Sgt. Joe Friday is a no-nonsense, by the book kind of cop. He can be calm at times and other times he is viewed as a little rigid, cold, and a fast talker. Imagine Sgt. Friday’s dismay when he is partnered with a lively, unscrupulous, irresponsible and foot loose partner named Pep Streebeck. At their first meeting Friday says his new partner “I don’t care what undercover rock you crawled out from, there’s a dress code for detectives in Robbery-Homicide under section 3-605. 10. 20. 22. 24. 26. 50. 70. 80. It specifies a clean shirt, short hair, tie, pressed trousers, sports jacket or suit, and leather shoes, preferably with a high shine on them.” Their first assignment is to investigate Jerry Caesar a criminal who traffics pornographic magazines. Strait-laced Sgt. Friday said to Streebeck, “There are two things that clearly differentiate the human species from animals. One, we use cutlery. Two, we’re capable of controlling our sexual urges. Now, you might be an exception Streebeck, but don’t drag me down into your private Hell.” Their investigation into Ceaser has a connection to a series of random crimes by a P.A.G.A.N., a criminal cult. Friday and Streebeck realize they must go undercover to rescue the Virgin Connie Swail, a woman who is about to be sacrificed. Swail agrees to testify against the leader corrupt Reverend Whirley. Shortly thereafter Friday begins a romance with Virgin Connie Swail which could hinder his police work. Want to know the rest of the story then you need to watch the 1987 hit movie Dragnet that topped the box office.
There is a general theme in most cop movies which is it is important that police departments have the staff and resources needed to protect and serve residents. During the recent 2023 mayoral election, “staffing” of our public safety departments was a topic raised over and over. In fact, Matt Sapp, President of the Frisco Fire Fighters Association stood in front of our city council in January 2023 and asked a simple question, “Will we as a city add firefighters to the budget this year?” You can read more about how our FD falls below the national staffing standard by reading Where There Is Smoke (part 1), and There is Fire (part 2). The city has repeatedly denied our Fire Department is understaffed and very own Mayor, Jeff Cheney, said he is happy with the staffing levels, and the departments have everything they need. At one of the debates Mayoral Candidate Mark Piland mentioned a “police study” the city had done sometime in 2020 / 2021 and how it stated our police department is understaffed. My wife and I looked at each other and said is it possible that both of our public safety departments are currently understaffed?
A PIR was filed for a copy of the study, but we were told it was only available for viewing at city hall because the documents are subject to copyright. That is truly the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard as an excuse. Whether or not something is copyrighted should not matter or be a reason you withhold it from the public. If you go to Barnes and Noble most, if not all, the items in the store are copyrighted by the authors. Shockingly they are on the shelves, available for viewing and for you to buy. In fact, a simple google search of the organization who did the study pulls up several other studies they have done for other nearby local agencies for example Sachse PD. Imagine our SURPRISE to discover most of those studies are available for full view online. Where is the copyright issue? We also found that Collin County Sherriff’s Office contracted a study for a 5-year plan in February 2022 and Murphy Police Department 2020 Racial Profiling Analysis online. Why does Frisco act like they are special or have the right to withhold information? Why would they tell us we have to come in to view the study – what makes it any different than any other study in other cities? What is in the study that the city does not want us to know? No worries, we have the staffing study in full because Shady Shit does not give up that easily.
Who conducted the study? In 2020, Frisco PD with the help of federal grant money contracted with Justice Research Consultants, LLC, and its principal researcher Mr. Fritsch for the development of a three-year strategic staffing study. Fritsch has done studies both nationally and internationally and is considered a leading expert on police staffing, patrol allocation and deployment strategies. He has conducted staffing assessments in several Texas cities including Allen, Prosper, and Richardson. Fritsch also developed a propriety software called Model for the Allocation of Patrol Personnel (MAPP) which is one of the only models in existence today and the only one that has been stringently validated. Lastly, he has taught graduate level research methods for over 20 years at a university and is a published author. He appears to be more than qualified to conduct the study and to produce accurate results.
The study which was done in 2020 pulled most the of the baseline from 2019 due to covid and how that affected certain indicators. It started with interviews with Frisco PD personnel and the research team conducted a comprehensive analysis of several different factors to validate and project patrol staffing needs. The report is structured into six primary sections and the summary had 27 recommendations for staffing improvements which are listed below:
Recommendation #1: Based on the results, it is recommended by the end of FY 24 that 42additional patrol officers be added above the current authorized patrol officer and corporal allocation. Implementation Timeframe of Officers: FY 22 – Add 14 patrol officers, FY 23 – Add 14 patrol officers and FY 24 – Add 14 patrol officers.
