Day 12: Tangled Web of Lies

by | Jan 1, 2024 | Adams, Lynch & Loftin, City Council, Frisco Fire - Mayday Report, Frisco Fire - Valve Report, Frisco Fire Chief Lee Glover, Frisco Fire Department, HR Department, Lauren Safranek, Mark Piland, Matt Sapp - President of FFFA, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics, Wes Pierson

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!  Let the fireworks begin. If you have read our blogs some of this might seem familiar but stay with us because this explains it all.  If you have never read one of our blogs then this is the one you DO NOT WANT TO MISS!

When we started down the path to uncover corruption within the city we never thought we would come across some of the things we have.  The 12 Days of Malfeasance is a real page-turner and if you asked my wife she would say it is better than one of those cheap soft-back romance novels on the shelf at Walmart.  It involves forgery, lies, questionable relationships, questionable tactics, and revenge.  In the end, you will learn someone had $178,000+ reasons to lie and stab people in the back to protect their job!  To top it off, we have the evidence to prove it!

It started back in 2014 when Fire Chief, Mark Piland updated several of the Job Descriptions for the Fire Department.  When working in a city you are extended certain benefits based on the job descriptions (also called JD’s).  In Frisco, Fire Fighters and Police Officers have additional benefit pay for certifications and education.  If the job description says Preferred Education, Experience, and Certifications that means they receive additional pay in the following amounts:  Certification pay for Intermediate, Advanced, and Master’s Certifications at $50, $80, and $120 per month. The Education Pay for Associate, Bachelor, and Master’s Degrees is at $50, $100, and $150 per month.  However, if the job description says, “Required” then that means there is no additional benefit pay. 

Fast forward to 2017, HR identified that there was no job parody in the job descriptions between the Fire Department and Police Department as it relates to Education Requirements.  HR suggested to then Fire Chief, Mark Piland to change all the job descriptions to bring parody to the Fire Department job descriptions.  The education requirements for all FD positions, Assistant Chief and below were changed to Preferred to match that of the Police Department as requested by HR.  

Piland was concerned about this change as he was in the process of hiring and it could look as if some or all the candidates received special treatment which was acknowledged by Shannon Allywn in an HR email.  Regardless of the concern the change was made to all of the positions to keep uniformity between departments.

July 19, 2017: An email from Shannon Allyn to Tracy Stiles (HR) talks about how when Chief Piland originally did the updates with HR to the job descriptions he had the Public Safety Certification and Education Pay descriptions listed as “required.”  In 2017, HR approached Piland and asked him to change the job descriptions to “Preferred” to match the other departments.  We were told by an insider at the time Piland protested and did not want to change it because it could cause issues.  Shannon Allyn confirmed his frame of mind when she displayed the same concerns that Piland had in the email to Tracy.  A reply from Tracy Stiles is sent the same day back to Shannon Allyn that reads, “They will all be changed to Preferred.” 

Little did we know Job Descriptions would be the KEY to this story.  Jeromy Porter served as Battalion Chief from June 2014 to September 2020 and during that time he received the additional Certification and Education Pay.  Then in October 2020, he received a promotion to Deputy Chief and was told Education Pay was removed as an incentive.  However, the position description listed a bachelor’s degree as a “Preferred” education, not “Required.”  While a promotion is nice, the cut in what he thought the position paid was not.   Ask yourself, would you take a promotion if it meant you were going to make less than your current salary? 

January 25, 2021:   Memo from Deputy Chief, Jeromy Porter to Fire Chief, Mark Piland regarding Education Pay and a request for a formal review of the Public Safety Certification and Education Pay Plan.  The review got put on hold because things got hectic with an impending storm.  

February 17, 2021: Circa Frisco Apartment Fire Reported, Wednesday @ 1:12 AM broke out in Apartment 158. 

The Circa Fire was the largest fire 5-alarm that the Frisco FD has had to fight in recent memory and under the worst winter storm conditions in the last century. The Circa Fire happened over 48 hours in a winter storm nicknamed “Snowmageddon.”  It knocked out power and caused a massive number of water breaks and fire alarm activations which led to an extraordinarily high call volume that taxed the resources and stamina of the Frisco FD.

Approximately two hours into the fire, a Mayday event occurred on the second floor of the Circa Building when Captain Christopher Beck, who was the Division Two Supervisor at the time of the Mayday event, fell through a hallway floor outside apartment 258. Captain Beck was trapped in the subfloor and had to be rescued by other firefighters.  The Frisco FD Procedure Manual defines a Mayday in Procedure 303 Mayday Operations as “a message used to signal a life threat to any firefighter.” Beck went to the hospital and after being released he was back on duty.

The Circa Fire was much larger than it would have been under any other circumstance because the required automatic sprinkler system was taken out of service by the building landlord before the fire without the Frisco FD being notified or the building being put on Fire Watch. Fire department witnesses interviewed almost universally indicated that had the sprinklers been in service, it is believed this would have been a simple room and contents fire.  Due to the high level of fire department emergency activity in the Metroplex, the mutual aid response was limited.  Essentially, the Circa Fire was a five-alarm fire that was fought, for more than 24 hours, with the resources of a two-/three-alarm fire that were inadequate for the complexity/scale of this incident.  The lack of resources led to an inability to designate a formal Rapid Intervention Team (“RIT”) by the incident commander. 

RIT is defined in the Frisco Fire Department Procedure 303 Mayday Operations as “a dedicated crew of at least three firefighters with four firefighters preferred, one of which is an officer, fully equipped and trained who are assigned to provide assistance or rapidly deploy to rescue lost or trapped members.”

February 18, 2021: Circa Frisco Apartment Fire “Put Out”, Thursday @ 10 AM

February 2021 (End Of Month):  Following the Circa Fire,Fire Chief, MarkPiland called for a Mayday Report to be put together to help the FD learn and better understand the event.   Assistant Chief Kraemer assigned the job of preparing that report to the Battalion Chief in charge of Health and Safety, BC Hutt.  This was the first Mayday Report done during Chief Piland’s tenure and the first such report any of the witnesses interviewed could recall ever being done in Frisco.

Important Note: While it is arguably a best practice, there is currently no specific requirement, standard, or template in any fire service to prepare a Mayday Report given the relative infrequency, and significance, of Mayday events.

March 16, 2021: Scott Vetterick, Deputy Chief sent an email to Lori Rutland (HR), Lee Glover (Assistant Fire Chief), and Mark Piland (Fire Chief) with a revised Fire Marshal job description.  Lori responded to Vetterick and asked him to review the highlighted areas in yellow.  She told him once he sent the changes or comments back to her she would send them to the Chief for approval (signatures).

March 17, 2021:  Vetterick sent back the revised redlined edits and asked for approval for the changes. Once approved, he sent it back to HR.    Evidence Note: In one of our PIR requests, we learned that the updated Fire Marshal job description had the required updated signatures from Mark Piland and was dated 3/17/2021.  Why is this important?  It shows that HR knew that if they changed anything, they would need to get updated signatures. 

March 17, 2021: At 10:43 am and 11 am, THE JOB DESCRIPTION FOR DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF WAS MODIFIED by Lori Rutland who directly reports to Lauren Safranek. 

