’s time to bring change to Frisco in this upcoming election and the others in the future. Maybe those sitting on the lofty hill have become too comfortable. I ask you, has someone perhaps sold his soul? I am reminded of the song “Whatever Lola Wants.” I would have to change the words up a bit and sing,
Verse 1
Whatever Fehmi wants, Fehmi get
Whatever the PGA Frisco wants, the PGA Frisco gets
(Bridge)
I always get what I aim for
And your heart and soul is what I came for
Verse 2
Whatever Cheney wants, Cheney gets
Whatever the developers who come here want, the developers gets
Since childhood, I have loved a movie night with the family. My dad would take me to the corner store where he always got my mom a Bit-O-Honey and then he would look at me and say in his deep voice, kid you can pick a sweet treat too. I am sure I smiled ear to ear the whole way home looking out the window of the old truck with my $100,000 candy bar in my hand. Today the candy bar is called 100 Grand and I still pick one up every Friday with a quick pick lotto. In the movie Other People’s Money (1991), Lawrence Garfield said, “I love money more than the things it can buy…but what I love more than money is other people’s money.”
Our lives center around other people’s money, and we don’t even realize it. The bank owns the home until you make the last payment. The car belongs to the lender until you make the last payment. The new furniture you bought at Nebraska Furniture Mart that is financed over 24 months is not yours until the last payment. By now you see the connection, until we make the last payment the thing we love is not really ours. Politicians LOVE other people’s money because it helps pay for costly campaigns. The more campaign contributions they bring in, the less they will have to take out of their own pockets or through a loan. Political contributions are a time-honored tradition, and some would say “The Cost of Doing Business.”
In 2019, Sharon Grigsby with the Dallas Morning News did an article about Phillip Michael Carter, who was accused of taking advantage of elderly investors for million dollars, and the relationship he had with both Cheney and Keating’s campaign. Cheney received $15,000 and Keating received $5000 from Carter, both said they were returning the donations which was the right thing to do. She interviewed Cheney for about 45 minutes and Cheney told her he met Carter sometime after he became Mayor in 2017 and Carter later visited his office at City Hall about a sign-ordinance provision that was causing him difficulties at his Preston Road commercial property. Cheney said it was not unusual and most developers reach out to the mayor and ask for help. Cheney confirmed he helped resolve the issue but was steadfast that the 2018 campaign contribution was not tied to that case and said, “there was never a this for that.”
Cheney also told Grigsby that his “reputation is everything to me.” He regrets not looking deeper into the allegations but he is “so busy every single day, from sunup to sundown to the weekends.” The article goes on to say Cheney first learned of Carter’s state charges and arrest relating to fraud charges on November 14, 2018. He immediately linked the $5000 donation from Carter but said he had completely forgotten about the entire case until he began reviewing his campaign finance reports in anticipation of his interview with Grigsby. He admitted in the interview much of what Grigsby was laying out in regard to charges was news to him. The article was riveting but it never discussed the timeline between his donations and when the “issue” got fixed so we did some research.
May 24, 2018: Cheney $10,000 by Carter Family Office LLC (Phillip Carter)
October 10, 2018: Cheney $5,000 by North Forty Development (Phillip Carter)
October 15, 2018: Keating $5000 by Texas Cash Cow (Phillip Carter)
October 23, 2018: P&Z holds a public hearing for Sign Variance: Preston Wade Crossing by Frisco Wade Crossing Development Partners, LLC (Phillip Carter)
**Interesting fact the P&Z Commission in 2018 was led by Robert Cox who was appointed to the Commission in April 2016 with the first motion by John Keating and second by then councilman Jeff Cheney.
January 2019: SEC Files Charges against Phillip Carter for a multi-million dollar fraud scheme that took place from May 2015 to Feb 2017 and totaled around $45 million dollars and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
In 2019, Frisco’s population according to the US Census was about 200,907 people. It is hard to believe that someone who is the mayor of a booming and bustling town and also an extremely successful businessman could just “forget” about a fraud case that involved a real estate developer and millions of dollars. At the time it was plastered in local DFW papers and the top story on most local news stations. To be fair, Cheney and Keating accepted a campaign donation and nothing illegal occurred. They were never named in allegations that involved Phillip Carter and both returned the donations. Again, this is just another situation that “doesn’t look good” and could lead many to believe that something improper was happening, even if it wasn’t. That old perception is reality for many folks is a stinker.
Another thing we learned from Grigsby’s March 2019 DMN article was Cheney’s personal policy of not accepting more than $10,000 from a single donor when it comes to campaign contributions. I am not sure when that became his policy because he accepted $20,000 in 2017 plus $6000 in 2020 from Ali Kahla who we believe was a representative for IGO-USA, The Gate developer. I guess he also must have been ridiculously busy and forgot his personal policy almost 9 months after his interview with Grigsby and the article because in 2020 he accepted $15,000 from Fehmi Karahan (Fields). Again, we want to say there is nothing illegal about the donations (we don’t want to be sued) other than they seem to break his personal policy. I guess it is good to have a flexible policy that benefits you when needed.
Philip Anthony Hopkins who played Odin in the movie Thor said, “Even with two eyes, you can only see half of the picture.” If that is true, then we should all go to the Ophthalmologist to get our eyes checked out. The problem is repetition, the action of repeating something that you have already done or the recurrence of an action or event. The repetition of “it just looks bad” starts to become a theme and that can have a detrimental impact on the citizen’s perception of you and the city. The conversation becomes about the lack of trust and confidence in our city, the city council members, and our mayor.