Recommendation #2: It is recommended that four new patrol Sergeants should be assigned to serve as supervisors for special shifts. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 2 patrol sergeants and FY 23 – Add 2 patrol sergeants.
Recommendation #3: It is recommended that a deployment team of one Sergeant and three officers be added for each of the next three years. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 1 sergeant and 3 officers, FY 23 – Add 1 sergeant and 3 officers, FY 24 – Add 1 sergeant and 3 officers.
Recommendation #4: It is recommended that one new Sergeant should be assigned to the Traffic Unit. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 1 traffic sergeant.
Recommendation #5: It is recommended that two new traffic officers should be assigned to the Traffic Unit. Based on the needs of the unit, it is expected these additional traffic officers will be deployed in vehicles. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 1 traffic officer, FY 24 – Add 1 traffic officer.
Recommendation #6: Add 3 school resource officers to the School Resource Officer Unit. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 1 school resource officer and FY 24 – Add 2 school resource officers.
Recommendation #7: Add 2 criminalists to the Crime Scene Unit. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 1 criminalist and FY 24 – Add 1 criminalist.
Recommendation #8: Add 1 property & evidence technician to the Property & Evidence Unit. Implementation Timeframe: FY 24 – Add 1 property & evidence technician.
Recommendation #9: Add 2 digital media technicians to the Investigations Division. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 2 digital media technicians.
Recommendation #10: Add 3 civilian investigative assistants to the Investigations Division. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 2 civilian investigative assistants and FY 24 – Add 1 civilian investigative assistant.
Recommendation #11: Add 1 Office Manager to the Investigations Division. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 1 office manager.
Recommendation #12:Within the Crimes Against Children Unit, add 1 internet crimes against children investigator, 1 digital forensic analyst (non-sworn), and 1 crimes against children investigator. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 1 internet crimes against children investigator and FY 23 – Add 1 digital forensic analyst (non-sworn) and 1 crimes against children investigator.
Recommendation #13: Add 2 investigators to the Crimes Against Persons Unit. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 1 investigator and FY 24 – Add 1 investigator.
Recommendation #14: Add 1 investigator to the Property Crimes Unit to investigate economic/white collar crimes. Implementation Timeframe: FY 24 – Add 1 investigator to investigate economic/white collar crimes.
Recommendation #15: Add 2 Community Service Officers to the Community Services Division. One of the officers should have the primary responsibility of working with businesses while the other officer should primarily work with hotels/motels. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 1 Community Service Officer and FY 24 – Add 1 Community Service Officer
Recommendation #16: Add 4 Detention Officers to the Detention Division. One Detention Officer should be assigned to each of the four shifts. Implementation Timeframe: FY 24 – Add 4 Detention Officers
Recommendation #17: Add 2 Records Clerks to the Records Division. One Records Clerk should focus on open record requests while the other Records Clerk should focus on digital media requests. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 1 Records Clerk and FY 24 – Add 1 Records Clerk
Recommendation #18: Add 3 Communications Officers to the Communications Division. These officers can be utilized to provide coverage of the new second Frisco PD radio channel which is expected to be operational in FY 22. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23– Add 3 Communications Officers.
Recommendation #19: Add 1 Communications Supervisor to the Communications Division and develop a fourth shift in communications. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 1 Communications Supervisor.
Recommendation #20: Add 2 Radio Technicians to the Radio System Division. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 2 Radio Technicians.
Recommendation #21: Add 1 Public Service Officer to the Radio System Division to assist with fleet maintenance. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 1 Public Service Officer.
Recommendation #22: Add 1 Office Manager to the Radio System Division. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 1 Office Manager.
Recommendation #23: Add 1 Deputy Chief of Police to supervise the Services Bureau. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 1 Deputy Chief of Police.
Recommendation #24: Add 2 background investigators to the Professional Standards Unit. One of the background investigators can be a non-sworn employee who handles the background investigations for non-sworn applicants. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 2 background investigators (one sworn and one non-sworn).
Recommendation #25: Add 3 training officers to the Training Unit. Implementation Timeframe: FY 22 – Add 2 training officers and FY 24 – Add 1 training officer.
Recommendation #26: Add 1 administrative assistant to the Training Unit. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 1 administrative assistant.
Recommendation #27: Add 2 intelligence analysts to the Crime Analysis Unit. Implementation Timeframe: FY 23 – Add 1 intelligence analyst and FY 24 – Add 1 intelligence analyst.