March 18, 2021:  At 11:22 am the FRISCO FD JOB DESCRIPTION FOR DEPUTY CHIEF WAS MODIFIED again by Lori Rutland for Education, Experience, and Certifications.  The modification included removing the word “Preferred” from the title, but the bullet points still cite that a combination of education and experience can be used to satisfy the position.   

Why is this a big deal?  The document was changed without approval from FIRE CHIEF, MARK PILAND, and HR DID NOT GET AN UPDATED SIGNATURE which is  REQUIRED.  After HR modified the document in 2021, they published the document with the unapproved change and more importantly with the 2017 signatures from Fire Chief, Mark Piland.  Piland and others in the FD did not even know the change had been made until July 2022 when Porter submitted a second request for Education Pay.

Now many may say, who cares that HR changed it and didn’t tell anybody, but it is a VERY BIG DEAL.  It affects the educational pay for several employees in those positions which creates a drastic pay cut in one’s salary. 

April 9, 2021: BC Ryan Hutt delivered the original draft of the Mayday Report related to the Circa fire via email correspondence to Chief Piland, Assistant Chief Kraemer, and Assistant Chief Lee Glover.  BC Hutt noted in his email “If you see any changes that need to be made or any recommendations you may have to improve the document, please let me know.”

According to the final report on 8/5/22, the original draft of the Mayday Report was incomplete, and it failed to give a full description of the Mayday event.  Had such a complete description of the Mayday event been provided either in the first draft or even in any subsequent draft, the approach to the Mayday Report and the editing process moving forward for the Mayday Report would likely have been done differently.

The report also said that based on interviews performed during the investigation, BC Hutt did not obtain critical information about the Mayday event and the events leading up to the Mayday event because he did not speak with certain witnesses and because he performed incomplete interviews of other witnesses.

April 19, 2021: Valve Report Requested by Purefoy & Hill related to the damage of the  valves on fire trucks due to “Snowmageddon.” 

May 17, 2021: Assistant Fire Chief Lee Glover sends an email to Mack Borchardt his former boss and says “Enjoy The Read” regarding the initial Fire Apparatus Valve Damage. The email shows Lee Glover had no respect for Mark Piland and that Glover was still reporting to his old boss Borchardt.

May 26, 2021: BC Hutt met with Chief Piland, Assistant Chief Kraemer, and Deputy Chief Carpenter to discuss his second draft of the Mayday Report.

May 27, 2021: BC Hutt submitted a third draft of the Mayday Report via email to Chief Piland, Assistant Chief Kraemer, and Deputy Chief Carpenter.

June 25, 2021:  BC Hutt submitted his 4th draft of the Mayday Report via email to BC Britton DC Owen, Assistant Chief Kraemer, and DC Carpenter.

August 2021: BC Hutt left the Health and Safety Position and was replaced by Battalion Chief Charles Marts (BC Marts)

In the final report from Adams, Lynch & Loftin P.C. on  8/5/22 it was documented BC Hutt was moved to a new shift assignment because he was not successful under DC Carpenter and it was believed he would have a better chance of being successful under DC Porter.  Ironically, one of the few areas where all of the Executive Staff interviewed were in agreement was on the fact that BC Hutt was moved to a new shift for his benefit and that move was designed to help him be more successful. There is a lack of trust in BC Hutt by his contemporaries as evidenced by the interviews with the Executive Staff and Command Staff during this investigation. This lack of trust has almost certainly been evident to BC Hutt. However, the fact that his contemporaries don’t trust him is not evidence of retaliation and reprisal.

October 5, 2021: Official Mayday Report released via email along with a copy of the Winter Storm 2021 AAR

It’s a new year and a lot is happening in the City of Frisco!

January 2022: The City of Frisco approved hiring Affion Public to conduct a national search for a new city manager.  Ron Patterson and Fire Chief, Mark Piland applied for the position.

February 9, 2022:  Matt Sapp, President of the Frisco Firefighters Association delivered a letter to George Purefoy, Frisco City Manager detailing concerns of how the department handled the reporting of the MAYDAY EVENT at the Circa Fire (Feb 2021). Sapp has repeatedly said publicly that the Association felt the Mayday Report should have been handled by a third party.  The Sapp Letter contained several allegations regarding actions by Mark Piland, Frisco Fire Chief, and his “direct subordinates.”  The allegations related to improper interference with the preparation of a Mayday Report that was analyzing their tactics and decisions at the Circa fire.  Sapp asserted, “Fire Department Director and Executive Staff made a concentrated and concerted effort to place their professional careers over the current and future safety of the firefighters. This was done by suppressing objections, changing information, and attempting to withhold information for review vital to improve training.”

According to the final report released by Adams, Lynch &  Loftin, P.C. on 8/5/22, there is insufficient/no evidence to support the allegation that Chief Piland or Assistant Chief Kraemer hid or altered critical information of the Mayday Report by moving the factors to another section. The information remained in the report even if it was in a separate section.  Some of the information removed from the report (e.g. weather) was included in the AAR and other information removed (e.g. flow path) was subject to actual factual disputes and analysis that suggest subject matter experts could legitimately disagree about it as a factor.

March 30, 2022:  Email from Matt Sapp, President of FFFA to Assistant City Manager, Henry Hill regarding their upcoming scheduled meeting for the following week.   He detailed some concerns he had about how he was being treated and feeling threatened after filing the grievance back on 2/9/22.

According to the final report released by Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C. on 8/5/22, there is insufficient/no evidence to support a finding that Sapp or BC Hutt have been retaliated against because of the complaints filed related to the Mayday Report.

April 4, 2022:  Henry Hill forwards Matt Sapp’s email directly to Lauren Safranek (HR Director) with no commentary.   Why is this important?  There was a secret plan in place to build a case to get rid of Fire Chief, Mark Piland by Lauren Safranek and her HR department who were on borrowed time before the “changing of the documents and falsifying records would come to light.”

April 4, 2022: Lauren Safranek, Director of Human Resources sends an email to Asst Chief Kraemer and cc/d Chief Piland and Asst City Manager, Henry Hill letting them know of the impending investigation by Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C. and that they would be under a “Confidentiality Warning.”  They were to refrain from discussing the complaint and subsequent communications outside of the investigation process.

April 22, 2022: City of Frisco, Lauren Safranek, and City Attorney Richard Abernathy opened what is now being called the investigation into the Mayday Report.  It would be conducted by an outside firm named  Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C. out of Grapevine, Texas and they reported to Lauren Safranek.  

We looked at the law firm’s website and we were curious, what experience do they have that would have qualified them to lead the investigation?  According to the site, they list multiple areas of practice, but nothing related to firefighting.  In fact, under municipal experience, it says they help with contracts, procurement, construction law, and ordinance drafting but nothing related to a fire department.   So why this firm? Did I mention they do Real Estate Law.

May 23, 2022:  City of Frisco announced the new City Manager, Wes Pierson who topped a candidate pool that included 55 applicants from 17 states, before being narrowed down to four finalists. His first day on the job will be Aug. 2, 2022

May 23, 2022:  Adams, Lynch & Loftin bill the City of Frisco $15,117.00

May 23, 2022: Matt Sapp Interview with Adams, Lynch and Loftin, P.C. for Mayday Investigation where he reasserted his allegations stated in the complaint and letter sent to Henry Hill.

