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!
Whistleblowers come in many forms. If we had to describe ours we would say they are like Twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. Recently one of our six geese-a-laying tipped us off to another high-ranking Frisco FD fire fighter who gave notice to retire.
Jeromy Porter is a 27-year fire service veteran. Most recently he served as Deputy Chief with the Frisco Fire Department. In 1996, Porter joined the Lake Cities Fire Department where he spent most of his years and climbed the rank to Deputy Chief. We asked ourselves why would a man with man years left retire now? Then we saw an announcement in Star Local Media that Jeromy Porter was now the Assistant Fire Chief for The Little Elm Fire Department. That made us ask, why would a man retire then go another city? We wanted to know if he did an exit interview so asked some insiders at city hall who told us yes, he did. We filed a PIR with the city to obtain those records and when we received them, well we were not disappointed.
We received a copy of the City Manager, Wes Pierson’s handwritten notes from the exit interview. At the very top it is dated 9/27 and has his name and initials next to it. Wes writes JP doesn’t want to leave but his relationship with Fire Chief, Lee Glover is unsustainable. Then we note 3 bullet points down the page.
The first point is titled Job Description Issue (preferred vs required). Pierson notes Porter said the job descriptions were changed without approval. On the side Pierson writes When, How and Why and we are guessing those were his internal questions or notes to himself.
We had heard rumors that some shady stuff was happening in HR but we still were perplexed by Porters comments. We went back to some of those who had reached out to us earlier from inside the city to ask more specific questions and the responses were eye opening. It started us on a new quest of digging.
The second point is titled Lee Glover. Pierson writes that for over 9 years Lee Glover has constantly insulted him, belittled him, made jokes on his height. It also goes on to say Glover yelled and cussed at staff and that he would flex. We asked an insider what “Flex” might mean she told us that Glover would Flex like he was going to shove or hit someone to intimidate them. Pierson notes that Porter was concerned about leaving because Glover may retaliate and go after his son who is a 3 Year Firefighter with the City of Frisco.
Are we surprised by Porters claims? No! In a previous blog we told you about the City of Frisco, Fire Department Employee Climate Survey done in the fall of 2011. It noted in the survey that this was the FOURTH one done over the PAST 10 YEARS. Why would a city need to do so many climate surveys? The firefighters felt that unless Chief Mack Borchardt and his entire Senior Staff, which included (drum roll) Lee Glover were replaced with someone from the outside, there was no way to correct the issues. The report said from the top down they ruled with things like a temper, iron fist, and threats. In 2023, a recent survey was done by the Fire Fighters Association and over 200 fire fighters gave Glove a vote of no confidence, so not much has changed since 2011.
The third point only confirmed what we already reported that our new Fire Chief, Lee Glover, has an alcohol problem. Pierson writes 3. Drinking (only while traveling). He writes JP claims that Vetterick, Owen and others felt peer pressure to stay and “close the bar.” Based on the notes we are only assuming that Porter may have told then Fire Chief, Mark Piland about the incident because in Pierson’s notes it reads Piland (response). Then there is a star symbol and a note it last happened at inspection of tiller and names the 3 fire fighters. It is hard to read Pierson’s writing, but it looks like Gilliam, Odum and Dixon.
Here is what we find interesting about Porters exit interview with Pierson and his personal notes. When it comes to point 3, we know of a July 2022 complaint about Lee Glover on a “travel trip” to inspect fire trucks and the names of those involved are different that those written in the exit interview notes. So, it appears when we wrote about Groggy Lee Glovers behavior in a previous blog, we weren’t wrong! It is called a pattern of behavior.
In closing, we believe Jeromy Porter and that he is telling the truth in his comments. He is leaving and has no reason to lie and he left on a professional level. We sent an email to Porter however we have had no reply to our inquiry. What we are curious about is what did the City Manager, Wes Pierson do after this interview. Did he file the notes and act as if these issues don’t possibly exist? Did he start asking questions?
Stay Tuned to learn about Sassy Lauren Safraneks acts of possible Malfeasance!
