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:

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! 

Bobble Head Bill Woodard

by | Nov 2, 2023 | Bill Woodard, Frisco Fire - Squad Unit & Blood Program, Frisco Fire Chief Lee Glover, Frisco Firefighters Assoc, John Keating, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics

Another One Bites The Dust has really kicked up some dust! In fact on the North Texas Politics Facebook Group, Bobblehead Bill Woodard, Frisco City Councilman Place 4 claims our last blog is false, inaccurate and that we are liars. We of course want to address his comments, which is why we are here!

Bill starts off by saying let’s get some facts straight and WE AGREE Bill – let’s get some facts straight!

Woodard claims: The blood transfusion program isn’t going away. In fact, it’s expanding with properly trained personnel. First, are you saying the personnel you have today are not properly trained? As of right now, the Squad Program is a highly technical advanced EMS critical care program and also provides additional manpower to critical incidents and structure fires and is also capable of doing blood transfusions.

Woodard claims: We use data to analyze the best use of resources. Right now, the squad sits almost all the time. We would love to see the metrics Bobblehead Bill is relying on to show its idol “almost all of the time.” We reached out to our sources, and they have in fact said that Squad is one of the busiest apparatuses in the FD. So, show us your data and metrics that you analyzed please to prove Squad sits idle. Yes as of today we filed a PIR for those metrics so we will soon have data from the city unless they again try to send it to the AG in hopes of delaying us more open records.

Woodard claims: Staffing is being divided up and assigned to the BC (Battalion Chief) vehicles, along with the blood transfusion program. This will double (from one to two) the availability of this program on every shift, and better utilize personnel and equipment. However, Bill, our sources have also confirmed that they will not be in service because the lieutenant on the squad is being turned into a captain / safety / FIT / drone pilot / chauffer for the BC’s. The squad vehicles will not be in service, and no personnel will be assigned to them. I wonder when the taxpayers paid for those specialized vehicles for us to not use them now. Well, we know the city doesn’t care what taxpayers are floating for things just look at all the trips they take! More importantly, according to the department policies an officer cannot be the acting paramedic on a fire apparatus. Is Bobblehead Bill trying to say that an officer or Battalion Chief is going to be better than a highly trained medic at giving blood?

Woodard claims: In 2024 we expect to add this program to every ambulance we have further expanding the program, which necessitates the training of everyone on those pieces of equipment. Hold up Bobblehead…do you have a written agreement with a blood bank/hospital that they are going to guarantee enough blood for us to put on every ambo at a minute’s notice? Also, how much will the training of everyone cost on those pieces of equipment and is that best use of tax dollars versus having a highly specialized Squad? We would love for Bill, Chief Lee Glover, or the city to show us the proof that this will be rolled out in every ambo in 2024. We would also love for them to show us how they plan to fund the expansion, the additional training of personnel, etc. According to our sources every Ambo will have warmers but not blood! Mr. Woodard said there was 13 calls for blood in 2023. It seems the FD Squad units did their job then just fine, so does 13 mean we should expand it to every single ambo? HERE IS THE QUESTION FOR RESIDENTS: Do you want the medic who maybe does the procedure once or twice every 3 years doing your blood transfusion? Do you want a highly skilled team who does it up to 13 times in one year to do the procedure? As Homer Simpson would say, DUH!

Woodard claims: There is a 12-page contract that he is happy to share with anyone who emails him (so we will be doing that as well as we already placed a PIR request 15 min ago for it). He then posted the “RELEVANT SECTION OF THE AGREEMENT” that he claims stands as proof that the Hospital will supply blood for the expansion. We just filed a PIR for the contract unless he wants to email it to us for free as he said he would. Our email Mr. Woodard is FriscoWhistleBlower@protonmail.com but we won’t get our hopes up you would send it.

The image reads, “Upon request by the City. Hospital shall supply to the City the Blood Products from time to time. in such quantities and types as maybe requested by the City; provided. however that due to the unpredictable nature of the demands for the Blood Products, Hospital cannot and will not guarantee the City the availability of all or any portion of the Blood Products to be supplied hereunder. Hospital does agree. however. that it will use its best efforts to supply all Blood Products ordered by the City in an expeditious fashion to the extent the Blood Products are available to the Hospital. Hospital has no reason to believe that in the absence of special circumstances it will be unable to provide any and all Blood Products required by the City during an emergency.