Iris Murdoch once said, “We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.” Every day that I live in Frisco I feel like we live in a fantasy world. The illusion is whatever the city wants to buy or has shoved down our throats. Based on the way the city tried to deny us the staffing report it is clear they did not want us to learn the study had a total of 27…yes 27 recommendations for more staff. Ask yourself, why does the city want to withhold a study that several other cities have published online? The studies recommendations were to be completed by 2023 or 24 so how many of the 27 recommendations has the city followed through on? During the Universal council meetings, it was Chief Shilson who said he has no concerns about what potential crime Universal could or would bring. The city loves to tout here and there Frisco is the SAFEST CITY, but I am wondering if those that determined that would have the same opinion if they read the staffing study and how “UNDERSTAFFED” we are. Why are we understaffed with life-saving personnel? In my opinion our growth rate is out of control. We have a current population of 227,446 residents and we are growing rapidly with more residents moving here every day. We are growing so fast the city can’t keep up with its own infrastructure. As residents we see it every day with traffic, our roadways, parks and more. However, we don’t see behind the red curtains of city hall every day to realize that our growth is happening faster than we can hire and train more police officers and fire fighters. That means we are now being reactive instead of being proactive years ago, which could have helped us avoid the current situation. Secondly, we have city leaders and management who don’t want to slow growth. They refuse to say no to anything development related so as we continue to bring in big events like PGA golf tournaments, the ACM Awards, and don’t forget a theme park all while we are putting at risk our understaffed departments and residents. It begs the question, why is Frisco and our City Manager Wes Pierson hiring two more Assistant City Managers (and what are their salaries) but we are not working towards hiring more life-saving personnel in the Fire Department or Police Department? Instead, we have a new city manager with a GOD complex and a clear disdain for First Responders.
In our next blog we will dive into some interesting points in the study but for now we leave you to ponder a simple question. Now that we are in 2023 how many of the 27 recommendations can the city mark off the list as completed?
Imagine it is the early 80’s and your family is about to embark on their summer vacation. The day before you leave your dad is packing up the sports wagon, aka Wagon Queen Family Truckster, trying to figure out how each suitcase needed to be positioned on the roof, so nothing got lost along Route 66. You see your parents sitting at the kitchen table looking at the map one last time planning the ultimate route with amazing pit stops and fun things to do. Morning comes and it is time to hit the road. As you pull out of the drive all you can think about it is your destination…Walley World. Okay yes I am talking about Clark Griswold and the hit movie National Lampoon’s Vacation. It is a classic, timeless, and hilarious comedy and in my opinion one of the best movies of all time. Well soon families with small kids across the nation will pack up for that summer trip right here to Frisco, Texas. If you are wondering why then you have been living under a rock or in a cave for way too long. Universal Studios will be the Walley World of Frisco!
In January 2023 when residents learned Universal would be coming to town, they did not receive the Griswold welcome by locals. Instead, residents had a lot of questions and concerns about the project and its impact on the city. The biggest question still to this day is when did the city first hear about Universals interest in Frisco for this project? The answer is not as easy as one may think, and it varies depending on who you ask. In a council meeting Mayor Cheney said they first learned about the project at the end of August or September 2022. Then in an interview with local reporter Brett Shipp back in late January, Mayor Cheney said council had been thoroughly vetting the project the last 4 to 5 months. When announced in January several council members and P&Z board members admitted to not having the so-called traffic study, economic impact study, or crime study. In fact, several admit to having very few details on the project other than the colorful rendering seen by the world.
That is where we thought the story would end until one day I checked our email and there was a letter with a copy of two PIR’s by two different residents and I will admit I was a little verklempt and excited. The requests were for all communications regarding P117 / Universal, travel plans and expenses and more. Buried in one of the requests we found a picture of a timeline titled “Genesis of Universal Project” and after reading it we were very confused and perplexed.
Hold up! If the timeline provided by the city is correct then we have a lot of questions. It does not match the verbal statements/timelines given by the mayor and some council members and it does not match the emails received in the PIR. Who wrote the timeline? Who put the timeline in the PIR? Why are there no emails supporting this time frame? Are we to believe not one email went back and forth from May to the end of August regarding this big project that was in discussion?
According to this timeline the city officials supposedly had 3 meetings in June. The first was June 7, the second June 14, and the third June 21, 2022. However, when you get to July 13 it notes the June board meeting was canceled so the EDC board did not get a briefing until July. Let’s pretend we have a multiple-choice test question: Which June meeting was canceled? A) June 7, B) June 14, C) June 21, D) All of them or E) None of them. May, June and July? That is very different than September or October, which were the city officials statements given at city council meetings and meet and greets. I find it hard to believe my wife and I are the only ones asking why the timeline keeps changing. Why do I feel like we are being lied to and if they are lying, why? If the city council was briefed on a regular monthly basis since July 2022 then why is it when confronted after the big grand announcement most of the city officials and members of P&Z had little to no information about the project? When asked most looked like “deer in the headlights” and could not try to exit the conversation fast enough. What they did have were the same talking points that we later learned were lies and part of a bait-and-switch to what was really in the development agreement.
