Guilty of Gaslighting?

The other day I was reading an article about the most common 6 phrases people say to gaslight and manipulate you.  What is gaslighting? It is a manipulation tactic often wielded by emotional disruptive abusers and is insidious in nature making it hard for a person to recognize the tactic is happening.  What happens when someone tries to gaslight you?

Gradually you begin to question your own judgement, memories, feelings and questioning reality.  The article quoted therapist Shannon Thomas who stated that “people who cannot authentically argue their point of view or stand behind their words turn to gaslighting as a tool.”  She went on to say ’they resort to confusion creating tactics, and that it really is a true sign of character weakness.

It made me think back to our recent elections and the mixed messaging the city tried to sell to citizens while attacking our Frisco Firefighters relentlessly while also saying they support our first responders and dedicate at least ½ our annual budget to public safety.  They also attacked and tried to destroy the reputation of Former Fire Chief, Mark Piland by saying he was the problem and the reason for the low morale.  The solution, to make Lee Glover, the new “SAVING GRACE” Fire Chief. Based on the In-Service notes we have reviewed, the city may have failed “BIG TIME” and the leader driving the bus is our very own City Manager, Wes Pierson!

After the election was over there was a large disdain between our Fire Department and the city so they planned a weeklong set of In-Service Meetings, aka “Healing Sessions” to listen to the firefighters’ concerns.  We filed a PIR for anything related to those meetings and after reading the 50+ page report of notes one thing became very clear, the city council knowingly and repeatedly lied to citizens during the election.

Example 1:  The Vote No PAC, funded by Frisco Developers, and run by Mayor Pro Tem Bill Woodard

Councilman Woodard was interviewed by Jack Fink with CBS Texas and when asked why the Fire Fighters were bringing the propositions to the ballot, he specifically said due to the “FORMER LEADERSHIP” of the department, referring to Former Fire Chief Mark Piland.  We assumed we would see some of those issues noted in this 50+ page report, however only 2 comments were made, which is one the environment is a little more relaxed now (uniforms) and that Piland may have tended to over communicate to the department. 

However, they had a lot to say about the current Fire Chief, Lee Glover.   When it comes to budgeting and purchasing new equipment, they feel the Chief Glover is out of touch with today’s firefighting tactics.  Firefighters said Glovers’ only tactic since arriving has been cost cutting measures to look good to the City Manager’s Office and council and that means he his neglecting his duty to his command.

Remember the Blood Program, otherwise known as which was carried by the Squad Unit? Refresh your memory by reading our older articles “Another One Bites The Dust” and “Make It Look Pretty.” At the time Councilman Woodard was the “city mouthpiece” across social media supporting Glover’s decision to end the Squad program and transfer the blood program to two battalion chief vehicles.  The report talks about Glover’s cost cutting measures and how the firefighters believe removing the Squad Unit and transferring the Blood Program was a huge failure as it took away two extra working people on calls and losing the expertise of the Squad members could be and will be deadly to citizens.   

What is the end result of the firefighter’s statement above about their concerns with Glover being out of touch with today’s firefighting tactics?   Chief Glover has cut valid programs, training and they believe he is purchasing the wrong equipment.  Glover has also de-incentivized training under his command, and today they have less training which is dangerous.   Courses and training are required for promotions to the next rank and other departments pay for employees to attend training, but Glover is telling his command to “put stock in your own training.”  As for equipment, Glover is buying more Quints -the big bulky fire trucks of the old days, which are hard to get around the neighborhood’s tight and crowded streets.  The firefighters prefer more engines and tillers. We are told engines are quicker and shorter in size making them a better choice. We are also told the tillers are an advantageous truck because they can go anywhere, carries more tools and is quicker to vent with 107’ ladder. 

Are we done yet?  Oh no, we are just getting started!  There is so much to go over that we are going to break it up into multiple articles this week.  Tonight, we leave you with three questions:

1. Why is the City Council and City Manager gaslighting residents into believing all of these issues are due to Former Fire Chief Piland who was endorsed by the Frisco Firefighters Assocation this year during the election?

2. Why is the City Council and City Manager gaslighting residents into thinking the problem is our Fire Association, who they called Greedy Bastards, power hungry and lazy during the election?

3. Why is the City Council and City Manager dying on a sharp sword for Fire Chief Lee Glover who in all respects to his command his nowhere to be found and neglecting his duty to his command?