When you say the 12 days of Christmas people immediately think of the song, but did you know there really is a period called the 12 Days of Christmas? According to vox.com The 12 days of Christmas is the period in Christian theology that marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men. It begins on December 25 and runs through January 6, also known as Three Kings Day. With the holidays around the corner, we thought we would share that little bit of info for fun.
Now we need to get back to ‘The 12 Days of MALFEASANCE!’ The Oxford Dictionary defines malfeasance as wrongdoing, especially by a public official. We dug a little further to see if there was more legal definition and we found the website for Cornell University, Legal Information Institute. Malfeasance is intentional conduct that is wrongful or unlawful, especially by officials or public employees. Regardless of how you define it, the word should not be thrown around loosely as it can easily destroy one’s reputation. We decided to write a song…
On the first day of Christmas
Our “Whistleblower” gave to thee
Notes from a recent FD employee exit interview.
On the second day of Christmas
The exit interview notes gave to thee
A lead that someone in HR forged documents and did not obtain updated new signatures.
On the third day of Christmas
The exit interview notes gave to thee
More tea on Mr. Lee…. Fire Chief, Lee Glover that is.
On the fourth day of Christmas
A PIR gave to thee
Copy of an HR hotline complaint regarding falsification of contracts, reports, or records.
On the fifth day of Christmas
A PIR gave to thee
A copy of the full Mayday Report.
On the sixth day of Christmas
A PIR gave to thee
A reply of no responsive records to our inquiry into a complaint against Fire Chief, Lee Glover
but wait, hold tight …let’s see.
On the seventh day of Christmas
A second filed PIR into the complaint gave to thee
The records we requested after we gave them one more chance to come clean.
On the eighth day of Christmas
The trail of details gave to thee
Malfeasance committed by public employees and officials throughout the city!
Shout, Shout, let it all out. These are things I can do without
Come on, I’m talking to you …. Come on
Shout, Shout, Let it all out
If the words sound familiar but you have not yet figured it out yet, then let me help you. In 1984, Tears for Fears released their second album. Shout was a song on the album, but it did not hit the Billboard Top 100 until August of 1985. Today it remains one of their most recognizable songs. It was rumored the song was about pain, but the truth is it was a call to action, a rebellion against the established norms of the times, a call to be different.
Frisco has always prided itself on doing things better “than other cities” along with being different and being ground breakers. Being different is “The Frisco Way!” In Frisco our leaders believe we must build the best, develop the best, and offer the best services to our citizens as a standout community. With development and construction in full gear over the last 10 years you can imagine things happened along the way that helped carve out better practices and procedures for the city.
An example of that is back in February of 2018 when Francisco Palmas pant leg was caught in a trencher causing him to be dangled upside down at a local commercial construction site. The result was it nearly severed his leg and you might think he died. Frisco Firefighters reached the victim in just under five minutes, but they couldn’t free him which meant his leg would need to be amputated right there amid the dust, dirt and rocks. (Photo from Frisco Lifestyle – The Edge of Chaos)
According to a Dallas Morning News article, Frisco Deputy Fire Chief, Scott Vetterick said that the department had already started putting a plan in place for this under then Fire Chief, Mark Piland. Vetterick knew with all the development and construction, it was not about if something would happen but rather when it would happen and that made it a priority to have a plan in place. On the way to the scene, Frisco FD reached out to Dr. Gamber, an emergency room doctor at Medical City Plano. Gamber summoned trauma surgeon Al West who would arrive via a helicopter 41 minutes later with his small black medical kit and blood.
While Dr. West performed the amputation just above the right knee, Frisco Firefighters had to hold Palma’s body so he would not fall and proceeded to give him blood replacement. Along with the blood replacement they administered medications, fluids and monitored Palmas’ vital signs along with watching his airway. At the same time other teams worked to disassemble the machine. Palma survived because of the fast actions of the Frisco FD, Trauma Surgeon Al West and the replacement blood brought in that day. At the time there was a 75% chance that with a prosthetic he would walk again one day. Most importantly this man lived to see his kids grow up. In a Frisco Lifestyle article, Vetterick shares, “We had a lot of people working backchannels in order to make it happen that day. I was calling Medical City Plano’s radio room, Assistant Chief Kramer was calling Dr. Gamber, the battalion chief was coordinating the actual rescue and the disassembly of the machine, and then our medics were immediately tending to the patient.”