Confused we decided to go through the emails sent to us and we found the first email dated 8/22/2022 at 1:57 PM from Laura Cuzman (Sr. Admin Asst at the Frisco EDC) to Holly McCall and Sharon Perry (City Mgr. Admin Asst) is regarding a “High Priority Meeting.” It goes on to say Jason Ford (President of the Frisco EDC) would like to coordinate an “important meeting” with a “prospect” at the Frisco EDC office to be held 8/31/2022. It notes that city staff should include Wes Pierson, Ben Brezina and John Lettellier. Laura asks Holly to confirm if Mayor Cheney and/or Angelia Pelham from the council could attend and what 2-hour window would work so they could coordinate a meeting. Immediately Sharon Perry responds and asks, “Is this for Project US?” If it is Wes can be available all day. Laura responds that she believes so but will confirm with Jason Ford. Then an email is sent from Jason Ford to Ben Brazina (Asst. City Manager) and he states Cheney can be available, Angelia is on vacation and then he asks if Ben and Wes have suggestions of other council member(s) they should include. He specifically says, “ Mayor Pro Tem perhaps as part of protocol?” Then Jason asks Ben to make a call to Richard the next day to discuss any potential issues with the other member we discussed with related experience.
In my best Beyoncé I want to scream, ring the alarm, ring the alarm! Why would you not invite all the council members? Why exclude any of them from important conversations regarding such a big project? Is this typically how the city conducts business? What member could be a potential issue due to their related experience?
In the next series of emails that started on August 29, Emily Pollard (Marketing & Special Events – Frisco EDC) sends an email to Jason Ford and Leigh Lyons with a draft of the P117 Site Visit Presentation for August 31. Then Jason Ford sends an email to Wes Pierson, Ben Brezina and a cc to Marla Row (Visit Frisco) where he shares the first working draft of pitch decks for Wednesday’s meeting. That evening, Ben Brezina responded back they should highlight the month of May 2023 and talk about how many people are coming to Frisco with the PGA Frisco opening, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp Kick Off Party, ACM Music Awards and KitchenAid PGA Senior Championship. His point “inertia is moving…time for Project US to join us as our Partner. The next morning Marla Row sent 2 emails, the first talked about what statistics they should use for economic impact and the second email adds they should reference the meeting they had with all the venues to discuss them activating events around the ACM which further shows partnership beyond developments. Ben Brezina replies he likes that angle, it’s not just deal making, site development, construction, and grand opening but a partnership that extends far beyond the doors opening. Later that day Jason Ford sends out a revised “pitch deck” and working draft agenda for the August 31, 2023 meeting, along with a note to Jeff Cheney, Brian Livingston, Tammy Meinershagen, Wes Pierson, Ben Brezina, Marlo Roe, and John Lettellier with the subject line: Please sign NDA ASAP for meeting tomorrow. He goes on to say the meeting will be at the Frisco EDC office and the client has asked every participant to sign an NDA, which was drafted by Richard Abernathy.
Pictures of the P-117 Meeting Agenda show a list of participants and notes topics from prior meetings which may be revisited or carried over (site specific).
Discussion on workforce (i.e., how far would employees need to travel in from): A primary benefit mentioned over and over promoting this project was the jobs it will create for Frisco residents. If this was about local jobs then why are we talking about how far employees will have to travel.
Would the community be receptive to this project / land use?If not, why? Let’s just do a quick look at the City of Frisco’s social media Facebook page. On average daily posts can generate anywhere from 1 to 50 comments and maybe 3 to 4 shares. When you see posts with 100, 500, 1000 comments you can bet it is something citizens are paying attention to. Just look at the City’s Facebook page when it comes to Universal posts. On 1/11/23 the first post “The Announcement” had 1.9k comments and 4.8k shares and was one of the highest responded to posts on the city’s page in two years. It is important to note that most of the comments were against the project. Then a second post on 1/11/23 had 161 comments and 42 shares, 1/13/23 third post had 50 comments and 73 shares and the fourth post on 1/16/23 had 30 comments and 60 shares. February was not much different, on 2/10/23 the fifth post had 213 comments and 11 shares, and the final post announcing it had been approved on 3/7/23 had 349 comments and 76 shares (the majority saying it was a big mistake to approve it).
What sort of upgrades would be needed to facilitate the park (infrastructure)? I would be curious what the discussion was they had on this one.