We leave you with a strong remark in the In-Service notes which we stated above, “Firefighters believe Glover’s only goal is to look good to the City Manager’s Office and City Council which results in him neglecting his duty to his command.” ….. come back tomorrow for part two

UPDATE: PLEASE NOTE WE HAVE MADE CORRECTIONS TO OUR ARTICLE BASED ON MORE DETAILS RECEIVED. CORRECTIONS CAN BE NOTED IN RED OR WITH A STRIKETHROUGH MARK.

Tick-Tock: Tax Increase

Tick-tock, tick-tock sounds the clock!  Days go by, and the tick-tock never seems to stop.  Meanwhile City of Frisco leadership sits behind closed doors while we watch the clock, just tick-tock!  Precious moments fading away and citizens still are not standing up to ask, is everything okay?  What happens when time runs out…?  Tick-tock they will try to approve a $300-$500 million dollar Performing Arts Center and announce they plan to raise taxes!

Back on June 18th at the Budget and Audit Committee Meeting we learned from the agenda that both the Committee Chair – Councilman Bill Woodard and Committee Members –Councilwomen Angelia Pelham and Laura Rummel were present.  They had a discussion regarding the “PRELIMINARY FY 2025 Budget” and our Chief Financial Officer, Derrick Cotton talked about potential revenue generating items.  It is the last paragraph where it says Mr. Cotton talks about the “Homestead Exemption” and presented changes in the adjusted taxable values and discussed a possible tax rate change for FY25 that had our attention.

They plan to pick up the discussion this Tuesday August 6th at 3pm at the next Budget and Audit Committee Meeting.  Then we noticed Tuesday nights city council meeting Agenda Item 32 calls for a public hearing on the FY 25 budget.  In fact, the city memo reads “Consider and act upon adoption of a Resolution calling for a public hearing on the City of Frisco FY 2025 Budget, Frisco Economic Development Corporation FY 2025 Budget, and Frisco Community Development Corporation FY 2025 Budget. (Budget/TA)”

Why does a city call for a public hearing on the potential adoptions of the budget?  Well according to Texas Local Government Code, Title 4: Finances, Subtitle A – Municipal Finances, Chapter 102 – Municipal Budget (wow that’s a mouth full) there are several reasons.  Section 102.005 specifically states that if they are proposing a budget change it must be available for public inspection.

(b)  A proposed budget that will require raising more revenue from property taxes than in the previous year must contain a cover page with the following statement in 18-point or larger type:  “This budget will raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by (insert total dollar amount of increase and percentage increase), and of that amount (insert amount computed by multiplying the proposed tax rate by the value of new property added to the roll) is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year.”

Once they conclude that so called “PUBLIC HEARING” they can adopt a budget according to the law.  So based on what they have been discussing, based on the public hearings they have quietly posted, we can guarantee you the city is about to announce a Tax Increase!  Right now, those city leaders are just hoping you are not paying attention and all the other political distractions around the country will keep you from recognizing the destructive path they are.

Now you should say, wait a damn minute Mayor Cheney – you just ran a year ago on the fact you have lowered taxes.  Let’s not forget John Keating and Angelia making the 2024 rounds campaigning for your vote claiming they lowered taxes and plan to continue lowering taxes, but all the while they knew they were going to propose an out of this world Performing Arts Center and raise taxes.  

Didn’t this city council pull out all the stops to get votes to VOTE NO against the Fire Fighters because they claimed it “WOULD INCREASE TAXES” when they already knew they were going to do it anyways? What they were not telling you then is they planned to raise taxes but just for things they want for their own selfish reasons. Who cares what citizens actually need….

In a time when inflation is high and we are facing a presidential election these mice are running around in the clock hoping we don’t pay attention to the TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK of the clock.  If any one of our council members vote to raise taxes – VOTE THEM OUT!  Why are we, one of the flushest cities, according to Cheney talking about revenue generating ways for the city to make money.   It is simple, CHENEY-VILLE COSTS A LOT TO BUILD.  The old red head wants you to just do as he say’s and not ask questions ASK QUESTIONS!

Election Fix: Developer Dreams & Dollars

This land is Frisco’s land, this land is Developer’s Land

From the PGA to Stonebriar Centre

From the Toyota Stadium to the Cowboy Star

This land was never made for you or me!

