Tonight, has been a roller derby of twists and turns in the Frisco political world. One political candidate did a post, and then the Mayor of Frisco, who tonight we will call Keg Chugger Cheney, lost his marbles and shared the post to his personal Jeff Cheney and Mayor Jeff Cheney’s Facebook page. In doing so we believe he broke the law by committing slander and defamation of character. To put a cherry on it, the mayor who should be a Statesman for Frisco discussed a former employee’s HR record and was also misleading in doing so.
The post from Mark For Frisco City Council Place 1 said in 2020, that Mark Piland received a Mayor’s Award as the Fire Chief for the City of Frisco. The post went on to say Mayor Cheney said the award was voted on by the entire city council and that it describes “the city employee we think exemplifies that more than anyone” and “there are no two greater people that walked the walk.” Then it asks who could be better to be Frisco City Councilman for Place 1.
Fact 1: The post is accurate! Each year, Mayor Jeff Cheney gives out a Mayor’s Award. He discussed this in a 2020 after-the-council live video that was posted to the City of Frisco’s Facebook page. Cheney stated while it has his name on it, the entire City Council votes on it in regard to who in the city is leading with innovation, thinking about their job differently, and moving their departments forward. Then he says in 2020 the award was given to two people because it has been a challenging year for public safety. Then he mentions how public safety is the number one priority for the city and this year it came to the forefront with COVID-19 so they gave two awards to both Fire Chief Mark Piland and Police Chief Shilson. He is quoted as saying they are a “well-deserved list of accomplishments this year that helped keep our community safe.” Then he let Cheating Keating speak and he said, “he thinks they’ve done a fantastic job through the Covid-19 pandemic and then in their day-to-day work they had to do.” It can also be seen at the 23:00 mark in the October 6, 2020 council meeting. It is item 5 on the Agenda under Reports, and you can watch it for yourself, there is nothing inaccurately quoted in the Mark Piland Post.
After Keg Chugger Cheney shared the post to his Facebook pages Cheney wrote, “There is literally no better post to understand Mark Piland than this one. He was given the option to be terminated or accept a parachute severance package at massive taxpayer expense to retire peacefully because he falsified documents, lied under oath, and was untrusted by city management. Great leaders give credit to others and accept responsibility for their faults. Mark Piland would still be our fire Chief if he took responsibility for his failures. Him and Chief Shilson were awarded the Mayor’s Award on behalf of all of hundreds of local public safety officials and health workers that did amazing work during Covid. To use the efforts of others now as a political move is well on brand for him, disappointing and not representative of the people that lead this community. Please join me in supporting John Keating, Frisco City Council, Place 1. A true humble servant that gives credit to others during our biggest wins and takes responsibility for losses in the face of criticism.”
Well, in Keg Chugger Cheneys own words, there is literally no better post to understand the ARROGANCE OF JEFF CHENEY, than this one. His statements regarding Mark Piland being terminated are false, as we have pulled every EVAL for Former Chief Piland, we have pulled all of his exit paperwork from the city, and we have pulled and reviewed the entire Mayday Report which they claim he falsified. Nowhere in any of the EVAL’s was Piland ever given a negative review. Nowhere does it state that he ever “lied under oath.” Nowhere in all of his exit paperwork from the city does it ever say the word terminated, or that he was offered a parachute severance package.
We dug deeper and went back to the beginning and pulled PIRs from Piland’s’ other jobs and guess what,he has NEVER HAD A BAD EVAL, NEVER BEEN SUSPENDED, NEVER BEEN ACCUSED OF ANTYING ILLEGAL IN A 40+ YEAR CAREER BASED ON WHAT WAS TURNED OVER TO US.That made us curious, how could a man with a stellar career come to Frisco, and all of a sudden after calling out the HR director for falsifying his signature, did he become a horrible employee, violate the law, lie under oath, etc.? Also, if he committed such unlawful acts why would the city even give HIM THE OPTION TO RETIRE PEACEFULLY? Why not JUST FIRE HIM? I would be livid as a taxpayer to find out if someone committed these heinous acts that our city leaders offered him money to go away peacefully.