Sapp went on to say During his interview, Battalion Chief Ryan Hutt (“BC Hutt”), the author of the Mayday Report, stated that he felt he was being retaliated against for his involvement with the Mayday Report and for not making certain changes to the Mayday Report. Specifically, BC Hutt asserted that (1) he was removed from a health and wellness committee that was setting up a city clinic, (2) he was moved to a different shift, and (3) he was reprimanded for insubordination. BC Hutt and Chief Piland indicate that they met in March of 2022 about BC Hutt’s retaliation concerns.

According to the final report released on 8/5/22 by Adams, Lynch & Loftin, there is insufficient/no evidence to support a finding that Sapp or BC Hutt have been retaliated against because of the complaints filed related to the Mayday Report.

May 31, 2022: Fire Chief, Mark Piland was interviewed for the first time by Adams, Lynch, and Loftin.  At the beginning of the interview, Piland was asked to sign an Administrative Warning Letter.

June 3, 2022: Chief Piland contacted Mayor Jeff Cheney and asked for a meeting, and they subsequently met the same day at a local Coffee Shop. The report says Piland raised concerns he had with the investigation.  Piland stated there was a lack of trust between the FFD and the City Manager, George Purefoy, and Assistant City Manager, Henry Hill.  Piland stated Safranek misrepresented the investigation and she had not been honest about the investigation’s intent throughout the process.  Chief Piland informed the Mayor that both he and Assistant Chief Kraemer were considering filing a complaint against the City Manager for how he handled the complaints.

June 10, 2022: Fire Chief Piland was interviewed for the second time for the investigation.  He was told the previous warning letter was still in effect.

The investigation revealed that Chief Piland was unaware of the true severity of the near-miss that caused the Mayday until he was interviewed in June 2022. At that interview, Chief Piland indicated that had he known how serious the Mayday event was he “probably” would have had the Mayday Report prepared by someone independent of Frisco FD.

June 22, 2022:  Adams, Lynch & Loftin bill the City of Frisco $34,776.42

June 26, 2022:  APPLETON TRIP: Assistant Chief Lee Glover, Battalion Chief Jeff Morrison, Captain Alan Wyatt, and Driver/Operator Philip Bur traveled to Appleton, Wisconsin for an apparatus inspection.  Glover gets drunk and starts to talk about how when Piland leaves he will be the new Fire Chief.  HOW DID GLOVER KNOW PILAND WAS LEAVING OR WOULD BE LEAVING? 

July 8, 2022:  Mark Piland sent a memo to Assistant Chief Lee Glover with a copy of the letter of complaint regarding possible actions and possible statements that may have been made by Glover during an apparatus inspection trip to Appleton, Wisconsin during the week of June 26, 2022

July 10, 2022: Fire Chief Mark Piland sent an email to Henry Hill that he had received an informal complaint from one of the Deputy Chiefs on some statements Glover may have made in front of a couple of members while in Appleton, WI.  He let Hill know he was currently treating it as an informal complaint and is conducting some fact-finding from those present during the statements.  He will send Hill an update.

July 12, 2022: Lauren Safranek, HR Director sends an email to the City Attorney Richard Abernathy and Mari McGowan.  She says attached is notice of complaint that Lee Glover received.  This is related to the item HENRY AND I DISCUSSED WITH RICHARD LAST FRIDAY.  We would like to discuss it further tomorrow (Tuesday) morning if possible if one of you are available.  Let me know if there is a time that works for you.

Mari McGowan from the law firm responds how about 9 A.M.   Lauren Safranek responds that works for her but she is not sure about Henry.  She says let’s go ahead and schedule for 9 and we will call you.  Henry Hill then responds he can do 9 A.M.  Mari McGowan responds to call Richard’s office.

QUESTION:  What do you think Lauren Safranek, Henry Hill and the City Attorney’s office talked about a week prior?  First we thought maybe it was the Glover Complaint, but that had not come up yet.  Plus, it made no sense they would meet to discuss an Informal Complaint that has not even gone through the FD process.  They were obviously talking about Mark Piland, and we are guessing it is about his meeting with Mayor Jeff Cheney on June 3, 2022, to discuss the initial law firm’s investigation.

July 13, 2022:  Henry Hill sent an email to Mark Piland and CC’d Lauren Safranek (HR) to let Mark know that Lee had reached out and asked to talk to him and Lauren about the documents left on his desk Monday morning regarding the complaint.  He asks Mark if he will be addressing this when he is back in town and if there is anything else he should know.

Later that day Piland replies he has one more person to talk to and is still considering this informal but as a point of clarification these statements if said as stated in the complaint are serious.  Making possible statements about replacing the Fire Chief and asking for members to pick sides is detrimental and distributing to the good of the order of the department. While “currently” considering the process as informal I don’t want to downplay the seriousness and cause of what is being looked at. Again, just fact-gathering at this point.

July 22, 2022:  Adams, Lynch, and Loftin bill the City of Frisco $9761.87

July 28, 2022:  2nd REQUEST Memo from Deputy Chief Porter to Fire Chief, Mark Piland regarding Education Pay.  Jeromy recently opened the position description again to review the Essential Job Functions and he noticed a modification where the word “Preferred” had now been removed.  When he turned his second request, Mark Piland was alerted to change that was WITHOUT HIS APPROVAL.  This is the first time Piland learns HR had modified, falsified or forged the job description.

The screen shot shows  thatAugust 1, 2017: Job Description was modified by Shannon Allyn at 2:44 PM, and Fire Chief Mark Piland signed this version of the job description on 7/31/2017.  Then on March 17, 2021, at 10:43 am and 11 am, the job description was modified again by Lori Rutland.  Then on March 18, 2021, Lori Rutland modified the job description again at 11:22 am. 

THE GIG IS UP! HR (Lauren Safranek and Lori Rutland) HAVE BEEN EXPOSED! WOULD HER JOB BE ON THE LINE?  COULD SHE LOOSE HER  $178,291 INCOME?  

August 5, 2022: Confidential Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C released a 480-page “Confidential” Investigation Report.  The first 33 pages detail the investigation and offers a few key points:  

A Dallas Morning News Article said Mark Piland committed malfeasance because he changed the report. However, the actual report says:  There is also some evidence that the changes to the Mayday Report were suggested by individuals who had either a perceived or an actual conflict of interest when they suggested edits to the Mayday Report.  It also said, there is insufficient/no evidence to support the allegation that Chief Piland or Assistant Chief Kraemer hid or altered critical information of the Mayday Report by moving the factors to another section. The information remained in the report even if it was in a separate section.  

When it came to the alleged violations of the Frisco FD SOP 101.01 Standard of Conduct the report said, there is insufficient/no evidence to support that there is an issue with them conducting their official duties in a manner that serves the public interest.  It goes on to state there is insufficient/no evidence that they violated the city’s five core values or the Frisco FD core values.  It says there is insufficient/no evidence that Mark Piland made a false statement in any official communications or conversation with another employee, volunteer, or citizen.  It says there is insufficient/no evidence that Mark Piland or Kraemer violated Frisco’s Employee Code of Conduct, or that he was dishonest. When it comes to Freedom of Reprisal there is insufficient/no evidence to support the merit of this complaint as the evidence reviewed and witnesses interviewed demonstrated that no reprisal has occurred against Sapp and any actions complained of by BC Hutt were appropriate actions not taken as reprisal for his drafting of the Mayday Report or any complaints about protected activity.  There is insufficient/no evidence to support the merits of this complaint. The investigation found no actions by Chief Piland or Assistant Chief Kraemer that rose to the level of a criminal offense.