For some time now we have questioned the campaign finance reports of local leaders.  Back in February of 2023 we wrote about Dark Money where we laid out how individuals associated with the PGA, The Link, or Fields projects donated to our current sitting city council members.  If you haven’t read it, you should because it is alarming.  Then just two months ago we asked the question, did Keating and Pelham accept “DIRTY FUNDS?”  We are talking about the $10,000 Keating took and $5000 Pelham took in 2021 from Veton Krasniqi, a man who appears to owe the school district $24,093.47 in back taxes.  How did we learn about this, a campaign finance report.  As we said they can be Shakespearean sonnets of bureaucratic paperwork.

The influence of money, particularly from developers or other vested interests, in local Frisco elections is a well-known issue.  In local elections, where the scale is smaller and the issues can be more directly related to specific projects or zoning decisions, developer money can have a significant impact. Developers may contribute to election campaigns of candidates who are perceived as more favorable to their interests, such as those who may be more likely to approve zoning changes or development projects. 

Sometimes things are as simple as they appear, developer donations have a direct correlation to the influence of policy decisions in FriscoElected officials will always support policies or projects favored by developers who have supported their campaigns financially.  That is why Keating’s most current campaign finance report filed 4/4/2024 should shock any resident with common sense. 

When you look at Keating’s campaign finance report you quickly notice that many are developers, several don’t live here, and he is quick to spend a lot of money with consultants.   To understand the first set of donors you need to understand the developer relationships at the PGA, The Link, and Fields.

Todd Armstrong, EVP and his partner Philip Rose at Cross Tie Capital each donated $1000.  A DMN article listed Cross Tie Capital, based in Grapevine, as a family-owned real estate, oil and gas, and investment company.   On the Republic Property Group website, it states, “The Frisco mega-development is being built with Hunt Realty, Karahan Cos., Republic Property Group, Chief Partners LP and Cross Tie Capital Ltd. and could be valued more than $10 billion.” 

We are curious why the Cross Tie Capital website says it is “not secure” and appears to be inactive.  Then we checked OpenCorporates and noticed the company has (2) Texas TIN numbers.  Under both TIN numbers, the status is listed as “Forfeited Existence”, and the Dissolution Date is the same which is 02/23/2024.  Things that make you go hmmm, that is the same day Todd Armstrong made his $1000 and Rose made his on 2/25/24.  Suspicious?

Next, we have the one and only, Fehmi Karahan of the Karahan Companies.  He is the mastermind behind Legacy West and the key player in the Fields development.  A campaign finance report would not be complete without a $2500 donation from Fehmi.  We almost feel badly for Keating because he obviously is not as valuable as Cheney who took in over $30k from him between cash and in-kind donations.  Fehmi’s attorneys also donated.  Jeff Brawner and RJ Grogan each donated $500, and they are partners at Grogan & Brawner PLC.  According to one of the many city council meetings during the planning phase of this 10-billion-dollar deal, the City of Frisco Attorney Richard Abernathy said he spoke at length to Mr. Karahan’s attorneys whom he identified as Grogan & Brawner PLC. 

The interesting thing about Fehmi Karahan, is that he donates mostly to republicans, but he did donate to Democrat, Colin Allred. He apparently is not a Trump fan either because he donated over $5000 to Nikki Haley in 2023. His attorney Jeff Brawner donated $500 to Eric Johnson in 2009 when he was a registered Democrat. 

The $1000 donation list from the founders connected to the Fields/The PGA/The Link development continues with Colin Fitzgibbons, President at Hunt Realty, Chris Kleinert, CEO at Hunt Realty Investments, and William Vanderstraaten of Chief Partners.  Lastly you have Mario Sinacola & Sons who are the excavating group for this big project.  James Sinacola, Joseph Sinacola, and Michael Sinacola each donated $1000. 

Colin Fitzgibbons according to OpenSecrets.org appears to be hard democrat who has donated to Joe Biden, Act Blue, Colin Allred, donated.   Chris Kleinert also donated to Colin Allred in 2023, as well as Mitt Romney in 2012.  William Vanderstraaten supports Trump with several donations. 