Well, we have a few questions about the image and wording of Woodard’s so-called proof he published. Let’s take a moment to point out the incorrect punctuation throughout the paragraph and the incorrect written sentences. For example, Upon request by the City. Hospital shall supply to the City the Blood Products from time to time. in such quantities and types as maybe requested by the City; If that is proof who the heck wrote it? Also, what does “TIME TO TIME” mean Mr. Woodard? Is it all the time? Is time to time on every ambo? What does it mean when it says, in quantities and types, “AS MAYBE REQUESTED BY THE CITY?  You can say you’re expanding it but just not request the blood to actually have it on hand? It mentions the hospital CAN NOT GUARANTEE AVAILABILITY DUE TO THE UNPREDICTABLE NATURE OF THE DEMANDS FOR THE BLOOD BUT IT WILL USE BEST EFFORTS. That does not sound like a guarantee Bobblehead Bill that you will have this on every ambo in 2024 and why pay for additional training if we may not be able to get it? Lastly, it reads the hospital has no reason to believe that in the ABSENCE OF SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES it will be unable to provide any and all Blood Products required by the city during an emergency. Was COVID special circumstances? No one expected the world to shut down the last few years, but it did, is that a special circumstance? Mr. Woodard, this so-called image you posted first looks fake, second is not a guarantee as you said in your statements that it will be available for every ambo, and it is not dated so how do we know if this is a current or previous agreement signed by the city? You really expect citizens to be stupid don’t you?

Lastly Mr. Woodard claims if additional personnel are needed for a fire, we can send more apparatuses as necessary. I am quite certain we have the personnel and equipment to do that. Fires at this point represent less than 2% of total calls. He goes on to say this is not a shortage of personnel (okay sure). Any good organization will evaluate its operations and make changes when it makes sense. QUESTION FOR THE FRISCO FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION: In response to Bobblehead Bill’s statement do you agree we have enough personnel to call out for more apparatuses and still provide the same level of service? Mr. Woodard did you read the firefighters’ survey that says they have no confidence in Chief Glover? Did you still think it made sense after your evaluation of operations to make him Fire Chief? Bad leadership has bad consequences and in this case sir it can be deadly! Robert Townsend once said, “A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so they can get on with their jobs.”

Mr. Woodard likes to talk and hear himself talk, which is why he just can’t stop responding to us once he gets started. We are going to return the accusation and call Mr. Bill Woodard, Place 4 for the Frisco City Council a liar and if he is not a liar then he is misguided by facts! He asks us for proof but what proof has he published that contradicts our last blog Another One Bites The Dust? The fact is the City Manager and Council are going to double down to protect Fire Chief Lee Glover, they can’t stop now. They also are in a pissing match with the Fire Fighters Association and don’t want to give in or admit they may have been wrong so again the city will double down over and over. God forbid they just do the right thing!

The city FD is understaffed, and the Fire Fighters Association has repeatedly requested the need to hire more staff. Hell, the FFA went as far as to go to the city council meeting during citizens input and beg for them to hire more staff. The response, nothing you could hear a cricket if it chirped. While Mayor Cheney likes to break the rules of citizens input and respond to concerns when it comes to development or to defend his reputation, he can’t even crack a smile for the firefighters. Mr. Veteran John Keating won’t even fight for them! He should be ashamed of himself because if there is anyone on that council who knows what it means to serve it is Mr. Veteran Cheating Keating who sits there like a dumb puppet!

Mr. Woodard, if we are not hiring more personnel then how are we expanding the program? Can you honestly say it makes sense to consolidate Squad and the Safety Program? If you can then I hope your family never needs them and they don’t have the personnel to get to you because they have called out more apparatuses to other scenes.