Lastly, it notes that BC Hutt shares some of the fault for why this process failed. BC Hutt viewed the Mayday Report editorial process through lenses of conflict and distrust. According to multiple witnesses, BC Hutt’s viewpoint as it relates to his interactions with command staff is not unique to the Mayday Report. Longstanding personality conflicts and lack of trust between BC Hutt and DC Carpenter, and particularly between BC Hutt and Assistant Chief Kraemer played a role in defining BC Hutt’s perception of how the review of the Mayday Report was conducted and the level of editorial input BC Hutt expected to his drafts.  The trust issues between BC Hutt and members of the Executive Staff and Command Staff undermined any chance of a truly collaborative effort in connection with the Mayday Report. Even though the investigation revealed that there was no interference in the investigation by the FFFA or the PIA Requests of the FFFA and that there was no retaliation or reprisal against Sapp or BC Hutt, the lack of trust within the Frisco FD explains why Sapp and Hutt viewed certain acts as either designed to interfere with an investigation or as acts of retaliation and reprisal.

August 6, 2022: Fire Chief Piland sends an email to Lauren Safranek with Jeromy Porter’s 2nd Request for Educational Pay.  Piland notes in the email he was unaware of the change in 2021.  Lauren Safranek has to act fast save her ass!

August 9, 2022:  Lori Rutland (HR Compensation Analyst) sends an email to Lauren Safranek asking if she received clarification from Henry regarding the Fire Departments Job Descriptions for Deputy Fire Chief and Assistant Chief?  Lori notes, last time they appear to be updated was in 2017.   Then she says the JD’s on the website match the JD’s we have saved. 

Why is this email a red flag?  Lori’s knows they accessed the system in 2021 and changed the JD’s and now she is acting like that never happened.  She even notes the 2017 SIGNATURE even though she is fully away they never obtained updated signatures in 2021 when she changed it.  She is trying to pass off the JD as the original when she knows they were changed which is further proof of the HR team cover up.

August 9, 2022:  Memo from Fire Chief Mark Piland to Assistant Chief Lee Glover regarding the informal complaint (Appleton, WI) was not sustained and is now closed.

August 22, 2022: Adams, Lynch & Loftin bill the City of Frisco $21095.50

August 30, 2022:  Mayor Cheney was interviewed by Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C., for a subsequent investigation into his meeting with Mark Piland that occurred June 3, 2022

September 1, 2022: Adams, Lynch and Loftin released a 2nd additional investigation report into the “Break of confidentiality concerning the underlying investigation.” 

The summary notes the law firm was asked to investigate Fire Chief, Mark Piland.  The report claimed Piland violated his confidentiality agreement however Piland has insisted that he did not.  Piland knew he was still under a “Confidentiality Warning” from 4/4/22 and 5/31/22 that he could not speak about the investigation to anyone.  In the report from Adams, Lynch & Loftin P.C., it states Piland then raised concerns he had with investigation because there was a severe lack of trust between FFD and the City Manager, George Purefoy, Assistant City Manager, Henry Hill and Lauren Safranek.  He also said he believes Safranek misrepresented the investigation and that she was not being honest about the process or purpose.  He also told the Mayor he and Assistant Chief Kraemer were thinking about filing a complaint against the City Manager for how they handled the complaints.  Mayor Cheney said in his interview Piland asked him to keep their conversation confidential.  In the findings of the report it states, Chief Piland raised issues with the motivation for the Investigation, the subject of the investigation and whether the investigation should be occurring. 

While the result of the investigation is that Piland supposedly violated his confidentiality agreement we see it a little differently.  Mark Piland figured out that Safranek was using this investigation to COVER HER OWN ASS FOR FORGING DOCUMENTS BACK IN 2021.  We are pretty sure he figured out she was using the investigation to cover her own MALFEASANCE.

If you are an employee with a company and subject to an investigation, what do you do or where do you go, if you have concerns about the HR Director leading the investigation being compromised?  What do you do or where do you go, if you believe the HR Director is lying about the reason for the investigation and she has intentions to use it for malicious purposes?  In most cases, you would go to your boss.  What do you do or where do you go if you believe your boss (Assistant City Manager – Henry Hill) and his boss (City Manager – Wes Pierson) are also compromised and are aware of the intentions of the investigation being used to railroad people?   That is what happened here, and the city had no guidelines on where an employee should go if the employee believed his higher-ups were involved in something nefarious.  Piland decided to express his concerns regarding the motivation of the investigation with the person at the top of the organizational chart.  That is the Mayor!   Little did he realize that it would be used against him.

September 14, 2022: Mark Piland is told that due to the investigation he has two choices, he can be fired, or he can retire.  Piland chooses to turn in his Retirement Letter

September 14, 2022: Wes Pierson replies to the Mark Piland Retirement Letter

September 22, 2022: Adams, Lynch and Loftin bill the City of Frisco $2446.00

            Total Cost of Investigation (that we know of) $83,196.79.  Lauren spent a lot of TAX PAYER DOLLARS to cover her MALFEASANCE!

December 9, 2022:  Email from Lauren Safranek HR to Fire Chief Lee Glover where she tells him she met with Porter on Sept 20, 2022, and explained the JD and changes.  She stated he was okay with it, which according to our sources he was not and that shows in his exit interview notes which proves again Sassy Safranek is lying.  She also said Piland wanted it change which we know is not true because in an email to Lauren he states he was not aware and did not sign off on any changes in 2021 when he forwards Jeromy’s second request.  Our insider at the city said according to a calendar search Piland had a meeting within a week of Jeromy Porters second request with Henry Hill.  That is where he alerted him that he never authorized, or agreed to change the JD’s and he never signed it.

February 17, 2023: Former Fire Chief, Mark Piland files to run for Mayor against incumbent Jeff Cheney.

March 8, 2023:  Lauren Safranek, Director of HR sends an email to Wes Pierson, City Manager with a link to the Nepotism Policy.  Remember Lee Glover on the trip announced he was going to be the New Fire Chief several months before Piland was forced to leave the city.  Now Lauren has to have the policy changed to accommodate their plan that we believe Glover was a party too.

At 4:21 PM Wes Pierson replies to Lauren Safranek and asks for clarification.  Lee would be ineligible to apply for the open Fire Chief position because his relative is now employed by the City.  Am I correct?

At 9:21 PM Lauren Safranek writes back to Wes Pierson while Lee can apply for the Fire Chief position, the policy indicates he cannot be promoted because it would create a violation of the policy since the policy states that No Identified Employees of a Department Director may be employed by the City of Frisco.  She suggested they change the policy which they did at the April 4, 2023, council meeting.  You can read all about it in Day 10: Dog & Pony Show

April 4, 2023 (the same night): Frisco City Council after coming out of an executive session, the council voted on one item from its executive agenda. “In connection with item No. 2A, ii on tonight’s agenda, I move to authorize the city manager to release the second investigative report, dated Sept. 1, 2022, concerning Mark Piland,” Councilmember Bill Woodard said. In a 5-0 vote to pass the motion, Mayor Cheney conveniently recused himself. It is important to note that Bill Woodard, Angelia Pelham, John Keating, and Tammy Meinershagen had already endorsed and been helping with Mayor Cheney’s re-election campaign.   It was clear the release of this document was designed to be a political hit job.