As for Keg Chugger Cheney’s statement that “Great Leaders give credit to others and accept responsibility for their faults,” is the pot calling the kettle black. Go back to October 6, 2020, and I do believe Fire Chief Mark Piland said this award was about his whole team and not just him and did give credit to the entire FD team. In case you have had too many cocktails Mayor Cheney, it is on tape! Second, you talk about faults, have you taken responsibility for your faults? I can think of a few words here, Keg Party, lying to the Dallas Morning News, real estate agent, and the residents of Frisco about your “exclusive” deals in Fields. What about how you bully people? We have received at least 50 stories from real estate agents where you have used your power, name, and position to bully them or flat-out threaten them.
MAYOR KEG CHUGGER CHENEY – YOU LIED AND COMMITTED SLANDER in your final statement! I watched your speech, over and over. Nowhere in your presentation or the after-the-meeting Facebook post did you say this award was on behalf of all hundreds of local public safety officials and health workers who did amazing work during COVID-19? You talked specifically about their leadership and by the way, both Shilson and Piland stood on that stage and said it was about their whole department. Not you!Your accusation that he used the efforts of others now as a political move describes you and your best friend John Keating. If sharing the fact that you won an award is a political move, then what would you call sharing the fact that you won the 2023 Chamber Executive of The Year across social media… vain or a political move?
Now, let’s look at the man you called “A true humble servant that gives credit to others during our biggest wins and takes responsibility for losses in the face of criticism.” Well at a recent forum, he accused Piland of being fired, and Maury Povich would tell you that is a lie! He also accused Piland of being a cheater, and Maury would tell you that it was a lie. I do believe it was that so-called humble servant Cheating Keating who stepped out on his wife, on a holiday weekend, in a PUBLIC COMMUNITY POOL, where any man, woman, or child could have walked in on them and had sex with a woman served on a Frisco Board, right? Curious, you said leaders accept responsibility, so has John Keating ever apologized to the public for his offensive behavior done in a public pool? Has he ever apologized for his lapse in judgment with the Get Naked photo? Has he ever apologized to the community, whose public pool he got caught in?
I also believe that same humble servant, Cheating Keating has claimed on the campaign trail that he made Frisco the #1 Safest City, #1 Best Place to Live, #1 Best City to Do Business, and the #1 Suburb in North Texas. Didn’t you just publish tonight that “Great Leaders give credit to others and accept responsibility for their faults?” On the campaign trail he has said over and over he is a true leader and that he made Frisco great under his leadership and because of his leadership today, we are all these #1 things. Where was the credit for the hundreds of police and firefighters who made this the safest city in this speech he gives over and over for “POLITICAL PURPOSES?” Maybe that is why the Frisco Firefighters Association and Frisco Police Officers Association endorsed him, OH WAIT, THEY DIDN’T ENDORSE HIM!!! THEY ENDORSED MARK PILAND, the one you claim is so awful.
To be factual, we were the #1 Best Place to Live in 2018 and a lot can change in SIX YEARS. As for #1 Best City to Do Business in Texas, that was awarded to us in 2020 and a lot can change in FOUR YEARS. In his recent mailer that arrived in mailboxes across the city this week, he said he wants to protect our quality of life with more roads, quality infrastructure, and less traffic. He has served this city for 13 years, so why has he not done that the last 13 years and phased in growth better, so we don’t have the problem today? He also said in the same mailer he wants to support our Police and Fire, yet clearly, they don’t feel that support or they would not have endorsed his opponent, right? Lastly, look at his website, he never gives credit to the great team that helped make this city great. All of his statements are I did this, I did that.
Lastly, we have pointed out over and over that the citizens want a voice, you know those who live here and pay tax dollars who are often ignored. They are tired of outside developers owning this city and our council, but John Keating the humble servant disagrees. His website says, “Business leaders who invest in Frisco know they have a voice at city hall with John Keating.” No wonder the developers give him so much money – his vote is for sale. Maybe that is how he could afford a house in The Preserve, Frisco’s most prestigious new neighborhood when his campaign finance reports list him as retired or a house husband.
Keg Chugger Cheney, tonight with your post you crossed a line that we are pretty sure you will get sued for. You also look like a bully, with a bad attitude, stomping his feet and kicking rocks on the playground because you didn’t get your way. Speaking of accountability, did you ever step up and apologize for your laundry list of things like a keg party, selling lots on a secret VIP list stated in a 2019 email, or admit that you have a lot in The Preserve that was gifted to you by your developer buddies? Maybe lay off the late-night vino drinking Mayor!