Sassy Safranek

by | Sep 20, 2023 | City Council, HR Case 64 - HR Malfeasance, HR Department, Lauren Safranek, Matt Sapp - President of FFFA, Politics

If you are a fan of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Clark Griswold then you know the scene where Clark is holding the envelope sent by his company that he thinks is holding his  “Big Bonus” check.  He starts to talk about how he is going to use the check to put in an inground pool as soon as the earth thaws out.  After a few more words he opens the envelope to find a big shock.  It’s not money, it’s an annual membership to the Jelly Club.  Clark is shocked and dismayed and in the silence Cousin Eddie bursts out “Clark, it’s the gift that keeps on giving all year.”   That is how we feel about the consent agenda in the Tuesday City Council meetings.  In our last blog All In The Family, we said if you want to know what is happening in the city just look at the consent agenda.  For us, it is the gift that keeps on giving for those who are curious.

Watching last night’s city council meeting we noticed Keating called to remove items 25 and 32 and that was seconded by Brian Livingston.  We noticed item 25 which was a Human Resources item several days ago when the agenda was posted.  It reads consider and act upon adoption of an Ordinance to approve the new Public Safety Workers Compensation policy and updated Information Security Policy.   Many are probably wondering what is so important about it, well we are going to tell you!  If you keep up with what is going on in the city the Fire Fighters have been advocating for a better WC policy for several years.  They took their fight to the state this year in Austin and with the help of local State Rep Jared Patterson they brought a bill that would give public safety workers true workers compensation coverage.  This bill passed both the house and senate with overwhelming support.   

We were a little shocked by the cattiness and mean spirit of the memo submitted by Ms. Sassy Lauren Safranek, Director of Human Resources to the city council.  She talks about the new public safety workers compensation policy that had to be changed to align with Chapter 177A of the Texas Local Government Code that was recently amended by HB 471.   Remember our council likes to tote they support our public safety workers, yet they fought and opposed HB 471 the entire time.  In this memo Sassy Safranek states the city will be FORCED to develop a different WC policy – one policy for public safety personnel and the other (the current policy) for all other employees.   

Sassy Safranek goes on to call out The Fire Association President, Matt Sapp and his public comments before the city council supporting the city’s policy back in April of 2021.  She notes he supported the changes to the policy at the time and that he was active in the process to develop the policy.  She said the goal was to develop one policy for all employees.   Well, we went back and while he did support the changes he also stated several times in the last two years that it was a step in the right direction but not the total solution.   A step in the right direction does not mean he agrees and is content with the 2021 policy, it simply means it is better than what they had before.  The city was not happy about the FAA lobbying in Austin for a more comprehensive plan and they have made that clear many times.   Does Lauren Safranek honestly think that one policy can cover all employees?   Does she honestly believe the WC policy should cover the park guys who have a much less dangerous job mowing parks, and the same policy should cover a police office or fire fighter whose job inherently has more risk and danger? 

Sassy Safranek is upset with the new policy.  She writes in addition to at least one (1) year of paid leave for an on-the-job injury, HB 471 requires at least one (1) year of light duty while recovering from a temporary disability. One (1) year of paid leave (paid by the City 100%) and one (1) year of light duty, during which the employee will receive their regular wages, provides little incentive for the employee to return to full duty promptly.  She notes the 2 significant differences between the new policy and the city’s current policy are 1) one year of paid leave and 2) one year of light duty.  She notes that up to another year of paid light duty provides little incentive for the employee to get better and return to full duty promptly. 

Ms. Safranek your note about “LITTLE INCENTIVE” is offensive and ridiculous and it is obvious you have no clue what kind of attributes a person has if they choose to go into the profession of being a police officer or a fire fighter.   Most of these men and woman have a keen sense of duty and service.   Other traits include courage, physical fitness, they like structure and routine, they work well under pressure, they are adaptable to unpredictable environments, they have a compassionate nature, and they thrive off teamwork and collaboration. Those are just a few of the natural instincts these men and woman have.  Your comment implies they have no incentive to go back to work, and they are going to milk the system.  These are not people who want to sit at home and eat bon bons like you, they don’t achieve a thrill by laying on the couch and binging all the seasons of Suits on Netflix.