Then we saw the name Ryan Griffin from Rockhill Capital & Investments who donated $1000 dollars.  We remember that name from Cheney’s 2020 report which had him listed as FCS Construction.  We googled the address on Keatings current report and tada, FSC Construction and Rockhill Capital & Investments both office there.  Ryan is listed as the President of FSC Construction and Rockhill has him listed as the Principal & Chief Executive Officer.   FCS is currently involved in Fields based on a DMN report and Rockhill was involved with the Estates at Rockhill, and Stonebrook Crossing. Rockhill’s current project is The Preserve – Phase 1 where they are the Construction management for 132 residential lots for Shaddock Homes.  I WONDER IF THEY BUILT KEATINGS NEW HOME HE IS CLOSING ON IN THE PRESERVE SOON, that he announced at council a few weeks ago.

As for Ryan Griffin he has donated over $20K to State Rep Jared Patterson, and to a group called Patriots Always Triumph. 

Then we saw two names, Richard Reupke and Robert Shaw (each donated $1000) who built Twelve, a high luxury high rise next to The Star.  The night of the meeting, I remember them saying it was just a big club house for Jerry Jones and his buddies to have near The Star and of course they would occupy the two top floors.  We were curious why they would donate when they have no active projects. You guessed it, they do have an active project right now and it happens to be in North Fields.  Of course, we assumed it would be more luxury homes, but we were wrong.  They plan to build a “RENTAL COMMUNITY PROJECT” and the first phase will be 620 apartment units.  If Keating is going to break any of his density promises to residents, it must be for a buck!

If you do the math, that means Keating took in about $14,500 just from those involved in active developments that connect Hunt and Karahan.  It also begs the question; with the money he has taken will he recuse himself from future votes on these projects?  Was there a quid pro quo which helped him afford a house as a single man in The Preserve?  How long had he kept his house a secret and did he vote at any time, on any project, after he put down his deposit or started building?

Next on the report was Craig Hall and the Hall Group, who is all for the City of Frisco having an arts center.  Hall donated $5000 to Keating.  We went to OpenSecrets to see the types of candidates Hall donates to and well he is a hard Democrat.  Names like Nancy Pelosi, the National DNC and several state-by-state DNC groups, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, Royce West of TX, Colin Allred, Beto O’Rourke and many more.  One article on NBC News from 2019 said, “The couple has since given a minimum of $2 million to Democratic Party committees and have donated substantial amounts to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to an analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission.”  It goes on to talk about how the Halls like to spend time between California and Texas and how federal regulators had been zeroing in on a series of Hall’s unpaid loans.  Another article on MSN.com in Feb 2024 talks about how Hall’s California winery and how the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a subpoena seeking information from several Napa winery owners including the Hall’s. 

Some other honorable mentions in Keatings report include Joseph Hansen TYME Capital Holdings (bank) – $1000 and the connection appears to be their Veteran status.  Then you have the supposed to be Conservative Laura Rummell who donated $500 to Keating’s campaign and is actively promoting him and fighting against the Frisco Fire Fighters who she took money and an endorsement from.  We are assuming Laura has joined the exclusive you donate to me, and I donate to your council club so how could she ever be impartial if an ethics concern came up.   We don’t expect much from Laura, to be honest she sold a bill of goods to those who voted for her and put her there.  Chances are she will be easy to beat next time she is up for re-election.    Our new nickname for her Rollin Out Rummell, it is just a matter of time.

The icing on the cake with a cherry on top is James Webb who on 2/7/24 donated $5000 to Keating.  It lists him as the Chairman of Paradigm Development Holdings.  Something about this name kept ringing a bell like a little butler boy when you want butter.  We found a previous donation from Webb for $2500 in 2017 to Keating.  We of course googled and came across an article from the Dallas Morning News in 2016 with the headline, “Major Ken Paxton donor paying $3.5 million settlement after MEDICAID FRAUD PROBE.  

Preferred Imaging LLC, a medical diagnostic company headed by James H. Webb of Frisco, allegedly performed services that required the oversight of a supervising doctor without one on-site.  According to DMN, “Preferred Imaging LLC did not admit to any wrongdoing or liability in the case. The settlement came after an investigation led by federal and state authorities, including the Civil Medicaid Fraud Division within Paxton’s agency, according to John Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.”  That means when Keating took the money in 2017 and he should have known about Webb’s “issues” and still accepted the money then and is still accepting it NOW! 

There is more to cover in Keatings report, and we will look at that in the next blog drop. 