If you live in Frisco and have not yet heard about the heated debate between the so-called leaders for The City of Frisco and Frisco Firefighters, then you need to come out from under the rock. On the May 4th ballot, we the residents, will see two propositions: Prop A: Civil Service and Prop B: Collective Bargaining and before you vote you need to ask yourself, why would the fire fighters be going for something like this unless they really needed to?
In our previous blog, we told you about “The PAC” formed by active Councilman Bobblehead Bill Woodard, which is being used to disgrace our fire fighters all while they keep a smile and say “we love our first responders.” We also told you how the Frisco Chamber of Commerce used their platform to advocate instead of educate, on behalf of businesses against the fire fighters. Then we told you how city leaders called in their favors with developers who helped the PAC raise over $100,000 which is how the PAC was bought and paid for. All if it could not be shadier!
Now what? Let’s talk about misinformation and how they city plans to use Sheryl Sculley, the former City Manager for the City of San Antonio to scare residents by telling how she successfully fought off the “Association” from “virtually bankrupting the city.” In fact, they are going tell residents she was so successful that she even wrote a book titled “Greedy Bastards” but is that really the truth? Here at whistleblower, we like to dig deeper. We want to introduce you to The Real Sheryl Sculley aka Sherylton.
In an article we found in SA Current, it stated that before arriving in San Antonio, Sculley came from Phoenix, Arizona, where she earned $173,000 per year. While in Phoenix she headed up the effort to expand Phoenix’s convention center in the late 90’s and made some big promises. She stressed the convention center expansion would involve “NO NEW TAXES” and instead could be paid for with existing visitor taxes and a potential $300 million commitment from the state of Arizona.
The article reported that Sculley pitched the expansion herself to the Arizona Legislature in a 2002 presentation that stressed “There is No Status Quo!” At stake were $32 million in annual state tax revenues and 12,000 jobs, which proved to be enough for the state who committed $300 million to the project. Now you can’t have a convention center without a hotel next door. Sculley failed in getting a private developer to build the new hotel, so Phoenix financed it and built it! The article reports that everyone bought into Sculley’s idea the city would be poised to emerge as the next great convention destination. Guess what, that didn’t happen!
The article reports in 2003 that an Earnest & Young study forecasted the new grand center would welcome 375,000 annual convention delegates. Sounds great considering in the past it was around 166,000 in 1996 and 193,000 in 1997. However, at the end of the fiscal year in 2011 the attendees were just about 156,000 and in 2012 about 233,000. With no boom, the new Sheraton hotel the city finananced dubbed the “Sherlyton” by city staffers struggled to pay off its debt and required continuing tax revenue support from the city. In 2017, the City of Phoenix sold off the Sherlyton to a private company and suffered a significant financial loss.
When Sulley became the new City Manager of San Antonio in 2005 it came with a hefty price tag of $265,000 and a large promise to turn San Antonio around. She admitted to inheriting a disorganized mess and in her first year or two she hired a new police chief, a new convention-bureau director, and two deputy city managers. She reshuffled the finance department, had the municipal courts redone, and restructured the management at the convention center and Alamodome. She also overhauled Development Services which had long been the focus of complaints from the local “development” community. By 2016 her base salary was $450,000 and she leveraged a $100,000 bonus making her total compensation $550,000 making her the highest paid city manager in Texas. That is a lot of money for a city whose median household annual income is around $58,829.
SA Current reported at the end of 2006, they were already calling Sculley out for her lack of transparency saying she gives the appearance of citizen participation but it just that appearance. Sound familiar? Sculley proposed the three largest bonds programs in city history in San Antonio totaling over $2 Billion dollars. Under Sculley, the city’s debt burden jumped 78 percent between fiscal years 2005 and 2017, reaching $3 billion. Those borrowings include general obligation bonds, which voters approved, and tax notes and certificates of obligation, for which voters didn’t have a say.
Maybe instead of fighting the Police and Fire Associations for years she should have worked productively with them to fight crime. Did she expect to fight and not have them fight back? In 2018, when Sculley left, several online reports said violent crime was up, calls to 911 were up, and it was reported it would take 341 new officers with no retirements or attrition to be near full staffing.