Safranek mentions the city has benefited from modified duty work by injured police officers valued at over $300,000 and injured firefighters at over $1.3 million.  She says if the city assumes that 10% of the time police officers will decline modified duty and if they assume 25% of the time firefighters will decline modified duty it would cost the city over a $120,000 a year in salary paid while someone is off work.   Again, the statement is offensive and ridiculous at its core.  It’s not like the City of Frisco doesn’t have the money.  We sent numerous people within the city over the last 2 years to Cary, North Carolina, PGA golf events in Tulsa and just last week they galivanted off to Fort Collins, Colorado.  Thousands of dollars of taxpayer money used for some to travel all over but we can’t find enough to pay officers or fire fighters hurt on the job.  Really?    As a taxpayer, I will happily pay for someone’s salary who is injured on the job.  If you ask me, based on a conversation Keating had last night at the council meeting I think we can cut back on the unnecessary trips where a planning and zoning board member gets drunk and belligerent and Council Woman Tammy Meinershagen doesn’t need to fly to different cities to play piano and see art, then and post it on her Instagram like she is having a great vacation on the city’s dime.

Ms. Safranek, your bias is showing and how you feel about city employees is starting to show simply by how you wrote this memo.  Screw the peasants who risk theirs! Your venom and disdain for public safety workers are more than clear in this memo. So are the cities.  As we said at the top of the blog the item was pulled from consent and Councilman Livingston asked for it to be held for further discussion.  Maybe in that time, you might want to reconsider the “oh bless your heart” southern slam slightly written into the memo. 

Read The Full Memo Click Here

Redline of City Workers Comp Policy Click Here

Survey Says….

by | Jun 13, 2023 | Frisco Fire - Climate Survey / ICMA, Frisco Fire Chief Lee Glover, Frisco Fire Department, Frisco Firefighters Assoc, George Purefoy, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics, Wes Pierson

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…“

BACKDRAFT

by | May 19, 2023 | Cameron Kraemer, Frisco Fire Department, Frisco Firefighters Assoc, Politics, Wes Pierson

It was a nice sunny day, and my dad called my name and asked if I wanted to ride with him to town and I jumped in the truck before he could even turn around and get an answer.  I loved being with my dad because he was interesting yet peculiar, and he always had interesting things to say.  I asked what we had to do, and he said in his gruff voice “get supplies” and I just buckled up.  We hit a few stops in town including the 5 and dime to get our candy bars and then we started back down the pebbled roads to Chateau Vino (home).  My dad slammed on his breaks out of nowhere he said “son, I smell smoke!”  He yelled, start looking so as we drove we looked everywhere around us and there it was black smoke rising on a neighbor’s land.  My dad slammed on the gas, and we drove fast towards the neighbor’s land, and I remember just bouncing up and down from all those damn pebbles.  We got there and saw the old man holding a hose and we grabbed others laying nearby and started spraying.  It took a while before the fire brigade arrived from town with a portable water truck.  I don’t remember much after that as I think I was in shock as it was my first fire.  We had the help of other local farmhands and the brigade and after it was out everyone sat on the back of their trucks watching for hot spots late into the evening. 

Why is this important? Because when I was a kid my dad always told me that if your business involved the land you lived on such as a farm or winery then you know the most detrimental thing that can happen is a fire. He said within minutes a small fire in open dry land could decimate an area and destroy our family’s winery.  When we first moved to Texas I learned the city we lived in had Citizens Fire Academy, so I signed up.  We learned that a fire requires a flame,  air, fuel, and heat.  We learned a backdraft is caused by the sudden introduction of air into a fire that has depleted most of the available oxygen in a room or building.  Firefighters look for signs such as smoke being drawn in along with the air under doors, and windows.  They also look to see if the windows are showing signs of excessive heat, such as brown stains and cracking.  It saves them from opening a door or window and being caught in a backdraft of fire.  My experience as a young lad and my short time in Citizens Fire Academy gave me a whole new perspective on what these men and woman do. 