“Well, clearly Keating’s campaign finance report shows that he or some of his friends, meaning Mayor Cheney, called in their chips for donations.  Keating probably thinks he could be the next Mayor of Frisco, but he might want to work more on his resident outreach than dating a dental hygienist who can help with him some gold-plated teeth.  With as much money as Keating has raised and some of it from questionable donors again, we think he should just fund a yacht party for unicorns and leprechauns and ride a magical wave hoping his constituents appreciate his ability to play both sides of the fence.  Mr. Go Along to Get Along! 

Keep checking back because we have a lot to drop!

Special Thanks To Our Frisco Whistle Blower Researchers – you know who you are!

Ping Pong with Campaign Money

In our blog Non-Partisan Politics. we asked if local municipal elections are as “non-partisan” as some want you to believe, and the answer is no.  Then in our blog Go Fund Me – Campaign Edition, we asked if you would be upset to learn that a candidate whom you donated to, used their campaign donations to donate to other candidates that do not share the same ideology?   We did a deep dive into John Keating, who is currently running for re-eleciton in Place 1 and is a registered Republican. Keating is also the #1 offender of transferring money between candidates both from his political campaign and personal pockets.

We wanted to look at other candidates’ campaign reports to see what stands out.  According to Ballotpedia, Mayor Jeff Cheney is a registered Republican.  In 2015, as Mayor Deputy Pro Tem, Jeff Cheney endorsed fellow republicans Chad Rudy for Frisco ISD Place 3 and as Mayor in 2018 he endorsed Angela Paxton.  In 2021 he endorsed Angelia Pelham, a registered democrat, for city council.  Mayor Jeff Cheney campaign reports might look boring at first glance; however, you have to look a little deeper and then you will discover some interesting things. We are guessing his endorsement of a democrat may be the reason Cheney was denied endorsements during his re-election for Mayor in 2023 by the Collin and Denton County Republican parties.

We also noticed from Cheney’s campaign reports that he received at least $4500 in personal contributions from John and Leslie Keating. As for others sitting on council, Cheney received an in-kind donation from Bill Woodard for $109 and Angelia Keating for $400.  It begs the question, if an ethics complaint came before the council (which it has in the past) could Cheney be fair and impartial when Keating has given him over $4500? 

Another name that appears over and over on his campaign report Lorie Medina.  Not in the donations column but in the “expense” column.  Medina, otherwise known as Cheney’s political consultant or one time Chief of Staff has been paid somewhere in the range of $191,500 over the last few years for her loyalty.  Now, that is a lot of MONEY! 

Lastly, as we have pointed out before, the majority of his donations are from developers with ongoing city projects. In 2019 Cheney accepted $15,000 from Phillip Carter which he later returned after public pressure because Carter was convicted of fraud.  Another interesting name, Logan Anjaneyulu shows up in 2023 and he appears to be the founder of Alamo Equity, which owned the El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio.  In June of 2023 it was reported that the hotel had gone into foreclosure and was headed to the auction block by The Real Deal.  The article stated the Alamo Equity founder and managing partner had been mismanaging the fund to limit his personal financial exposure. Should we be shocked, just a few months after his donation the developer is in the news for questionable business practices? Probably, but it seems to be a repeating pattern when you take money from developers.

Then we looked at Angelia Pelham who is running for re-election for Place 3.  Since 2021, the Keatings have personally donated $8000 to the Pelham campaign.  That is not chump change!  Again, we pose the same question, if an ethics complaint came before the council against Keating (which it has in the past) could Angelia Pelham claim to be impartial when the Keatings have been her BIGGEST donor?  Does accepting that kind of money when you sit next to the person on council create a conflict?  Next Mayor Jeff Cheney and his wife Dana donated $1556.00 to Angelia Pelham as well as very publicly endorsing Pelham.

We also are curious if John Keatings conservative friends Jared Patterson, Drew Springer and Matt Shaheen (who was just at Keatings re-election kick off) would have a conflict with him donating that much or sending out a political mailer that shows an endorsement for a registered Democrat, who openly admitted on video she voted for Biden? 

Pelham has received over $10,000 in contributions from Cheney’s developer friends since 2021.  Should we be surprised?   Her three largest donations were $3000 from the Williams family associated with LandPlan Development, $8000 from Keatings and $5000 from a Venton Krasniqi.   Venton who?  Remember that name as it is coming up in its own blog post soon. 

Next, we looked at Bill Woodard and he likes to donate from his campaign to other campaigns.  First, he donated $500 to Sean Heatley for Frisco ISD, $1000 in two $500 increments to Dynette Davis, a democrat for Frisco ISD and $500 to so called conservative Laura Rummel.  Then he donated $1000 to Tracy Shipman, Dustin Paschal and Clint Bledsoe’s campaigns. 