Sculley announced her retirement in 2018 and within hours San Antonio dropped its lawsuits against the Fire Union according to SA Current. According to media reports, The City of San Antonio has dropped its lawsuit challenging the evergreen clause in the contract of its firefighters’ union, potentially hitting restart for negotiations for a new labor deal. In 2024, the San Antonio Fire Association President said, we are looking forward to city and union leaders working together with a more polite dialogue this time around.” Funny thing, that is exactly what Frisco Firefighters Association Matt Sapp has said, they just want to have a seat at the table and have dialogue.
In the end, the truth is Sculley set the tone for her tenure as City Manager and the associations responded to that tone. Sound familiar? Don’t misunderstand, Sculley did some great things during her tenure in San Antonio to change the city into what is today. We can’t take away her successes but it sure does not mean she didn’t have any failures during the same tenure. She left San Antonio with some positive attributes and like other city has some not-so-great attributes. In the end, Sculley walked away from San Antonio with over $10 million dollars in pay over the years. I guess her salary didn’t hurt the city economics just the needs of the fire fighters and police officers, or at least that is what she wants you to believe. Maybe that is why there is a Facebook page dedicated to her titled Removed City Manager Sheryl Sculley
However, any good left behind does not take away the tone she set with first responders. Remember she sued 5 times and lost 5 times. Think about it, Sculley’s new book is called Greedy Bastards, that alone speaks volumes as to how she sees first responders and public servants. IS THAT WHAT THE CITY OF FRISCO IS PROMOTING HERE? Does the city want us to think our first responders are greedy bastards, I would hope not. While the City of Frisco would like you to believe these propositions would devastate the city, the firefighters are not looking to bankrupt the city, hell they want a paycheck. We have to believe our Firefighters have commonsense, and that means they know you can’t really get a paycheck and benefits from a city with a diluted bank account.
The City of Frisco has set the tone with our Fire and Police Associations, and it is like an abusive relationship. The city has verbally berated them, scolded them, and told them what they don’t deserve, in a nutshell how much of a POS they are. Think of the narrative, just look pretty like a trophy wife, and stand there, don’t talk, or have an opinion. Then we can shout from our pulpit as the city council leaders that we give almost ½ the city budget to public safety so that proves we love our men and woman who serve. Now, please pat us on the back and tell us how amazing we are as a council.
Bobble Head Bill is making the most noise in this, why? He is termed out and cannot run again, so who cares if he burns the house down as he leaves. I truly hope those who are not termed out like Bobble Head Bill, understand that when this is over, you can’t just apologize with a cocktail or some red roses. That will be for Cheney, Meinershagen, Rummel, and the two other folks elected this year to fix. We end this one question for you to answer.
DO YOU THINK OUR PUBLIC SERVANTS / FIRST REPONDERS ARE GREEDY BASTARDS?
Political Affiliation: According to TransparencyUSA.org, since leaving San Antonio, it appears Sculley has become a consultant for Strategic Partnerships and in 2022 she donated $15,000 to Act Blue Texas and Beto O’Rourke.
We have wondered for years how these political endorsements and donations work in the City of Frisco. We have pointed out that council members donate to each other, that they take rather large donations from developers, and that it all gives off the wrong appearance to the public. We have been met with such resistance to the suggestion that this city is bought and paid for, and the victims are the residents, just living their lives paying taxes. All we have wanted is for the residents to have a voice and a right to vote for what they want in this city, something that terrifies our council and city management. So how are things bought and paid for, well grab some popcorn because we are about to tell you.
Let’s start with Safety First Frisco, a PAC, set up to oppose Proposition A & B for Civil Service and Collective Bargaining put forth by the men and women who serve our city in the Fire Department every day. The PAC was set up by members of our city council (Bobblehead Bill Woodard), Former City Manager George Purefoy and Mike Simpson, Dick Peasley, and many more of the Cheney klan. Then add to that our current council members (minus Brian Livingston) who are out block walking, holding community events, and taking to social media to oppose the propositions and take jabs at our firefighters while trying to tell us how to vote. Yes, I know they will say we are crazy!
Well, this morning we pulled down the Safety First Frisco campaign finance report which was filed 3 DAYS LATE. What we saw was chilling, appalling, disturbing, and intimidating. We talked about how the PAC was set up in our earlier blog, The Secret PAC. Today’s campaign finance report shows that from 1/1/2024 to 3/25/2024 the PAC took in $105,201.32 which breaks down to $22,950 in monetary political contributions, $12,251.32 in non-monetary contributions (in-kind), and $70,000 in monetary contributions from CORPORATIONS OR LABOR ORGANIZATIONS. Stop and read that again and let it percolate that in 2 months a PAC took in $105,201.32.