As a Frisco resident in 2017 and 2020 when the Frisco Fire Fighters endorsed Cheney I figured if they felt he was the right leader I would support him too.  Then in April 2021 you would have thought an El Paso dust storm full of tumbleweeds came through Frisco and upset the equilibrium of our city.  As we discussed in our earlier blogs Where There Is Smoke PT 1 and There is Fire PT 2, there has been a long standing point of contention between fire fighters and the city in regards to workers compensation.  In 2021 the city opposed House Bill 2242 brought forward by their own district House State Rep Jared Patterson.  In 2023 the FFA and Patterson brought HB 471 and they have been working very hard to get it passed in Austin and it would protect first responders across Texas. 

While our local Frisco Fire Fighters Association and State Rep Jared Patterson are working so hard to protect first responders, you can imagine our shock on May 2, 2023 when we learned a 27-year veteran of the Frisco Fire Department felt the need to speak at Citizen Input on how he was recently terminated by the City of Frisco while he was on leave and under medical supervision for PTSD.

Those that wish to watch the City Council Meeting, be sure to watch the end of citizens input for the disgusting smug pre-written response by our new City Manager, Wes Pierson to Assistant Fire Chief Cameron Kraemer’s passionate plea for the Council’s intervention and assistance.

The Frisco Fire Association also spoke on Kraemer’s behalf and on behalf of all first responders that may be suffering from PTSD or any other work-related injuries or illnesses.  You can watch the meeting in its entirety here.  Citizen Input begins at approximately 54:00 minutes. 

In a post of Chief Kraemer’s Facebook page he confirmed that since this meeting, the City has not reached out to him.  Then on May 16th Kraemer, along with the FFA President Matt Sapp, and Former Frisco Fire Chief Mark Piland, spoke out again at City Council during Citizen Input. You can watch that meeting in its entirety here.  Just go to Citizens Input at the 23:30 minute mark.

We are going to continue to follow Kraemer’s situation and if you want more information please visit the Fire Fighters Association Facebook page.  They will be posting updates on Chief Kraemer, House Bill 471 and the City’s opposition to the Bill down in Austin.  It has also been interesting following their page for daily updates on the Department’s Staffing issues that the city continues to deny exists.

As we always do every other Tuesday, my wife and I tuned in online to the council meeting on May 16 and as soon as the meeting started I wanted scream like Alanis Morrissette…

Isn’t it ironic?
Don’t you think?
A little too ironic
And yeah, I really do think

Ready for the kicker?  May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the city terminated a 27-year employee by email over mental health then Mayor Cheney presents a proclamation to Denton County MHMR for all they do for mental health.  Nothing regarding this has sat well with me so my wife and I did find Chief Kraemer’s email and sent him a note to say we support him.  We told him we didn’t expect a response we just wanted him to know as citizens we appreciate everything he has done for this city, and we hope for the best for him and his family. 

Lastly are my words for Wes Pierson, a man the city hired about a year ago that now sits up high in his lofty thrown next to our City Attorney.  I was shocked, stunned and dismayed at the absolute disrespect you displayed and spewed out of that mouth of yours to a man who served our city for 27-years. If my mom were alive she would say wash that disrespect out with a bar of soap.  In my 70 years of life, I have never seen anyone as cruel and callous with their words as you were that night.  It showed your character, and I am guessing you have no idea how Mr. Kraemer feels since you have never kept a job in the same place for more than 5 to 7 years and the good lord blessed you with perfect mental health.  I am sure you are very proud of yourself sir, but you showed me and many other residents something that night.  If you can have that much disdain for a 27-year fire fighter of this city, then how do you feel about us the residents who pay taxes here and your salary and the other first responders in this city?

If you live in Denton County and need help please reach out to the Denton County MHMR Center Crisis Line at 800-762-0157 or click on the May Mental Health picture and it will redirect you to their website.

I thought that I’d been hurt before
But no one’s ever left me quite this sore
Your words cut deeper than a knife
Now I need someone to breathe me back to life

You watch me bleed until I can’t breathe
Shaking, falling onto my knees

I’ll be needing stitches
Tripping over myself
Aching, begging you to come help

Shawn Mendes