Dark Money is a powerful documentary by Kimberley Reed about a dangerously corrupt campaign finance system that has shifted the power in politics from the people to pay-to-play corporations at the state and federal politicians. In Texas, Title 15 of the election code regulates political funds and campaigns. It was adopted by the Texas Ethics Commission and applies to candidates and officeholders in local municipalities across our state. In Texas, campaign finance reports are accessible to the public and show how much money is coming into a campaign and how much is being spent. The Texas Tribune said it best, the disclosure of the reports makes it hard to hide some kind of corrupt bargain. An individual can make a donation to a campaign, but a corporation is prohibited. The City of Frisco has campaign finance reports available online at https://www.friscotexas.gov/634/Campaign-Finance-Reports for each candidate or office holder present or past. You can also see mayor and council reimbursement reports.
I was interested to see if any individuals associated with the PGA, The Link, or Fields projects donated to any of our current sitting city council members. While doing the research it has hard to be sure a specific individual is connected to a specific project but my wife and I did our best to try and piece it together. We listed it by date, candidate, amount, the person who donated & possible association up through the year-end of 2021. The donation date, dollar amount, and donor name came directly from the council member’s campaign finance reports. The “possible association” to the project is based on what we could find from news articles, websites, city council meetings, and online research.
3/29/17 Cheney $2000 from John Wagner (Republic Property Group) – Fields
3/29/17 Cheney $1000 from John Wagner (Republic Property Group) – Fields
3/29/17 Cheney $2000 from Anthony Ruggeri (Republic Property Group) – Fields
December 4, 2018 – City Council Approves PGA
1/14/19 Woodard $750 from Chris Kleinert (Hunt Corp)
1/14/19 Woodard $750 from Michael Sinacola (Mario Sinacola & Sons – Excavating)
1/14/19 Woodard $500 from Jeff Brawner (Grogan & Brawner PC) Fields Karahan Atty
7/28/21 Woodard $500 from Jeff Brawner (Grogan & Brawner) Fields Attorneys
7/30/21 Woodard $2000 from Philip Rose (CrossTie Capital) Fields Investor
8/1/21 Woodard $1500 from Fehmi Karahan (Karahan Co) Fields
8/6/21 Woodard $1000 from Colin Fitzgibbons (Hunt Corp) Landowner
What did we learn as we followed the yellow brick road? First, we looked for donations that occurred within a few months of a vote. For example, Woodard received almost $4500 dollars in campaign contributions from individuals with connections to these projects in January 2019. That was just one month after the city council approved the PGA. While it doesn’t look good to get donations so close to a vote it could be justified as he was running for re-election in the May 2019 general election.
The same could be said for Mayor Cheney who in December 2020 received $5000 from Robert Elliott of Stillwater Capital and then in January 2020 received $30,000 + in campaign contributions from individuals associated with these projects. Most of the donations occurred between 1/27/20 to 1/31/20. The largest donor was Fehmi Karahan with $15,000. Then the city council approved the Fields project in March 2020. Cheney did run for re-election in 2020 unopposed so the public could justify the contributions. In general, it is not a good look but that will be up to the public to decide.
Another important “hot” race in 2020 was between Robert Cox, Dan Stricklin, and Laura Rummel. With them being all new candidates, why was this important? Robert Cox was Chairman of the Planning & Zoning Commission for the City of Frisco in 2020. While he did not vote on the decision he did oversee the committee which approved the Fields project on February 25, 2020. After the vote, he received about $45,000 in campaign contributions before the November 2020 election. The general public has to determine if it looks bad or is justifiable since he was running for council.
Keating & Livingston also has the same dilemma. From the end of March 2021 to July 2021 John Keating received around $14000 from individuals associated with these developments. The vote for the Link was expected to be in April 2021 but it was held over until May 2021. One would say the timing does not look good for Keating, but he was running in the May 2021 General Election. Livingston received around $6000 in September 2019 which was six months after a vote and 6 months before the next vote. No votes occurred in the immediate proximity to the timing of his donations which bodes well for him.
In a previous blog, I wrote “Pretend for a moment, everything is above board, and there is no shady shit happening but there is an appearance of wrongdoing, that appearance is just as important as reality in the minds of the public, citizens, and voters.” Frisco residents are calling for transparency and that is not an unreasonable request of those “WE” elect to office. Council members push their own personal agenda, and it is time they listen to what “WE” the citizens want. I learned that looking at campaign donations can show who is invested in certain candidates. Donations are not a sign of any wrongdoing or illegal activity, but they can create doubt or a perceived conflict of interest. It is a fine line between a simple campaign donation and a pay-to-play scheme or dark money. Matlock would say to look at it from another angle. Pretend a project is not popular with residents so they speak out against it and the council votes to pass the project. Several months later we find out that the candidate had accepted thousands of dollars from individuals involved in said project, would you believe the candidate voted for it because that is what was best for the city and residents or because they got paid? Residents should call for an end to the shady shit and ask the City of Frisco to adopt a similar policy to the City of Plano which states a campaign contribution of more than $1,000 to any city council member(s) shall create a conflict of interest based on an appearance of impropriety. Problem Solved and peace of mind for everyone!
I came down here in 1988 to interview with TI in Lewisville. While going down 121 every so often I…
there are several massage "parlors" behind LaHacienda that are foreign run..very questionable activities..one parks a junk car on the street…
there are several massage "parlors" behind LaHacienda that are foreign run..very questionable activities..one parks a junk car on the street…
Thank you for the correction.
Minor correction, Aprils was across Preston from LaHacienda Ranch about where the law offices are today. Keep up the good…