Where, oh where, did the monetary political contributions come from:
Bill Woodard For Frisco: $1000.00
Craig and Kathryn Hall (Hall Group – Developers): $10,000
Jeff Brawner and R.J. Grogan (Law Partners): $500 each
Kyle Wilks – President Wilks Development of Firefly Park Project: $10,000
Where, oh where, did the non-monetary (in-kind) contributions come from:
George Purefoy, former City Manager: $4000 for Polling Expense
Bill For Frisco Campaign: $8000 for Polling Expenses, and $54.92 for Printing Expenses, $39.50 for Website Expenses, $206.22 for Printing Expenses, and $59.53 for Website Expenses.
Where, oh where, did the monetary contributions from a CORPORATION OR LABOR ORGANIZATION come from:
Mario Sinacola & Sons Exc, Inc: $10,000 (they have active contracts with developers & the City of Frisco)
K-N Ventures (aka Fehmi Karahan of Fields Development): $10,000
Columbus Realty Partners (aka, Staubach, Richard Reupke, Robert Shaw & Fields Development): $10,000
Rudco Land, LLC (aka Trey Sibley III or Hillwood Properties – Fields Development): $10,000
Hunt Funding Group (aka Hunt – Fields Development): $10,000
CrossTie Capital (aka Philip Rose – Fields): $10,000 *click the name to read our last blog.
Chief Partners III, LP (aka William Vanderstraaten – Fields): $10,000
It is important to note that any of the names above that are underlined, DON’T LIVE IN FRISCO. Yes, they have a development here, but they are not Frisco Residents.
What does all this money mean? It means Frisco was bought and paid for by DEVELOPERS!!!! These same people who run the same corporations have donated to almost every one of our council members, some more than others (meaning Cheney). Just look at Keating and Pelham’s current campaign finance reports, the same names appear across the board.
Ask yourself, why are current council members so OPPOSED to the Frisco Fire Fighters Association, which has been around since 1997, but they all took ENDORSEMENTS & MONEY OR IN-KIND DONATIONS from them when running for office? The firefighters spent about $10,000 on Bill Woodard and about $8,000 on Laura Rummell. They have paid for signs and billboards for the candidates they have endorsed. Now, they want you to believe the Frisco Fire Fighters and the ASSOCIATION are trying to RUIN AND DESTROY FRISCO?
We have been to a few events now and the message from the Fire Fighters has been consistent at each one. If you don’t like Prop B, then don’t vote for it, but please understand why they are pushing for Prop A and consider voting Yes for Prop A. They also have said that come May 5th when the election is over, they will still show up at your door and be here to service the citizens of Frisco the same way they have all these years. That begs the question, how is our City Council serving the citizens? Wait, they don’t care about what citizens want. Yet when you follow the Safety-First Frisco website or Facebook page all they have done is attack with absolute hate and anger our firefighters, our former Fire Chief, and yet they claim they love them. It feels very personal, to be honest.
They are serving themselves! Bobblehead Bill wants his bikes, trikes, and trails. Tammy wants her performing arts center. Keating stands up for Veterans which we respect but outside of that he is just there for the photo opp and to be a cool kid. Laura Rummell claims to be the pet advocate, yet she has done nothing. Brian maintains his concerns about density and resident welfare. Lastly, for years, rumors have followed Mayor Jeff Cheney or should we say Real Estate Broker Jeff Cheney that he has used his position as Mayor to further his own business and personal wealth. For years, Jeff Cheney has denied over and over any wrongdoing, favoritism, or personal benefits from his relationships. All his loyal subjects fall in line and defend him and say it is just a COINCIDENCE.
In closing, we saw a post from Brian Livingston earlier about how he is not very confident that his discussion regarding lobbying restrictions will pick up any traction, well duh! He is not sure why the transparency of money movement between lobbyists, clients, and politicians is a concern for some people. We assume that “some people” he is referring to is the Frisco City Council and City Management. The same council member who when he endorsed Mark Piland for Mayor in 2022, was later removed from all committees as well as his campaign manager. Revenge or just COINCIDENCE.
Ask yourself one question, who is the real bad guy here?