Deputy Chief Vetterick said at the time he believed that the response protocol put in place is the perfect example of collaborative efforts that help save lives. His hope was it would benefit more people and save more lives as Frisco continued to grow.
The official announcement of the blood replacement being carried on board with the Squad teams came in December of 2018 in a Frisco Fire Department press release. Frisco Fire Chief Mark Piland said, “Frisco Firefighters are committed to providing the highest level of care possible. This program is definitely a team effort, and I would like to thank Dr. Gamber and Medical City Plano for the hard work and assistance to get this program started.”
Dr. Mark Gamber, Frisco Fire Departments Medical Director said, “Prior to today, patients who needed blood were completely dependent on how fast we could get them to a hospital. Now, with early transfusion for severe blood loss, Frisco Fire will give critically ill patients a better chance of survival.”
The news of the new program went far and wide across the state and it was believed that it showed innovation and how Frisco was to lead the way with cutting edge services that help serve the citizens of Frisco.
What is Squad? Generally, the Squad responds to all high acuity EMS calls, and it also responds to all structure fires in a city. It is a 2-person group whose capabilities are like no other unit in the department. If you have a need for the most advanced or technical medical procedures in the field they are the team you want at your front door. For example, Squad assisted doctors with Palma’s amputation, they can give blood transfusions to trapped victims, and they perform out of the box lifesaving methods during emergency medical situations. It is the definition of the city’s motto Progress In Motion.
Safety, education, and training were a big push by Piland who lead the department at the time. It probably came from his experience serving with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a Task Force Leader with Virginia Task Force 2 a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Team whose job was to provide search and rescue for victims of disaster. Shortly after Piland became Chief in 2013 he implemented the Safety Officer Program that focused on the health and wellness of the fire fighters. The Captain of Safety oversaw all fire fighter injuries, the safety on scene at calls, structural concerns during fires, identified concerns such as pools that could affect how they fight a fire and more. In 2016, a request was made for two Fire Safety Incident Officers in the city’s annual budget. The goal was to implement two full-time shift personnel to staff the positions around the clock. The program made overall safety a top priority.
Fast forward to today, Frisco is a city of 225,000+ people and we have a New Fire Chief, Lee Glover. Programs like those mentioned above have major implications in saving lives. On October 27, 2023, the Frisco Fire Department released a video about the history of the program in a series called Frisco Fire Facts which was also share to the city Facebook page yesterday. It starts with Deputy Fire Chief Jake Owen of the Frisco Fire Department talking about how the program got started in 2018. It discusses the highlights of the Squad Program and the onboarding of blood replacement.
Ready for the WHOPPER of TEA? It was confirmed to us last week in an off-the-record conversation with a city employee at city hall, that FIRE CHIEF GROGGY LEE GLOVER announced the END OF THE SQUAD PROGRAM! Wait…What? It was also announced that the Safety Program was ending. People are being reassigned to drive Battalion Chiefs! Firefighters will be reassigned most likely depending on staff levels. What will be the result of losing the Squad Program, it will create the loss of two functioning paramedics for high priority EMS calls and a loss of two tactical level firefighters on structure fires. As for the Safety Program what does that mean for the safety of our firefighters? Should we be surprised, I mean the decision to name Groggy Glover the new Fire Chief was not supported by the ranks within the department.
Glover was not kidding when he said in June of 2023, “We’re going to continue to do what we’ve been doing since the day I WALKED INTO THIS FIRE DEPARTMENT.” He DISMANTLED a CRITICAL LIFE SAVING program that was highly regarded, and we are curious why? Is it because that is how modern-day fire departments operate which he probably does not understand since it doesn’t fit the antiquated days of his upbringing in the department. Did he not like the programs simply because they were instituted under the previous Fire Chief, Mark Piland?