What are the public approval hurdles we’d need to prepare for? Under what circumstances? They obviously were clueless to the opposition this project would face because they were not ready for the public hurdles that came after the announcement.
How might State/Local Economic Development help us (expedite permitting, political help, incentives, etc.)? I bet they didn’t expect the citizen opposition to incentives.
How hard is it to get a definitive answer to one simple question…When did the city first learn about Universal? Two months ago, at the council meeting, which was packed with residents, Fehmi Karahan spoke and said he was approached 10 months ago which means that would have been April 2022.
Depending on the timeline you believe, are we supposed to buy that for two months, Fehmi didn’t tell the city about the inquiry from Universal? If the city first started discussing this in May or even August 2022, and the project was thoroughly vetted as Mayor Cheney said, then why were some citizens told in January 2023 by council members and P&Z staff members that they really didn’t know too many details about the project? Why had the council or P&Z members not seen a crime study, traffic study, economic impact study from May/August 2022 to January 2023? Mayor Cheney besides using resident tax dollars (in excess of $10,000+) for a trip to vet Universal Orlando in person, what else was vetted?
At the climax of the Griswold’s Road Trip to Walley World in National Lampoons Vacation, everything had gone wrong that could go wrong and Clark’s wife and kids announce they vacation is not worth it and want to just go home. At his wits end, sitting in the sports wagon you can see the whites of Clarks wide eyes and the grinding of his teeth, and his meltdown begins. He launches into a foul-mouthed tirade: “I think you’re all f**ked in the head! […] This is no longer a vacation! It’s a quest! It’s a quest for fun! […] You’ll be whistling ‘Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah’ out of your a**holes!”
We agree with Clark this is a quest but ours is for something so simple called “THE TRUTH.” I was one of those residents in January sitting at home watching the announcement live stream on Facebook and thinking to myself what in the nuclear detonation, I mean tarnation is going on in Frisco. All I could picture was the final scene in National Lampoon’s Vacation when the Griswold’s gleefully race to the entrance of Walley World, “America’s Favorite Family Fun Park,” in slow motion only to find the park is closed for two weeks for repairs and cleaning.
After doing all this research we are left with more questions than answers and we can say the inaccuracies in the timeline are very questionable, glaringly obvious, and truthfully alarming. A smart person once said, “Trust the timeline of yourself.” And with that Walley says, until next time…
“We The People” is one of the best-known phrases in the American political lexicon. They are the first three words of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States and propose that the “people” should be the driving force behind government and what is does and does not do. These words should hold great significance because of the implication and meaning behind them but sadly many Americans today could not even tell you what the Constitution says and what it stands for.
We The People have the right to question our elected officials and our government which is why The Freedom of Information Act was passed in 1967. It requires the full or partial disclosure of documents controlled by the government, state or other public authorities. My entire life I have enjoyed putting in FOIA requests because it creates a checks and balance system so to speak. It is an easy and simple reminder to our elected officials that they work for us, they are responsible at the end of the day to “We The People” and they need to remember that.
So why is it the City of Frisco delays turning over PIR requests? Based on what some citizens have sent us they get the same responses over and over such as we need you to clarify, or it has been sent the attorney, and so on. Our team has filed PIR request in cities across Texas for years and generally they are prompt (within 15 days) to provide the required details. So why does it take the City of Frisco 30, 60, 90 days to respond? Why do they constantly find excuses to delay turning over information? How can the city operate on an honor code since many of our elected officials use their personal devices and email for communication? They also think very highly of themselves because they charge more than any other city we have dealt with which is probably there way of trying to stop the public from making requests.
One example, a resident requested “All electronic communication via email for Project P117/Universal from 1/1/22 to 2/27/23 between all city council members, Wes Pierson, Maria Row, Ben Brezina, and Jason Ford. The city released a few details after 45 days but the guts they have delayed for over 2 months now. Recently the resident sent us the email that city has now sent it to the Attorney General which allows another 45 days of delays. WHAT ARE YOU HIDING FRISCO WHEN IT COMES TO THE UNIVERSAL PROJECT?
Based on the recent city council meeting where the city set a precedent to release information protected by an NDA (which the city insisted on) that included human resource records we decided to have a citizen ask for a copy of George Purefoy’s Severance Package, copy of any signed contracts between George Purefoy for Mac Borchardt, any monies paid by the city to lawyers, investigators, outside organizations, and associations to conduct internal investigations, and if Ben Brezina had any write up or complaints. The request was made April 10, 2023, and we assumed we would receive this one rather quickly but instead the city sent back the following message on April 25: Please clarify whether you consent to Frisco redacting any and all information it believes is confidential in accordance with the TPIA without the necessity of a request to the Texas Attorney General. Confidential information may include, but is not limited to, attorney-client privilege, attorney-work product, confidential personnel information and/or witness informer information.