As far as taking donations from fellow council members we could only find that he took one donation in the amount of $1000 from John Keatings campaign.  Again, we ask if the council members take money from each other, should we believe, they can be impartial when having to judge their co-council members of an ethics complaint?

Like all the other council members he took campaign contributions from the big developers ranging from $15 to $20,000.   All in all, one might say his campaign list is pretty standard until we saw a recent donation from his campaign fund for $200 on November 6, 2023, to Safety First Frisco PAC.  What is the Safety First Frisco PAC?  It is a “Political Action Committee” started to work AGAINST PROP A & B, FOR THE FRISCO FIRE ASSOCIATION for their ballot measures for civil service and collective bargaining.  Should a council member be giving to a PAC from his campaign fund (money you may have donated) to oppose our first responders?   Bill advocates left and right for his trikes and bikes path and trails, but it is impossible for him to find money in the city budget for staffing and workers compensation.  The city forced the Frisco Fire Fighters Association to the point of a ballot measure.  I sincerely hope if anything regarding the fire department comes before the council that Bill Woodard recuses himself now that he has funded opposition to the firefighters.

Next up Brian Livingston, who is known as the most conservative of our council members. Most of his donors appear to be registered republicans.  It is not a surprise that from 2020 to 2022 he used campaign funds to donate $3000 between House Rep Jared Patterson and Matt Shaheen.  It also appears Patterson donated back to Livingston in the amount of $1000 when he was running for re-election. It also appears he donated to the Mark Piland mayoral campaign in early 2023 which is probably why the council removed him from all of his positions on different committees. Livingston also donated to several conservative organizations like the Denton County Republican Party for an event table in the amount of $1391 in 2021, the Frisco Conservatives in the amount of $400 in 2020 and the Republican Woman of Great North Texas in 2017.  Lastly, he donated $1450 to the Americas Defender Foundation for the Thin Blue Line Ball in 2023.  The interesting thing about Livingston is campaign donations aligned to his conservative values and within his political party lines.

As for council-to-council donations we found an in-kind donation in 2016 to Jeff Cheney for $265 itemized as food.  He also has a campaign donation to Laura Rummel, which since being elected has towed the line of being a conservative.  The one thing we did learn, is that Brain Livingston likes food, lots of food.  He has several food related expenses on his campaign finance report at local restaurants.  Like the others he has taken money from developers to the tune of about $5 to $6000.

Tammy Meinershagen, one of our newest council members, had a very short campaign contribution list.  Craig Hall donated $2500 which kind of makes sense since he is into the arts and Meinershagen is poet and arts expert.  She had three personal donations (not made from political campaigns), the first was $500 from Angelia Pelham.  Then we found a $1000 from Dana and Jeff Cheney and a WHOPPING $5000 donation from the Keatings.   Again, we ask the question if an ethics complaint came before the council against one of these 3 council members would Tammy recuse herself?  Would she claim that she could be impartial? 

What did we learn looking at these campaign reports?  One, they all love developers, some more than others, which as a resident I will always find questionable.  We also believe the constant back and forth between campaign donations and/or accepting personal donations from fellow council members gives the appearance that your vote or decisions could be bought and paid for.  It also gives the appearance that you may be compromised should you have to be the judge and jury against your fellow council member if an ethics complaint were to arise.  We also learned that John Keating and his ex-wife Leslie were the biggest donors to all the campaigns including his own.  We are curious what Keatings conservative friends will think now that it is out that he gave over $13k to registered Democrats. 

Here is the truth, we would love to believe local races are non-partisan, but that is simply not true.  Who you donate to matters!  Who you endorse matters!  Who you align with matters!  Just scroll through Facebook political pages and you can see the talks of partisan vs non-partisan and it always ends up in two sides bickering. 

Ask yourself, if you are a conservative and you believe you are supporting a conservative but find out he has given $10,000 to registered democrats would you want to vote for that person.  Same thing if you are a democrat and you believe you are supporting a democrat but find out they gave $10,000 to a conservative would you still support or vote for that person? 

If you are a politician who has taken money from someone that you believed aligned with your party values but then learned, they donated to a candidate clearly aligned and registered with an opposing political party would you want to be associated with them?  The point – know what you stand for and research your candidates.