According to yesforfrisco.org in the recent MAY 2023 BOND ELECTION – Proposition A, the city asked citizens to approve the following equipment & apparatus items: Vehicles to replace with proposed bond package: 2 Squads, 4 Engines, 8 Medics, 1 Truck, and 1 Hazmat. WHY DID THE CITY ASK CITIZENS TO PAY FOR 2 SQUAD REPLACEMENTS? With all the development of the PGA which will bring golf celebrities from around the world and a new theme park for kids would you end lifesaving programs that protect citizens, visitors, and firefighters? What about citizens of Frisco Lakes? Did the council who rely on their votes to get elected ask Frisco Lakes residents how they feel about getting rid of a blood replacement program that could save their lives? With the traffic getting worse and horrific car accidents happening more often, did anyone think about how the blood replacement program could save the lives of those in the accidents. I mean those are citizens or visitors who spend tax dollars in our city? No – they just want to build and build and claim to be about exceptional service.
On the front page, of the Frisco Fire Department the Mission Statement reads: Committed to your Health and Safety through Exceptional Service. Right under that it reads, “Public safety is among the highest priorities for city leaders, past and present.” Yeah we have heard that repeated over from city leaders. Now act like it!
We just keep asking why, why would Glover think these are good decisions? Based on the 2011/12 Climate Survey it said in order for the issues in the department to be resolved some SIGNIFICANT changes must occur. The culture of the department needs to change from a negative, hostile, retaliatory environment to one that is positive. Guess what, it was trending in the right direction but now Groggy Glover is dismantling the department bit by bit and they hope no one is paying attention. Well, maybe it is just his way of being retaliatory to those speaking out against him as that is how it has worked since he walked into the department all those years ago.
Slowly but surely our Fire Department turns back time and honestly it should scare the hell of citizens! We have heard it scares the hell out of those who put on the FD uniform on the front line every day. It leads us to our last question, the most important question, who is the “King Ding A Ling” of bad decisions? Well, that might be a tie between Groggy Lee Glover and City Manager, Pungent Wes Pierson.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
We were curious why in 2023 the City of Frisco was trying to go back to a broken system in place back in 2011/12 after several years of positive change. Maybe because that is “The Frisco Way.” Many times, we have heard council members and city leadership refer to “The Frisco Way” and we have always been curious what is it? Well, it is a mindset that only Frisco leaders and city management know what is best for the city and the citizens living in it. It is a mindset that the City of Frisco is the only city who could possibly do things the right way and every other city is second fiddle. It is the mindset that we do things the way we have always done it and someone should not question that. It is also the institution of the good ole boy network, scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
Let’s pretend it is 2011 and that Humpty Dumpty is Mack Borchardt, Chief of the Frisco Fire Department, sitting lofty up on that wall. Next to him perched high up is his team which includes his buddy Lee Glover, Assistant Fire Chief and Paul Siebert, Assistant Fire Chief, 3 Battalion Chiefs Shannon Britton, Shawn Eft and Paul Farrow and Division Chief Cameron Kraemer.
Then the wind blows and causes a great fall which refers to the 2011 Employee Climate Survey. What we found interesting was it basically said the culture that management created was horrific. Our first responders went to work every day risking their lives in an environment with terrible morale and worried about their job security. At the time 76.3% said they would leave the department if they could and the report noted the city can only correct it by making DRASTIC CHANGES. What would the city do?
All the king’s horses and king’s men refer to the King of Frisco, Geroge Purefoy, the City Manager and his “people” who had to find a solution since it was clear the Fire Chief could no longer be Chief. Chief Borchardt wrote a letter to Purefoy dated 2/23/2012 stating in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Retirement Severance Agreement and Release he was submitting his resignation for retirement effective February 2015. All the King’s Men, aka The Good Ole Boy Network or The Frisco Way” had to figure out how to put Borchardt together, just in a different way.