May 1, 2023:  Assistant Fire Chief, Cameron Kraemer was wrongfully terminated ending a 27-year career over his diagnosis of PTSD.    However, we believe Kraemer was a target of Lauren Safranek because he was Piland #2 and he knew of all of her MALFEASANE and what she done to Piland.  For her he was loose end that needed to be taken care of.

May 29, 2023:  HR HOTLINE gets complaint against HR Director, Lauren Safranek, HR Lori Rutland, Assistant City Manager Henry Hill about forging documents, falsifying records.  It was CASE 64

May 30 , 2023: Email from Lauren Safranek to Henry Hill regarding Ethics Case 64

End Result?  Nothing of course

June 1, 2023:  Frisco Fire Chief Meet The Candidates was held at the library. Candidates Rob Bergersen, Richard Davis, Lee Glover, Kenneth Johnson, and Marc Pate

June 19, 2023: The City of Frisco is naming the interim Chief, Lee Glover to the position permanently.   Again, why did the city waste TAX PAYER DOLLARS on a search when they knew they were giving the job Glover.

September 21, 2023: Assistant Fire Chief Cameron Kraemer wins his workers compensation case

September 27, 2023: Jeromy Porter’s Exit Interview with Wes Pierson where he states job description changes and Glover’s abusive and drunk behaviors.

October 9, 2023:  Wes Pierson sends an email to Lauren Safranek after his exit interview with Jeromy Porter.  He asks her to write up a memo that outlines her understanding of facts and context related to the matter of the job descriptions.  He would like that back by 10/31 for the file.  Lauren Safranek writes back with her side of the story which is all lies to cover herself.

Lauren Safranek has worked in the city for 22+ years and she $178,291 reasons to protect herself.  Had she lost her job, do you think someone else would have hired her if they found she committed MALFEASANCE?  Households are struggling today and that is a big income to lose so you can imagine how far one would go to protect it.  Instead, she continues to get other people fired to cover up what is happening in Human Resources.   

The sad part is, she is not the only one, we believe George Purefoy, Henry Hill and others are fully aware of what is going on.   Remember they all came up under Purefoy who believes LOYALTY IS NUMBER ONE, IT’S THE FRISCO WAY!  That is why Mack Borchardt still has a golden parachute job at city hall for six figures.  It is why Lee Glover is now in the position of Fire Chief (the boys are back in town)! 

This corruption has destroyed peoples reputations and two highly respected Fire Fighters are out of a job and we are sure there is more. If you ask the FWB group what should happen next, well we would say Fire Safranek, Hill, Glover and anyone else associated with this corruption. Oh wait, ASK THEM TO RETIRE. I think the city could be facing many lawsuits in the future and they will pay for their defense with our TAX DOLLARS. Everything is documented by emails and evidence so what do you have to say now? Humble Pie Anyone?

Pictures From Law firm Investigation Interviews:

Day 7: The Valve Report

by | Dec 27, 2023 | Frisco Fire - Valve Report, Frisco Fire Chief Lee Glover, Frisco Fire Department, George Purefoy, Mack Borchardt, Mark Piland, Politics, Public Safety

Mack Borchardt began his career in the Fire Service in 1973 as a volunteer firefighter.  In 1981, after serving with the McKinney FD, Borchardt became the city administrator in Frisco and the Fire Chief of the Volunteer Frisco FD.  In 1987, Mack Borchardt had input on the hiring of the new City Manager, George Purefoy.  Shortly after Purefoy became city  manager he named Borchardt as Frisco’s first Fire Chief since the fire department had grown from a volunteer force to a department with 150 full time employees.  You can imagine the loyalty these two have to each other, as they came up together in this city and worked side by side for years.

In 2011, Borchardt received the 2011 Fire Chief of the Year award from the Texas Fire Chief’s Association.  That is why it is a little shocking that in the Fall of 2011 the city did a Climate Survey in the department that came out Jan 6, 2012.  The report was not good, and it said in order for the “people issues” to be resolved the department needed to change from a negative, hostile, retaliatory environment to a positive, more supportive  one that encourages communication.  It said the city must make changes and it started at the top by bringing in new management. 

The decision was made that Borchardt had to go, and a new Chief was coming.   Borchardt turned in his resignation letter Feb 23, 2012, to his good friend George Purefoy.  However, Borchardt was not going anywhere!  His buddy and good friend George Purefoy created a position for him at city hall right next to him in the City Managers officer.  In his severance agreement it states Borchardt on or before January 1, 2013, will be REASSIGNED by George from Fire Chief to Fire Programs Consultant reporting solely to the City Manager King George or his successor.  The job was guaranteed until Feb 15, 2015.  It is important to note he is still there today in a six-figure job doing who knows what with a city vehicle.  King George his friend and confidant took care of him. 

Why is the relationship between King George and Mack Borchardt important?  When the city hired Mark Piland as Borchardt’s replacement it rubbed those loyal to Mack Borchardt in the department the wrong way.  Folks like Assistant Chief Lee Glover and Barry Dixon in Fire Fleet Management.  See their loyalty was always going to be with Mack which Piland did not know at the time, but it really left him a sitting duck. 

Why are these relationships important to the Valve Report?  Well, we are about to tell you. Snowmageddon 2021 was unforgettable for many Texas residents.  Record breaking below freezing temperatures for nine plus days killed more than 200 people and resulted in millions being without power or water for days.   In Frisco, starting February 15, the Fire Department responded to 162 calls in 7 hours which is 3 to 4 times more than the average call volume in a 24-hour period.  Then came the news that Frisco FD was fighting the Circa Apartment fire that lasted over 36 hours.  Over 260 units were affected by the fire, four Frisco Firefighters were transported to local hospitals with minor injuries.  The FD had never experienced a fire of this magnitude, then add in record breaking temperatures.

As life started to return to normal the Frisco Fire Department had two parallel reports working in the department.  The first was the Mayday Report which was supposed to be a learning tool for the department related to the Circa Fire.  The other was a report called the Valve Report and if you are anything like us, you are asking the same question we did.  What is a Valve Report?   Well, during Snowmageddon several of the fire trucks suffered freeze damage to the valves, piping and pumps on the apparatus vehicles.   

In an April 19, 2021, email to Henry Hill, George Purefoy the City Manager writes “I’ve heard that numerous fire trucks suffered freeze damage during the severe winter storm in February. It is my understanding that in the past, lines were emptied of water to protect the valves from freezing and the resulting damage; however, during this most recent event apparently that wasn’t done on the vast majority of the fire engines. I’d like to see a report which details the damage/cost to repair and, if accurate, what procedure(s) will be put in place to help keep this type of damage from occurring again.”  Henry Hill replies we will investigate what  occurred and get back to you.  Then King George replies “It is my understanding that it was extensive and supposedly only one truck was drained as had been the practice in the past.”