On April 28, the citizen responded the request was clear and it should not be an issue to release it based on current actions taken by the city and city council. If it was an issue the resident suggested they hold another city council meeting and vote to release it. They also noted they have no issue with the city redacting it. The citizen sent us an email today they are still waiting and now the request shows “sent to attorney.” WHAT IS THE CITY OF FRISCO HIDING? THEY ARE THE ONES THAT SET THE WHEELS IN MOTION AND NOW DENY THIS REQUEST? If they don’t release this request it will be clear the reason for the previous release was solely as a POLITICAL HIT JOB!
Another example is a PIR that requested “All electronic communication including emails and text messages between John Keating and Veton Krasniqi from 2020 to the present and Angelia Pelham and Veton Krasniqi from 2020 to the present.” Within 11 days of filing the response received was there are no documents responsive to your request. It seems weird that not one email exists with Veton when he donated $10,000 to John Keating’s campaign on March 10, 2021 and $5000 to Angelia Pelham on May 15, 2021. Surely there would be at least one email that details the relationship between these two sitting council members and a mystery man. What we did find is several cases in Collin County regarding debts with the name Veton Krasniqi attached to it. Things that make you go, hmmm!
Lastly a PIR request was made for a copy of the “Public Safety Study regarding the Police Department Staffing funded by federal grants.” The response was it would only be available to be viewed at city hall. They won’t actually give anyone a copy of it which has me curious. Maybe because it tells us that staffing is an issue just like we have been hearing. What we can tell you, is that you can bet Susan McFarland with the DMN won’t report on it because that would be a real news story with real truth.
My wife said she had this crazy dream, and my first mistake was asking her what it was about. She said I was White Goodman from the movie Dodgeball and I was strutting and striding on up to the City Secretary’s Office at city hall. Magically the song Apache by The Sugar Hill Gang began playing, “Ho, ho, ho, Tonto, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it, Kemosabe, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it.” When I walked into the office, I was greeted by the public records militant who said, “White, what are you doing here?” I responded, “it is called FOIA, The Freedom of Information Act. The hippies finally got something right. Just Kiddin’, not really!” I learned an important lesson – don’t ask my wife about her dreams and if I am White Goodman then I think I am damn sexy!
The questions we are left with are simple, why does it take the City of Frisco so long to respond to PIR requests? Why do they play games and delay releasing information that “we the people” have the right to ask for and receive? What is the city hiding?
Imagine you are a high-strung marketing executive on a business trip in New York and you just want to get home for the Thanksgiving holiday. You get to the airport and your flight is delayed and you get seated next to a goodhearted but annoying shower curtain ring salesman who likes to talk. Your plane gets diverted to Wichita due to a blizzard in Chicago which is your final destination. You can’t get a room but the annoying guy next to you did and he offers to share the room with you for the night. The next day you both get on a train which breaks down near Jefferson City leaving passengers stranded in a field. You then travel with the annoying companion by bus to St. Louis where you try to get a rental car by fail. Then that annoying travel companion shows up in his rental and offer you a ride and with no other options in site you head out for a 24-hour death-defying ride. Finally in Chicago, the new friend drops you at the L-Train (subway) and you jump on to get to your house with the hopes to just enjoy some turkey. Now imagine how funny it would be when the travelers are played by Steve Martin and John Candy.
Personally, I loved the movie and I think a trip full of nonsense sounds like a lot of fun. This old fart would love to be young and travel carefree like even if it was a trip from hell. Somewhere in all the crazy you find a little big of “it was worth it moments.” In our previous blog Frisco Delays PIR Request, we mentioned that a citizen reached out to us after they could not get the PIR they requested from the city. As of today, its been 2 months are still waiting for what the city sent to AG claiming proprietary work product. It is our opinion that the City of Frisco wanted to delay the citizen receiving the information until after the election. Is the city with holding information that could change peoples decision on how they vote?
Mayor Cheney said more than once they (the city and council) took a trip to Universal during citizen town halls, council meetings and on social media. It made us a little curious about the trip, was it anything like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles? Probably not, but the Curious George in me went into overdrive. So when we were sent the details we dove right into the deep end to start going through it.
Who went? Based on the travel documents provided to us through the citizens PIR we learned that Jeff Cheney (Mayor), Angelia Pelham, Brian Livingston, John Keating (City Council), Wes Pierson (City Manager), Ben Brazina (Assistant City Manager), John Lettelier (Development Services Director), Marla Roe (Visit Frisco), Jason Ford (President of Frisco EDC), and Phillip Climer (Building Inspections Division.