One would think after the negative survey results regarding his leadership that Borchardt would be terminated or forced into retirement. Hail Ye, Hail Ye, King George to the rescue! After Borchardt retires, he is REASSIGNEDto a newly created position as the Fire Programs Consultant which reports solely to King George himself until he is set to retire in 2015. Why would you reassign someone that you are forcing to retire? A city insider that works at city hall told us that when the decision was made to remove Borchardt as Fire Chief, King George threatened to quit and submitted his written resignation which is why the city “reassigned” Borchardt to King Purefoy.
So why the loyalty between King George Purefoy and Mack Borchardt? Well, what many don’t know is that back in day Mack Borchardt was the city administrator and he is the one that hired King George Purefoy as the first city manager. Then George Purefoy acting as the new city manager hired Mack Borchardt as the cities first paid Fire Chief. Funny thing is Mack Borchardt is still with the city in 2023, in the same consultant position making big bucks and assigned a city vehicle. A PIR was placed for Mack Borchardts employee records which we are still waiting on.
After reading Mack Borchardt Agreement & Release we had many questions. Under the “Release By Borchardt” it says that Mack releases, acquits and discharges Frisco from any and all past or present claims relating to #3. All Allegations ever made or that might have been made by Borchardt against Frisco regarding his employment – well that sounds interesting. In another section it says Borchardt does not admit to any unlawful or discriminatory conduct or any other wrongdoing – well that sounds interesting too. Then the agreement appears to turn into an employment contract for his new position and lists some very specific reasons that he maybe be terminated for such as a conviction for any felony involving moral turpitude, drunkenness, or excessive use of alcoholic beverages, being under the influence on city property or city sponsored activities and fabrication or falsification of city records. The whole thing reminds me of the questions we asked in our Survey Says blog.
The city began its search for a new fire chief and in March of 2013 after a 3-month search the city announced the hiring of Mark Piland. Todd Renshaw, the city’s director of public safety, told a local newspaper Frisco Enterprise, “Chief Piland a very affable, very personable individual. He’s highly educated and has a great deal of experience, which are obviously big pluses,” he said. “He has a strong sense of command and will be a tremendous asset for the Frisco Fire Department going forward.”
According to insiders in the FD, Piland came up with some good ideas to change the department the first being to listen to the organization. Piland implemented In Service Training programs 2x a year for the Officers and Companies. Fire fighters also tell us he had an academy for those FF hoping to move up the ladder over their career. Piland also focused on The Squad Program which responds to almost all calls so they could have enhanced ongoing training to meet state and national standards. Piland also moved the FD away from the quint model based on the FF feedback. Their department centered more on the single engine / pumper truck with a goal to add a 4th ladder truck. He said with 70% of the calls being EMS, the Quints which are rather large and bulky, were slower and more difficult to turn and get down Frisco’s narrow streets. Piland quickly met resistance from King George himself. Imagine going to work in a new city where the City Manager who is your direct boss, is sitting next to his 25+ year buddy (the former Fire Chief that you replaced) at city hall.
In fact, today as the fire fighters fight for collective bargaining so they can have a seat at the table, the city said they oppose it because they already have a seat at the table because more than 200 seats are filled by Fire Department employees on 16 different committees/groups. Examples of these committees/groups are Engine / Truck / Rescue Focus Groups, Promotional Process Review Group, Peer Support Group, Peer Fitness Trainer, Health & Safety Focus Group, and the Driver / Operator Focus Group. What we find interesting is that these groups were created during Piland’s time as Fire Chief based on feedback from the organization. Insiders say over the years tension grew as he was challenged and questioned by city leaders about every change he tried to make because it didn’t fit “The Frisco Way!” Mark Piland retired shortly after applying for the City Managers position (as did many other candidates) and after several differences of opinion with city management on how the department should be run. The question we have, did the city really want change in the department, or where they happy and want to go back to the old “The Frisco Way?”