To many, this might look like a normal email, but it is not!  King George starts by saying I’ve heard…heard from who?  Then he says it is his understanding that in the past, lines were emptied, how did he know that?  How does he know what was or was not done in the most recent event?  How would he know it is extensive and that only one truck was supposedly drained?  How did he know the past practice of the department?  The answer is Mack Borchardt, who was getting full reports and secret emails from Assistant Chief Lee Glover.  No wonder why Assistant Chief Lee Glover was put in charge of the Valve Report for the department.

On April 27, 2021, the first draft of the Valve Report was done, and several insiders told us Piland was not happy because Glover had not talked to anyone in operations before writing it up or sending it out.  Piland felt the report needed to be fair and accurate which required feedback from those on the front line at the stations and those within operations, not just Fire Fleet Management, Barry Dixon (a Borchardt loyalist).

We were told from two inside sources Piland asked Assistant Chief, Cameron Kraemer to reach out to the stations and operations and get feedback on the original draft so that both sides would be represented.  This report was emailed to Mark Piland on May 5, 2021.  In fact, the report mentions the procedure for draining the pumps has been taught  and successful for many years and is documented in an internal training bulletin in 2016.  It also noted due to the high volume and the constant exposure these apparatuses had to history making extreme freezing temperatures contributed to the damage.

Then through our PIR we found two emails from Lee Glover to Mack Borchardt titled Pump Info.  The first was on April 29 and simply says, “Enjoy the read!”  Hmm, I wonder what Glover meant by that.  Then the second email was on May 17, 2021, and has no message just an attachment titled Department Memo Fire Apparatus Valve Damage 04272021.  So, two emails from Assistant Chief Lee Glover to his buddy, the man he considers the CHIEF which only undermines Piland.

Piland then asked Vetterick to take both drafts and merge them into one report so that all sides were represented in the report which created the final version that was emailed to Mark Piland from Deputy Fire Chief, Scott Vetterick on May 18, 2021.  Was this report acceptable to King George and his minion Henry Hill, well of course not!  That would be too easy.

Fast forward to June 25 King George sends out an email to a few different people asking them for feedback or advice on any changes.  The first email was sent to Mack Borchardt and Henry Hill at 10:35 am and the second email was sent to Ron Patterson at 11:10 am.  What could he possibly be asking for feedback on, well it is a letter to Chief Piland.  Interesting King George goes to his buddies, confidants, and everyone else but the active current Fire Chief himself, Mark Piland. 

The email King George sent makes it clear he is not happy with the final memo submitted.  Our guess is because it was not written by Borchardt.  What does the final draft look like, well we can only guess like the one we attached.  The damage was going to cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars between parts and hours to replace.   A few insiders told us Glover did a hastily report that put the blame on the fireman.  We asked them why Glover would do that, and we were told to protect Barry Dixon (Borchard/Glover loyalist).   According to a fleet expert it was Dixon who wanted steel and brass ball valves which were known to freeze.  We were also told Glover sent his report to Borchardt and Purefoy instead of proper channels through the Fire Chief, Mark Piland .  Why? Because he did not like that Piland asked him to get more perspective for the report. 

Add to that we were told a complaint was filed against Barry Dixon in Fleet Management some time ago for falsifying records and for filing a false complaint on a fire captain.  According to several inside sources Dixon was caught red-handed, but Glover came to the rescue to SWEEP, SWEEP, it under the Aladian flying carpet.

In closing, what did we learn from the Valve Report?  It was another tool to try and undermine, discredit, and lay blame on Fire Chief, Mark Piland.  Other than that, we learned nothing.  One thing is clear, Mark Piland had a hard time because he was never going to be given the respect from the Frisco Insiders at city hall.  He simply was not Mack Borchardt and from everything coming out it appears there was a concentrated effort to undermine him and disrespect him from HR all the way to the City Manager’s office.   A city insider told us Purefoy never wanted Piland or any other Fire Chief there, he wanted Borchardt, but his hands were forced.   

The question we have is WHAT DOES MACK BORCHARDT ACTUALLY DO?  We know he played Fire Chief behind the scenes of the actual Fire Chief while Piland was there.  My guess is he is doing the same with Glover.  He was supposed to be over Exide and well that has not gone well.  So, what is he making $200K+ dollars a year doing for the city?   Now that Glover is Fire Chief do you think he enjoys happy hours with Borchardt?  We are betting they do!  The good old boy network is very alive and well at city hall.  Just look at George Purefoy now, he has opened a consulting firm with Ron Patterson. 

To see all the documents we obtained in our PIR: Valve Report Documents

Day 4: Mayday Report

by | Dec 23, 2023 | Adams, Lynch & Loftin, Frisco Fire - Mayday Report, Mark Piland, Politics

The Mayday Report has been a hot topic of conversation for the last year. In fact the Mayor and his council friends used it during the election to smear the reputation of Mark Piland, his opponent. We wondered, what is in the Mayday Report? We requested it several times through PIR’s and the city dragged its feet to respond each time.

We also were curious, how much did the city spend to do this “Investigation?” Remember, this is our tax-payer dollars at work! Well, the answer is $83,196.79! That is the number from the PIR we filed however we are guessing there could be more charges that we have not been told about.

So what did $83,196.79 get us? Well, you can read it for yourself as we are publishing it here. You can find the invoice for the investigation as well as the Full Mayday Report. In fact the first 23 pages are the most important, the rest is just appendix attachments. It’s amazing how many times they say insufficient/no evidence to each of the issues. It is a good thing that it is not a drinking game or we could miss Christmas.

Battle of The Benjamin$

by | Nov 26, 2023 | City Budget, City Council, Frisco Fire Chief Lee Glover, Frisco Fire Department, Frisco Police, Mark Piland, Matt Sapp - President of FFFA, Politics

Every Wednesday, my wife and I sit down to eat dinner in front of the TV so she can see her Chicago Fire and Chicago PD.  In one episode they have the Battle of the Badges Boxing Match, and my wife went crazy for the young studs with no shirts on.  The Battle of the Badges is a tradition across the country and is considered a friendly rivalry between these two public safety departments.  Frisco PD & Fire held one back on July 21& 22 of this year  The two departments duked it out to raise blood donations for Carter Blood Care and the trophy was awarded to the Fire Department at an August 2023 city council meeting.

Just like the Battle of the Badges these two public safety departments also duke it out for the Battle of the Benjamins (aka money) every year during the annual city budget meetings.  Just recently at the October 17, 2023 council meeting under the Regular Agenda, item #35 to put Civil Service Law and item #36 to adopt the Fire & Police Employee Relations Act on the May 2024 election ballot.  What we found interesting was Mayor Cheney’s response which can be seen in the council meeting recording at the 37:59 mark where we feel he berates the Frisco Fire Association for having the audacity to seek Civil Service and Collective Bargaining. 

Cheney said, “Since 2004, the City of Frisco has had Public Health and Safety listed as a strategic focus area and we invest in this focused area heavily. For example, in Frisco’s FY2023 a total of $108,000,000 of the total $229,000,000 general fund budget was committed to public safety for personnel and equipment, surpassing spending on other essential services combined. Additionally, the city has previously approved substantial funding for public safety facilities and equipment through bond programs. As your elected officials, we take great pride in making public safety our number one priority, and we stand committed to educating the public over the coming months, regarding this ballot measure.”