When was the trip? It appears the participants had different travel dates. Jason Ford and Marla Roe traveled 10-8-22 to 10-11-22 and the rest of the city staff went flew out on the 10-9-22 to 10-11-22. Then Jeff Climer went in November for two days, but we are not sure what the point of that trip was.
How much was the airfare for City Council?Jeff Cheney, Angelia Pelham and Brian Livingston were booked for direct flights on Southwest Airlines from DFW to Orlando and the total shows $2678.88 (base fare + fee’s) and each Amex was charged $892.96. Then we noticed a credit was issued for Brain Livingston’s ticket and a new ticket was purchased in the name of John Keating. It was a direct Southwest Airlines flight which cost $809.96.
How much was the airfare for City Staff?John Lettellier’s direct flight on Southwest Airlines was confirmed on 09/19/2022 and it totaled $553.20. Wes Pierson our new city manager confirmed his ticket 09/22/2022 on American Airlines for a total of $911.04 which included the Preferred Seat Charge of $15.71, Main Cabin Extra charge of $78.13. Ben Brezina’s trip was confirmed 9/22/2022 on American Airlines and cost $730.20 and Phillip Climer airfare was $623.00.
How much was the airfare for Frisco EDC and Visit Frisco? We did not find any airfare cost for Marlo Roe so we assume she rode on the magic carpet with Aladdin. According to Jason Fords expenditure sheet his airfare was $1284.73.
How much was the hotel cost? Each room at the Sapphire Falls Resort was $167.63 (tax included) per night. All together it was about $4000 for the travelers. Now here is where it gets interesting.
Resort Details: If you remember there was a ticket for Brian Livingston that then was credited back to the Amex. A new ticket was purchased for Councilman Cheating John Keating. However there is a room expense for Brian Livingston and NO room charge for John Keating. My wife did her thing online and confirmed that Brain Livingston was in DFW during the time of the trip, so how did he have a room in Orlando Florida for $335.26. If Livingston didn’t go, and Keating went in his place then the city should have updated the reservation with the hotel, but they didn’t. Awe golly, maybe he stayed in some girl’s room as he is known to get around and he didn’t need a room. We feel confident that he stayed in Livingston’s room, which still leads us to ask – why did the city not change it? Is it illegal to expense it under Livingstons name? Did Livingston know he had an expense in his name?
What about other expenses? There are no expense reports for Cheney, Pelham or Keating so we have no idea what they spent on food or “extras.” Ben Brezina and John Lettellier expense reports had no food charges, and based on both men being pretty fit we just assume they don’t eat. Both men had about $56.00 each in parking or taxi expenses. Phillip Climer had $172.50 in food for two days.
Who wins the award for the “HEY, BIG SPENDER” gold trophy? Well, that would be Mr. Jason Ford, President of the Frisco EDC. We believe his travel expense report may be inaccurate because it does not add up to what we received. It reads his flight was $1284.73, then $116.77 in transportation charges, $439.16 for meals, $3047.89 for lodging and $15 for airplane Wi-Fi. Let the suspense music begin because when you look at his Sapphire Falls Resort Hotel Bill his room for 3 nights was $512.04. That means he either paid the bill for everyone’s room or something on this report is NOT RIGHT.
We did find some of his receipts. The evening he arrived he had a meal that included a Flatbreed Pizza, two side salads and lava cake which came to $38.34 + $7.20 tip for a total of $46.24. Then on 10-9 Jason Ford expensed a dinner that he notes with John Keating on the receipt, and it included sliders and Mich Ultra- since when does the city pay for alcohol? The total came to $24.50 + $5.50 tip for a grand total of $30.00. It appears the morning of 10-10 Jason took Keating, Pierson and himself to breakfast and the total was $89.46 plus a $15.54 tip! It appears that evening he took everyone to dinner at a Universal Sports Grill and the total was $194.64. Before I tell you THE BIG TIP, just remember at this week’s city council meeting the city tried to hide on the consent agenda a $5 million parking garage for some collector’s cars that were donated to the city and candy store (side note Livingston removed the item from the consent agenda to post pone it). Either way that must mean the city has a “big purse” and we have the money to spend! As Angelia said the night of the council meeting in March where they made the big Universal Decision “money is not a bad word, it is how people use money that is troublesome.”
DRUM ROLL PLEASE: Jason Ford left a $5.35 tip! We thought maybe they included gratuity since it was a large party but we could not find it so unless it got cut off the page, it was $5.35. (You can’t make this shit up).