With the search on for a new Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief Lee Glover was named Interim Fire Chief. City Manager Wes Pierson said in a statement. “Public safety is a top priority for me and our City Council. I intend to be deliberate in the search for Frisco’s next fire chief to make sure we find the right person to lead our department to the next level of service, building upon the city’s reputation for excellence.” The city hired a firm to do a national search but one of the requirements was they had to have Texas Certification. Why did we waste time, taxpayer dollars, and resources doing a national search when most likely someone in another state would not have Texas Certification? Five Texas finalists were announced, and Interim FC Lee Glover made the list. It was surprising because he was Borchardt’s #2 and was listed as a part of the problem in the 2011/12 Employee Climate Survey. The association immediately responded by doing a survey in which 220 out of 233 firefighters responded. It was not a surprise that 92.5% of the association did not want Glover as the next Fire Chief. The survey also said 91.4% do not believe Glover has improved morale or regained any trust during his time as Interim Chief. The association made city management and city councils aware of the survey results. It is clear the department does not trust, nor did they want to go back to Borchardt /Glover regime.
No one was shocked in June of 2023 when Wes Pierson, City Manager announced he is promoting Lee Glover to Frisco Fire Chief. Since September of last year, Chief Glover has served as Interim Fire Chief. “Lee’s combination of experience, knowledge, and leadership was the best fit for the department,” said Wes Pierson, City Manager. “I believe Lee is deeply committed to the success of Team Frisco and will work hard to serve our community and members of FFD.” Pierson probably never read the Employee Climate Survey which says, “ There is considerable animosity regarding the Chief.” It also says most believe things won’t change in this department unless the Chief and the entire Senior Staff are replaced. Glover was #2 on that Senior Staff for years.
When the announcement was made I thought to myself about what J.K. Rowling wrote in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, “Honestly, if you were any slower, you’d be going backward.” Wes Pierson is slow or just stupid and that is evident in his backward ridiculous decision which is the reason the Fire Department is now fighting for Civil Service and Collective Bargaining. Now many will say Lee Glover has changed and does not have that “mentality” anymore but he does and the proof is in the survey and an article in the Frisco Enterprise where he announced his first 100-day priorities. Glover said the department will continue to build on what the city has today and went on to say, “We’re going to continue to do what we’ve been doing since the day I walked in this fire department.” Wait, did he just admit that he wants to do what he has always done, well that makes sense because it is “The Frisco Way” which is why they hired them.
The question citizens should be asking, why hire someone that clearly the fire firefighters did not support back in 2011/2012 and still do not today?
Read Borchardts Retirement Severance Agreement and Release click here
Read the Entire FD Employee Climate Report from 2011/2012 click here
Reach The FD Climate Survey Action plan click here
As a young adult, I loved watching game shows. The mid-1950s were a period of rapid growth in popularity for quiz shows. I remember watching Jack Barry, on-air host from 1947-1958 and 1960 – 1980 who produced and appeared on “High Low Quiz,” “Juvenile Jury,” and “Tic Tac Dough.” Then, there was Dennis James who is credited with hosting television’s first network game show in 1946 called “Cash and Carry.” One of the most popular of all times was, “The Dating Game” with Jim Lange. Rodney Alcala, a contestant on the show in 1978 is often referred to as “The Dating Game Serial Killer” because when he applied to be a contestant he had already committed at least four murders and decades later authorities discovered he was a prolific serial killer, but, I digress.
The best game show in my opinion is “Family Feud,” which started in 1976 and was hosted by Richard Dawson. He was the host known as the Kissing Casanova for his signature kiss on the cheek and lips to all his female contestants. The show would be hosted over the years by Ray Combs, Louie Anderson, Richard Karn (Home Improvement), John O’Hurley (Seinfeld), and Steve Harvey. My wife and I tune in every day to hear Steve Harvey say, “We asked a 100 people” and “The survey says!” Game shows give the audience the chance to live out our fantasies thinking, “Well, if someone must win, it could be me!”
Who uses surveys? And, what is the survey’s purpose? A better question might be “Who doesn’t use surveys?” It is common for companies to do employee surveys to measure staff engagement or companies may reach out to customers after a purchase to measure satisfaction. The overall purpose of a survey is to get feedback and ideas to understand areas of improvement. We were a little surprised and intrigued when we heard rumors in the last few weeks that the Local 3732 Executive Board of the FFA had done a survey of the firefighters in response to a new chief and in regard to some of the Mayor’s recent statements.