In an open letter to Frisco citizens on August 3, 2023, the Frisco City Council announced they “firmly oppose” the measures by the Frisco Firefighters Association to seek civil service and collective bargaining. The letter stated the department holds International Accreditation and Class 1 Public Protection Classification (ISO 1) from widely respected third parties, which distinguished the Frisco Fire Department as one of the top departments in the country.
Recently we read an article in the Dallas Morning News regarding Frisco voters and how they will soon decide on civil service and collective bargaining for fire fighters. It questioned if it was ethical for Council Member Bill Woodard, who opposes the measure to lead the PAC. The article points out that by law, Woodard is prohibited from speaking out against the measure that is on the May ballot.
In a recent announcement we obtained from a source, it showed that Woodard was set to speak on March 21st at the Frisco Rotary meeting to give an “explanation of the propositions.” How is he going to speak if it is prohibited by law from him speaking out against the measure? In the DMN article, Woodard said “that he can have both positions from two distinct capacities.” He went on to say, “I am doing this as a citizen, as a member of this PAC, and anything that I say is in no way representative of my position on council.”
Honk, Honk! Did you hear the horn blow? If Bill Woodard wanted to speak on these measures as a resident, then why did he use campaign contributions to help set up the PAC? Campaign contributions generally come from the public to help you fund your election for COUNCIL. Woodard donated $200 to help the PAC from his Campaign Contributions. It is noted as In-Kind Contribution at the UPS store for a PO Box for Safety First Frisco.
Is that all he donated? On the same campaign contribution report, he also shows an expense on 9/5/23 for $216.92 paid to Bluehost for webhosting. Then on 10/10/23 there is an expense to Google for URL registration fees in the amount of $196.91. Woodard terms out next year in 2025, so what type of website would he need to be buying and hosting now? Drum roll please…our guess is the PACs website. We did a search to see who is hosting the website and well, you guessed it, Bluehost and it was created on 10/18/23. That is just days after registering the URL’s.
Remember in the DMN article he said he could speak out as a citizen, so why not fund the PAC with his own personal money? Why not pay for it from his personal bank account? Why did he fund it from his political campaign contributions? How can he say now after funding it from his campaign contributions that he is just a REGULAR JOE citizen speaking out against the measures?
Next, we wondered how does the audience distinguish between Councilman Bill Woodard and resident Bill Woodard? Bill Woodard was elected to the Frisco City Council in June 2016 and his current term expires in May 2025. Bill Woodards name has been in front of residents as Councilman Bill Woodard for 8 years now. If an announcement says Bill Woodard is coming to speak and explain the propositions, as an audience member or a resident you are automatically going to make “the connection” to the Frisco City Council. The only way we could take Bobblehead Bill’s opinions from the perspective of a resident is if he was NOT AN ACTIVE council member or had never served on the council and then we would have never known who was anyways.
This is no different than the concern residents have had for years now with Mayor Jeff Cheney, wait should we call him Jeff Cheney Real Estate Broker, or resident Jeff Cheney. Do you see the confusion? Do you think Real Estate Broker Jeff Cheney would be asked to speak at Chamber events? We have never seen the Chamber invite any other Real Estate Broker to headline an event or win Executive of the Year. Do you think resident Jeff Cheney would be asked to the Dallas Cowboys Christmas Kick Off to speak at the podium? Probably not! When you hear the name Jeff Cheney, you immediately associate him with his position as Mayor of the Frisco City Council. So, resident Jeff Cheney could not speak at the Rotary either and be an independent resident in opposition to the measures. The audience does not make that separation.
We did notice one interesting thing today as we poked around. The Frisco Rotary website now shows two names speaking on the proposed measures. First up, “resident” Bill Woodard, followed by Matt Sapp, President of the Frisco Fire Fighters Association. At least the Rotary Club came to their senses and invited both parties to explain their positions. We wonder if the invitation to the association was extended after the original announcement, which is why they were not listed.
When is ENOUGH, ENOUGH? The city continues to play between the lines. They had published online and several other places where they were opposed to the ballot measures and had to take them down because it was illegal. Backed into a corner it now appears they are using Bobblehead Bill to speak against the measures. It is the “BACKDOOR” plan that teeters on legal vs illegal, or ethical vs unethical. It all comes down to the city, and the city council who think they are above the law, and they don’t have to be accountable to the residents. It is the “FRISCO WAY” they always talk about. When will someone, a reporter, residents, or maybe the district attorney, call them out on the Shady ShXt behavior they continue to display? This is an obvious “F U” to the residents and the fire fighters of Frisco.