For once we agree with the city on one key thing which is Public Safety should be any city’s number one priority.   Mayor Cheney’s reference to the budget made us curious, what is the budget for public safety?  What is the breakdown of the $$Benjamin’s$$ (aka money) between PD and FD.  Anyone following Frisco Chronicles knows we don’t approve of how the city is managing the two “number one priority” departments so now we wanted to look at the budgets to see if Mayor Cheney and the city really are committed.  What we found is the breakdown is far from equal.

For FY23 the Police Dept. is $56.3 million compared to the Fire Department Budget at $52.4 million.   Besides equipment the PD budget includes a Grants Administrator, Police Quartermaster, Training Officer, 10 Patrol Officers, 4 School Resource Officers, 1 School Resource Sergeant, and a Detective for a total of 19 new hires, 16 of which appear to be operations and 3 in the office.  However, the total number of new hires for the Fire Department is just 4!  That’s right 19 for PD and only 4 for FD and none of the staff positions are for actual firefighters.  Instead, the FD budget includes an Open Records Coordinator, a Public Safety Equipment Tech, an Emergency Management Analyst, and an Explorer Trainee.  Surely we are MISSING SOMETHING HERE, only 4?  No field positions, no actual firefighters?   

We decided to look ahead to the FY2024 approved budget.  The Police Department has a budget of 69.4 million, an increase of 14% and it includes 32 NEW PD POSITIONS.   Compare that to the Fire Department with a budget of 55.7 million, an increase of 4%, and includes 3 NEW FIRE POSITIONS which are for a K-9 Handler/Investigator and 2 Fire Inspectors.  The city budget even notes under Fire, “when compared to the FY23 revised budget, remains relatively flat.”   That means our new Fire Chief, Lee Glover has asked for no increase in firefighters in a city with a growing monthly population due to the urban density our council likes to approve. I am not a genius but even I know growth equals a need for more public safety services in both departments and clearly the city is NOT SUPPORTING STAFFING IMPROVEMENTS in the Fire Department.

Completely perplexed, we decided to go back to the FY2022 budget and take a look at it for shits & giggles. The police budget in 2022 was 51.3 million compared to the fire department at 44.9 million.  The PD was requesting 17 NEW personnel while then Fire Chief Mark Piland asked for 10 NEW Personnel and 9 of those positions were for FIREFIGHTERS. 

In the City of Frisco’s FY22 Proposed Budget video at the 2:50 mark, King George Purefoy said “We estimate that in about two to three years that Fire Station 10 will be built and go into operation. There are usually somewhere between 24 to new firefighters that are needed for a new station. As you can imagine that takes a tremendous amount of funds to do that all at once, so one thought was to start hiring some of these firefighters now, they’re needed to help the current operations, and try to do that the next two budget years to hopefully provide the staff we need to, for the new fire station ten.” 

That may have been what King George thought, but it was not the original thought or request by Chief Mark Piland.  Records show he had originally asked for each of the 3 truck companies that responded to high-rise and high-risk structure fires adding to the number of firefighters that would be available for these types of incidents.  That request didn’t happen either!

At a city council meeting on January 17, 2023, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Angelia Pelham asked Anita Cothran, Chief Financial Officer for the city (at the 17:43 mark), about Fire Department staffing which seemed out of the ordinary and a little random.  Pelham mentioned at a previous city council meeting they talked about FD staffing and how she is aware the city was not approved for a specific grant that would have enable them to hire more staff, she was curious if something was planned in future discussions.  Cothran replied yes that is something they would discuss with the city manager’s office and then with budget and audit committee.  Pelham then asked if there was a specific time for that to happen and that is when City Manager, Wes Pierson spoke up. 

Pierson said “The answer is yes, but there’s no specific time, that conversation can be ongoing.  But currently, the budget, as approved, has enough staffing for the level of service that we’re providing currently.  He then noted he believed the conversations of new staffing were in relation to opening a new fire station and were not there yet as Fire Station 10 was delayed a bit, but we’re preparing for that.”  Delayed?  A little bit?  The city asked for Fire Station 10 in the 2015 Bond and Station 11 in the 2019 Bond, yet we don’t have either of them.  Seems a little longer than “a little bit” Mr. Pierson.

The question we have, was Pelham’s question random?  The answer is no!  How do we know this?  Well, at every council meeting if you are a citizen and want to speak you can do at citizen’s input.  You must fill out a blue card stating why you want to speak and hand it to the City Secretary, Kristy Morrow.  She then hands those cards to Angelia Pelham who is responsible for calling the citizens one by one down to the podium during citizens’ input.  At the January 17th meeting, Angelia Pelham saw a card from Matthew Sapp, President of the Frisco Firefighters Association that stated he was there to talk about “STAFFING!”  Her goal was to preempt Sapps statements and after hearing his statement below you will see her question was very target based on what Sapp was going to speak about.  Talk about sneaky and underhanded!

It makes sense why FFA President Matthew Sapp took to the podium during citizen’s input at the January meeting.  Sapp read a statement, “This is the third time I have asked this question since the public hearing for the FY23 budget in August 2022…I’ve asked this question to you, the City Manager, and the Interim Fire Chief Lee Glover. We’ve yet to get a clear answer from anyone. I know the Interim Fire Chief has stated he has no plans on asking for staffing. They feel we’re appropriately staffed…we applied for a safer grant for 15 firefighters this year, which we failed to get. No one can honestly say we don’t need more firefighters… The FY22 budget states we would be hiring 9 firefighters a year for the next three years…this was said to be in preparation for the future Station 10. The majority of this council approved of that budget. This has now been pushed back due to infrastructure reasons, and therefore, the staffing plan is on hold. This year’s budget for FY23, which was unanimously approved, contains 19 police officer positions and added zero firefighters… Now, there’s no plan for this fiscal year.”

After digging into the budgets and seeing the glaring lack of personnel additions to the fire department in several years you have a lightbulb moment.  Now one can understand why the Fire Firefighters Association is upset and has petitioned for Civil Service and Collective Bargaining.   They truly believe they “need a seat at the table” to fight for their safety and the citizen’s safety.  It is clear in 2022 Interim Fire Chief  Lee Glover didn’t believe we needed additional staff and therefore did not ask for it in the FY2023 budget talks.  In 2023 as the New Fire Chief, Glover also didn’t ask for more staff in the FY2024 budget talks. 

Fast forward to August 7, 2023, in a video posted on the City of Frisco’s Facebook page, Fire Chief Lee Glover states, “We have a five-year staffing plan and a five-year plan ahead of us. We’re looking at building Station 10 starting in the fall of this year. We have been given permission by the council to start the drawings with an architect for Station 11.”   Based on what Sapp said at citizen’s input about it taking 18 months to train a firefighter, you should have started hiring a few years ago if you had a five-year plan.  Why has the city not published this five-year plan since they know the issue of the FD personnel is a hot-button issue?   I am not sure if anyone else has noticed besides me – FRISCO HAS BEEN AND IS CURRENTLY GROWING NOW!  We need to plan for NOW!  You have The Preserve @ Fields where homes will range up to 15 million by the PGA are we disclosing to all those home buyers they have no Frisco Fire Station to support their community and may not for another 5 years?  