Let’s look at the questions in regard to the Mayor’s Statement Survey:
Question: Do you want Interim Fire Chief Glover to be the next Fire Chief of the Frisco Fire Department? The survey says 92.5% said NO, they do not want Interim Chief Glover to be the new Fire Chief, which is alarming considering he is currently running the Department. Have the firefighter’s lost confidence in Glover?
Question: Do you believe Interim Fire Chief Glover has improved/rebuilt morale and regained trust of the Department? The survey says 91.4% of the Association said, NO Glover has not improved morale or rebuilt trust. Interestingly, this directly contradicts what Mayor Cheney said at the Star Patriot Debate where he adamantly said Glover has increased morale and is starting to regain trust. When the Mayor answered with such confidence, did he knowingly lie? Was it an attempt to mislead the public to win the election? Just listen to him in his own words…
Now, let’s look at the Fire Chief Questionnaire in regard to the future hiring process of the fire chief position.
Question: Do you believe the organization has any qualified candidates to assume the task set forth by the City Manager’s office? The survey says 89.4% said NO that the organization does not have any qualified candidates as of now to assume the task. That is pretty telling that Frisco firefighters don’t agree with the Mayor’s view.
Question: Would you like the next chief to be an external hire or internal hire? The survey says, YES, 93.8% would like an external hire which is mind-blowing because it shows they have no confidence in current interim Chief Glover.
Question: Do you believe the finalist list should be composed of National Candidates? The survey says 91.7% responded, YES it should have national candidates. So, if it were a “national” search, why did they need to be Texas Certified? Oh no, nothing to see here.
Question: Do you believe the finalists should have experience as a chief in a department of equal or larger size and city population density? The survey says, 86.1% said YES they should have the current experience equal to Frisco’s department.
Question: Do you believe the department is appropriately preparing for the future or heading back to the past practices? The survey said 91.5%, YES, that they are heading back to the past practices. Are they referring to Mack Borchardt, the previous Fire Chief, who works now in the City Manager’s office as a special assistant?
Question: Do you believe the Department is appropriately staffed? The survey says 95.2% responded NO it is not adequately staffed. As a resident, that scares the shady shit right out of me that its own department feels that way.
Question: Do you believe there should be a stakeholders’ group of FF consisting of all ranks involved in the hiring process? The survey said 96.6% responded YES, they want to have a say in picking their next leader.
After seeing the survey, we too had some questions and decided to do some research.
Frisco’s Fire Chief was Mack Borchardt who started as a volunteer firefighter in 1973. Then, in 1982, he became the Administrator and Chief of Volunteers until 1987 when he became the City’s very first Fire Chief. Oddly, in September of 2011, the City announced he would retire and then assume new duties as a Fire Programs Consultant and Special Assistant to then City Manager George Purefoy.
Why would a fire chief take a new role out of the blue? Multiple off the record sources tell us that Borchardt was caught in some compromising situations which could have been a factor, or it could have been his staff and the association just didn’t like him either.
In the fall of 2011, a Climate Survey was done in the Frisco FD to identify growing concerns of firefighters and officers. It notes, “…there is a lack of trust, respect, and dignity between officers and firefighters. The culture… is very negative and one of intimidation, retaliation, and fear.” The examiner notes that in the conversations with the Chief and Officers they lead her to believe there is some truth to the claims. The report also notes there is considerable animosity regarding Chief Borchardt and that many in the department felt the entire senior staff along with the Chief needed to be replaced because they were all trained in Borchardt’s style. The most telling part of the report was that many firefighters believe the then Chief Borchardt was trying to run the growing department like it only had 20 employees, and instead of hiring those best suited for the job, he hired his friends.
Lastly, it notes the department is understaffed for the growing population (ding, ding, ding). At the time 76.3% of the respondents indicated they would leave the department if they could.
While we have no concrete evidence, multiple sources said Borchardt was pushed out. George Purefoy stood up for him and said, if he goes then I go, so instead Borchardt was moved into a new job at city hall working for George himself. After reading the report, it begs the question was Chief Borchardt removed “not retired” because of his personal behavior and management style that had torn apart the Department?