We have spent quite a bit of time combing through the City of Frisco elected officials’ campaign finance reports and as we come across items of interest that seem questionable, we bring them to the public’s attention. In our recent dive, we came across the name Veton Krasniqi, and it appears he made two substantial donations to two sitting council members. We did a simple Google search of the name in Frisco, and we found a LinkedIn page with no details except self-employed.
The first time we come across his name is in John Keating’s campaign finance report for the period of January 16, 2021, through April 1, 2021. It shows Veton Krasniqi donated $10,000 to John Keating’s campaign on March 10, 2021. The report shows the address listed as 6400 FM423, #15109, Frisco TX 75026. Immediately we noticed a red flag, because the zip code for the address, 75026, is not a Frisco zip code. It is a Plano zip code located near the George Bush Tollway and Coit, almost near Richardson.
We searched just the address without the zip code which came back to a company called German All Construction, LLC according to Open Corporates. It shows the “Agent Name” as Veton Krasniqi and the agent address as 6400 FM 423 #15109, Frisco TX, 75036. We expected to find an office building but instead, we found the Courtland Apartments at Phillips Creek Ranch.
The registered address for German All Construction, LLC on opencorporates.com comes back to 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy, Ste 402, Frisco TX 75034. We decided to google that address to see what we could find, and it came back to Lit Smoke & Vape. We don’t believe it was there in early 2021 but it did open later that year to some controversy which is detailed in a Frisco Enterprise and Dallas Morning News article. The article talked about how many parents and residents living in the area felt a Vape Shop at Stonebrook and Teel near an elementary, middle, and high school was inappropriate.
We decided to go to the Texas Comptroller to view the franchise tax certificate for German All Construction, LLC. It was registered on November 11, 2019, and appears to be active today. It shows the mailing address at 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy, Ste 402, which is the Vape Shop, and the registered address appears to be the same apartments at 6400 FM 423. When we clicked on the Public Information Report for 2023 it came back with two addresses. The first address we have already seen in previous reports is 2552 Stonebrook Parkway. The second address was new and belonged to a 1.544-million-dollar home in Phillips Creek Ranch on Tailwater Trail. We decided to look the home up on Denton CAD which shows a Veton and Lena Krasniqi purchased it in August 2021. It appears to have been transferred to a Family Trust in June of 2023, then the trust sold the home in October 2023. Are you confused yet? We are!
We continued to look through more campaign finance reports for other council members when we saw the name Veton Krasniqi again. This time it was not Keating’s finance report, it was Angelia Pelham’s finance report. It appears Veton Krasniqi also donated $5000 to the Pelham campaign on May 15, 2021, just a few short months after he donated $10k to Keatings.
The original campaign finance report filed by Pelham has Veton’s name and email address, where there is supposed to be an actual physical address. We found an ethics complaint on file with the Texas Ethics Commission because report after report was inaccurate with emails instead of physical addresses which are required by the state election code. Pelham was ordered to fix the incorrect finance reports, and when she did, she showed Veton Krasniqi’s address as 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy, Ste 302, Frisco TX 75034.
Immediately we had a red flag with Pelham’s corrected report because she listed the suite number as 302, which is different from Keating’s report which is 402. We Googled the address using suite 302 and it appears that is the Mexican restaurant Dos Amigos. We decided to look at Denton CAD and Viton Krasniqi is listed at 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy in suite 300B and the legal description says it is a restaurant.
Can you guess what we did next? Well, of course, we googled 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy, Ste 300B and we pulled up a Community Impact article from Feb 2019 which reports the Berlin Café is now open in Frisco serving German-inspired cuisine. The article states the café opened in late December and is located at 2552 Stonebrook Parkway, Ste 300B in Frisco. We looked up the Tax ID for Berlin Café on the Texas Comptroller’s website which shows it was owned by Veton Krasniqi. Then we came across another article in Community Impact in March 2021 titled Berlin Café Rebrands as Dos Amigos in Frisco. We decided to look up Dos Amigos Frisco on the Texas Comptroller’s website which showed it was registered in November 2020, but the franchise tax involuntarily ended. According to OpenCorporates.com, it shows that on July 28, 2023, the restaurant filed for a tax forfeiture. The mailing address is 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy, Ste 302 but the registered office address is 6400 FM 423, which is the Courtland Apartments.