Final Thoughts, well I know some of the city champions will say then Fire Chief Mark Piland didn’t do anything for hiring, but he did.  In private meetings with then and now city managers he spoke up for his department repeatedly.  He also went as far as to apply for the city manager’s position and then ran for mayor and we believe Piland saw how the city was operating and recognized things had to change for the safety of the city employees and citizens.  It appears to us that all this “progress in motion” was in place long before Glover engineered his way into the Fire Chief position. Station 10 & 11 were both approved in previous bonds as we stated earlier and then Fire Chief, Mark Piland.  Chief Glover wants to take credit for a successful department while he deconstructs life-saving programs implemented Piland and his Leadership staff.  The most important thing to ask yourself is how many more firefighters will get hurt under Lee Glover’s leadership before people take notice we are heading in the wrong direction.   Lastly, ask how many have already been hurt under Glover’s leadership? 

Now we are left curious about the bond programs and what we citizens have been asked to vote for.  Stay tuned! 

Another One Bites The Dust

by | Oct 30, 2023 | Frisco Fire - Climate Survey / ICMA, Frisco Fire - Squad Unit & Blood Program, Frisco Fire Chief Lee Glover, Frisco Fire Department, Mark Piland, Politics

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.

PINOCCHIO – THE ART OF LYING

by | Apr 27, 2023 | Elections, Mark Piland, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics

Benjamin Franklin once said these powerful words, half a truth is often a great lie.  The Armstrong Lie is a powerful documentary about Lance Armstrong, a sports legend who won the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 – 2005 after surviving stage 3 testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain.  Armstrong will go down in history for committing one of the best kept lies in sports history while he amassed a fortune from the sport and its sponsors.  Over the years he was plagued with rumors that he was doping or using performance-enhancing drugs which he denied emphatically.  Then a teammate became a whistleblower which caused Armstrong to be stripped of his titles, sponsors ditched him, and he faced several legal cases. So why did Armstrong lie?  Why did he risk losing it all if it ever became public?  Sports writers and enthusiasts have questions for years, but will we ever really know the truth?

The art of lying is among the most sophisticated accomplishments of the human mind.  Children must learn how to lie, how to assess the reactions of the listener, and how to adapt a story to fit a believable narrative.  Kids also need to learn how to decipher a lie to protect themself.   Learning to lie during the impressionable years of our life is why some adults conquer the art of lying.   But are all lies bad lies?  Studies have been done for years to answer this question.  I was blown away when I read one article that said there were 10 types of lies or deception.   In Armstrong’s case he lied by omission (partial truth), used lies of falsification (lie to get attention or sympathy),  told bold face lies (one tells a lie, and everyone knows it’s a lie), used lies of exaggeration (lies based on some truth), and he was a pathological liar (lies for no apparent reason).

Lies, regardless of whether they are big or small can cause a physical change in our bodies.  It can trigger increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and elevated levels of stress hormones in the blood.  It can also cause dry mouth, upset stomach, vomiting, sweaty hands, nervous facial twitches or hand twitches and can cause your skin to break out in a rash or turn red.   I know what you are thinking right now, where are we going with this Shady Shit?  Well forum after forum Mark Piland mentioned transparency and how he wanted to put in place an ordinance, like the City of Plano’s that said if you received over $1000 from any individual you could not hear any case or be involved in any discussion that could come before the council to avoid a conflict of interest or perception of wrongdoing.  You can still accept large donations, but you just can’t be involved in items that come before the city – seems simple and common sense.  

At one debate Cheney said campaigns are expensive and without donations it would be hard to run a campaign of this magnitude. This go around I have received a postcard, a magazine, and newspaper all with Mayor Cheney’s “Vote for Me” message.  Unless you are living under a rock everyone knows who Mayor Cheney is, his record, and his accomplishments, so why is there a need to spend that kind of money?  At the forum, Cheney responded and said Plano’s ordinance was put in place two years ago after all their developments were done or largely done.  He said he spoke to a Plano elected official recently (no name mentioned) about their policy and the official told him that the ordinance is not even enforceable, there are no teeth to it, and it was put in place because of a political ideology in their community who was having a tough time getting traction for their candidates that they wanted to support.  Now they have a situation where PACs and Super PACs along with other special interest groups lead the outcomes in elections.   Watching the forum, I noticed Mayor Cheney would twitch his hands, blink his eyes and his face would turn red so it made me wonder, was he lying? 

The morning after the forum I woke up, had coffee and white powdered donut (love those), and talked about the Forum with my wife.  While we were perplexed we let it go and went on with our life because we did not think for a minute this was some smoking gun.  Several days went by and we got an email from a follower who said they too were curious about Piland’s idea and Cheney’s response, so he emailed the Plano City Council.  He forwarded us the emails and responses and that is when I the light bulb turned on.  The whistle blower asked which one of the council members spoke with Mayor Cheney, could they confirm or deny his statements made at the forum, and what is their personal feeling regarding the ordinance.   Surprisingly several responded and all of them had a similar consensus.  We are publishing the first two responses in full below as we just don’t have time to post them all.

Shelby Williams responded, “the ordinance truly does have no teeth—that’s something I’d like to fix.”  Williams went on to say, “ Whomever Mayor Cheney spoke to from Plano was not correct, A) The only political ideology that drove the campaign finance ordinance was the desire to rein in the massive amount of commercial developer money influencing Plano’s elections and B) while it was argued that the ordinance would cause PACs to dominate our elections, it never happened. After the ordinance was adopted, PAC spending went down significantly.  He also said he wrote about this in 2021 when the new council proposed to repeal the ordinance.  Here’s my article from then, which includes links and screenshots to more data: https://shelbyhwilliams.com/campaign-finance-recusal-ordinance-up-for-repeal/.” 

Anthony Ricciardelli (Place 2) responded, “I voted for the ordinance when we enacted it, remain a big fan of it, and believe that it is meaningful.  I agree that there are still loopholes in it, unfortunately.  I would like to close those loopholes.  Respectfully, I don’t think it would be prudent for me to comment on something attributed to a different council member.  I can tell you that I’ve never said anything like the statements that Jeff Cheney attributes to someone on the Plano City Council.”   

Like we said earlier, lying is an art form!

TRUE: Mr. Cheney was correct that there is a loophole in the ordinance that needs to be fixed and they hope to do fix it in the near future. 

LIE: Mr. Cheney said it was put in place by a political ideology in Plano’s community that was having a tough time getting traction for candidates that they wanted to support.  Williams said it was to rein in the massive amount of commercial developer money influencing Plano’s elections.

LIE: Mr. Cheney said they now have a situation where PACs and Super PACs along with special interest groups lead the outcomes in elections.   Williams said after the ordinance was adopted, PAC spending went down significantly. 

Martin Luther King, Jr., once said “A lie cannot live” and he is right.  Lies may take care of the present but they have no future.  If you tell one lie and get caught then all your truths become questionable.  I have always believed that when someone lies to you what they are really telling you, is that you were not worth the truth.  That is a slap in the face, it tells you what they think of you and how little they value you or  think you are worth to them.  In the end we are left with one question, Mayor Cheney, who did you speak to on the Plano City Council that you quoted at the forum?