Did then City Manager George Purefoy save his friend with a cushy job right next to him at city hall? It is important to note that the current Interim Chief and candidate Lee Glover steadily advanced through the ranks of management in the fire department under the leadership of Mack Borchardt; so, based on the report, it might be plausible to assume Glover still has Borchardt’s management style and that is why the new survey shows no confidence in him. Either way, Borchardt and Glover are what some would call “thick as thieves.”
In 2013, the city hired Mark Piland as the new Chief of Frisco Fire Department. According to many of the sources we talked to, YES, change did start to happen, but it didn’t help that Piland was met by resistance from then Manager George Purefoy who conveniently had Mack Borchardt, the previous fire chief, in his ear. Think about it, if you are an old fire chief of 20+ years, would you want to see what you built in the Department change right in front of your eyes?
Tension began early on from what sources tell us, making it very difficult for Piland to make significant changes. Borchardt worked the ear of his longtime friend and boss George Purefoy for years, straining the relationship from the onset with Piland and Purefoy. We are guessing Piland realized early on he was facing a losing battle going up against the old fire chief in the City Manager’s ear day-after-day during his entire tenure. One has to wonder, is this why Piland thought he might better serve the City as Manager? One also wonders if the new City Manager Wes Pierson was really chosen because he would fall right in line?
As a side note, I had some of these suspicions months ago when I filed a PIR asking for Borchardt’s recent contract renewal by Purefoy that was signed just before retiring, which, NO, we still have not received.
Now, it’s 2023 and Glover, who has been the Interim Chief, is a candidate for Chief of the fire department. You can bet he wants that position badly, and his mentor and friend in the city manager’s office, Mack Borchardt would not mind seeing him in the position either. If that wasn’t enough, we asked around, and multiple officers told us shocking things regarding Glover that left us flabbergasted. YES, flabbergasted!
Obviously, out of fear of losing their jobs, I can understand why they would not want to go on the record. With that said, multiple firefighters spoke off the record. They have witnessed the Interim Frisco Fire Chief belligerently drunk multiple times in public and threatened them if they ever spoke up about it. The same firefighters confirmed he was recently seen in the street at a FD Conference, again belligerently drunk, peeing on a tree in the median during the middle of the day. Witnesses also say he drank heavily at lunchtime during some of these conferences. So now, the current survey makes total sense. All of these factors, history, and more, contribute to the survey results. We were told he has a known history of maliciously undermining all ranks of FD leadership for his own personal gain.
Based on what we were told, someone at city hall might want to ask the following interview questions of Interim Chief Lee Glover:
Is it true you have a history of being belligerently drunk at FD training conferences and FD apparatus purchasing meetings?
Do you have a DUI on your record from August of 1985? Were you sentenced to 2 years’ probation? Is the city aware of this?
Did you urinate on a tree in the middle of the street at an FDIC conference in Indianapolis? And is it true, you threatened FD staff if they spoke of the incidents and suggest they would “regret it?”
Is it true you have a history of using your rank to cause people in your department to fear losing their job should they go against you?
If we told you there was a tape of you making racially inappropriate statements how would you respond? Do you have a history of making racially inappropriate statements?
If the City had the guts to sit down with the staff today face to face for an honest conversation, would your current staff say all these incidents were true?
Lastly, does the Public Lewdness charge from 1992 and the indecent exposure charge in 2000 belong to you or your father?
From the City’s recent meet and greet, we now know the candidate shortlist is Rob Bergersen, Richard Davis, Lee Glover, Kenneth Johnson, and Marc Pate. None of them have held the position of Chief. But, we learned of a few names that were removed, and we are interested in asking, why since they seem to have much more experience? Take Paul Henley, who is the Fire Chief in Flower Mound and President of the Texas Fire Chiefs Association–why was he taken off the list? Chief Lasky in Lewisville, a 40-year veteran and has served as a Fire Chief for the last 12 years–why was he taken off the list? Hello? With the stellar background of on some of these candidates, one should wonder why they were removed from the list. “Survey Says…“
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