After all this research that left us completely confused, we were still wondering, who is Veton Krasniqi that donated $10,000 to Keating and $5000 to Pelham? We filed a PIR for any communications between Veton Krasniqi, Keating, and Pelham. We were shocked when we received notice that no sufficient records came up. Two council members, two large donations, and neither of them communicated even once with the donor, not even a thank you note. Um, we smell some shady shXt!
We decided to do a court record search for Veton Krasniqi and started in Denton, County. We found eviction case after eviction case for Veton and Lena Krasniqi starting in Dec 2018 up to June of 2023. Then we looked up court records in Collin, County and we found multiple debt cases from 2020 to 2023. One involves his company German All Construction and Italia Day & Night LLC, otherwise known as Italian Village, which is registered at 5840 Legacy Circle, Ste D100, Plano TX. Italian Village located in The Shops of Legacy was featured in D Magazine back in September 2021 if you are interested in learning more.
Veton Krasniqi had lots of problems that’s for sure, and just when we thought we had hit all the shXt we were shocked to find two very important lawsuits. The first was filed by Frisco Independent School District for a total sum of $24,093.74 in back taxes against Veton and Lena Krasniqi. It appears they didn’t pay taxes when living in the fancy million-dollar Phillips Creek Home. Remember, this is the same time they donated to both candidates’ campaigns.
With all the money issues the Krasniqi’s had, where did they find funds to be big spenders and donate to local political campaigns? Maybe, it was the money they ripped off from the United States of America (aka you and me and our tax dollars). Maybe the answer is in the case of the USA v. Veton Krasniqi filed In The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division indictment on Jan 12, 2023. Krasniqi is accused of unlawfully and unjustly enriching himself by obtaining The Paycheck Protection Program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, and Restaurant Revitalization Fund loan proceeds through materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. NOW THAT IS A WHOPPER!
The indictment goes on to say the defendant (Krasniqi) used numerous restaurants and construction businesses including Berlin Café, Dos Amigos Frisco, German All Construction, Noahlena, and Foxtron to obtain multiple loans. It goes on to say he used his personal and business bank accounts to receive, deposit, and transfer the funds. It also accuses Veton of submitting materially false loan applications, lying about his qualifications, and intended use of the loan funds. It also accuses him of helping his family members and business associates in submitting false loan applications.
The indictment states that on April 28, 2020, he received his first PPP draw of $82,500 and on the same day he transferred $82,400 to his personal account. He then took out a cash withdrawal of $55,800, made approximately $15,000 in car payments, and transferred $9300 overseas.
The business closed at the end of 2020 and then he submitted a second withdrawal PPP application on Berlin Café. The indictment states on Feb 5, 2021, he received a SECOND draw PPP loan for $283,600 for Berlin Café, LLC which he claimed on the application would be used to retain workers, rent, utilities, etc., but the problem is Berlin Café had already permanently closed. The same day he transferred the entire sum to his personal bank account. We could go on and on but you get the drift the dirtbag was a fraud.
So how much did Veton Krasniqi defraud the US Government and taxpayers? Buckle your seat belt, because he obtained over $2.25 million in funds earmarked for emergency pandemic relief that real businesses in our community could have used. Let me summarize, he could not pay his school district taxes which hurts our kids, and he defrauded taxpayers (you and me), but he had money to donate $5000 to Angela Pelham and $10,000 to John Keating. As of today, neither of them has returned the money or offered to return the money.
This is not the first time John Keating has taken money from questionable donors. In October 2018, Keating took $5000 from Phillip Michael Carter who was convicted of bilking the elderly out 17.5 million dollars. It was not till March of 2019 when Keating and Cheney were confronted by the DMN asking if they would return the thousands, they received from a criminal that they both said they would be returning the money.
Why does this continue to happen, better yet how does this continue to happen to our council members? Cheney, Pelham, and Keating are all recipients of dirty funds. It is funny I saw an ad the other day on social media, and it was Pelham’s video where she says over and over “YOU KNOW ME” – yeah, we do! Then Keating boasts on his website Promises Made, Promises Kept which should read Promises Made, Promises Broken.
John Keating and Angelia Pelham, will you return the money to the federal government and taxpayers or return the money and give it to the school district towards his tax debt? Let’s see if they do the right thing!
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.
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