It was clear after reviewing everything that a lot of details for the traveling city representatives was missing from this PIR request. There was not a travel expense report for each person. Hotel room bills for people who didn’t go, and no hotel room bills for ones who went. We are guessing the trip cost tax dollars at the minimum $10,000+ dollars. As a taxpayer I think maybe instead of sending 9 people we could have done it with half the number of people. Now they will argue, it will bring us millions in tax revenue over 30 years, but I am old and most likely will be 6 feet under in a few years and my kids will be arguing over their inheritance so who am I to care about 30 years from now. I like many other taxpayers hope you had a good time on our dime. If I were not in a wheelchair I would come to the next council meeting and break out in song during citizens input and sing
The minute you walked in the joint I could see you were people of distinction Real big spenders Good lookin’ so refined Say, wouldn’t you like to know what’s goin’ on in my mind? So let me get right to the point I don’t pop my cork for everyone I see Hey big spender, Spend a little money on me
Wouldn’t you like to have fun, fun, fun How’s about a few laughs,
Hey big spender Hey big spender Hey big spender Spend, a little money on me …or just help me with my property tax bill that is due since we have money to build a garage and take $10,000 dollar trips.
We received an email today from a resident who said they are upset that their PIRs are being delayed. The resident asked for “All electronic communications via email for Project P117/ Universal from 1/1/22 – 2/27/23 amongst all city council members , Wes Pearson, Maria Row, Ben Brezina, Jason Ford.” We have laid out the timeline sent to us by the resident below and we are wondering why the city is trying to delay this information from being released until after “THE ELECTION” Feb 27, 2023: Resident files PIR request
March 14, 2023: Resident receives response that the documents will cost $72.36 (for labor)
Resident Makes Payment
March 20, 2023: Resident sends message asking when they can expect files?
March 23, 2023: Resident notices status change reads “sent to attorney” sends message asking when should they expect their documents? Then they ask why has it been sent to attorney?
March 29, 2023: Resident receives a response asking for them to clarify what information they are seeking from the city.
April 2, 2023: Resident replies asking them to confirm they are asking for clarification of the request after they charged the resident $72.36 for files. They state what they are asking for is very clear all files related to the Universal Project (code name P117 or US). They state all emails between council members, city management, and Frisco EDC, the developers Fehmi and Universal management. Travel Expenses for the 10 people who went to Universal Florida. The resident states how did you determine a price for labor if you did not know what I was asking for and why are you delaying the records release?
April 5, 2023: Resident writes to city again asking where are the files they have requested and paid for? They note they have been waiting patiently since Feb 27, 2023. The resident notes the games the city are playing by charging them, then asking for clarification, then sending to city attorney. The resident then asks how they can have a city council meeting, vote to releases records for a PIR request regarding a MAYORAL CANDIDATE and an article can be in the paper the next morning but they can’t seem to respond to others requests regarding Universal. The resident asks for a response in 24 hours.
April 18, 2023: Resident “FINALLY” receives an email that that they have released a few documents but the rest has been sent to the Attorney General in Austin, Texas due to “confidentiality” issues. The resident said he received travel invoices, 6 redacted emails and a Choose Frisco presentation. Is the city trying to say there are no emails regarding this project?
April 21, 2023: Resident calls AGO and asks the turn around time on approval or denial to the city’s request and how they can file a objection. They are told by the state representative it can take “UP TO 45 DAYS” for a response and gave the resident the address to mail a letter of objection.
QUESTION: HOW CAN THE CITY RELEASE HR DOCUMENTS ON A RETIRED EMPLOYEE AND A DMN REPORTER CAN HAVE AN ARTICLE IN THE NEXT MORNING PAPER WITH A FULL ARTICLE BUT THEY CAN NOT RELEASE DOCUMENTS REGARDING UNIVERSAL?
WHAT IS CONFIDENTIAL? WHAT IS THE CITY WITHHOLDING?
TO SUM IT UP – IT IS CLEAR THE CITY IS PLAYING GAMES AND DELAYING THESE DOCUMENTS UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTION AND WE WANT TO KNOW WHY? WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?
If you have filed PIR’s are getting the run around from the city we want to hear from you! Email us via our contact us page.
When we created Frisco Chronicles the goal was to get some simple questions addressed and expose some shady shit. What is our local governments purpose? Why do citizens have a lack of trust in our local city government? Why is our city so afraid of a transparent government? Why is our city afraid of ethics enforcement? Do we have an open budget process and our residents tax dollars being spent wisely? Why do residents have a fear of speaking up or calling out our leaders for what they believe is toxic or negative behavior? Is the business we are doing in public-private partnerships with reputable developers and companies? Why does our city charge and “arm and leg” for a Public Information Request and why are the prices differ depending on who files it? Why is everything from our leadership a sales pitch versus a fact finding to hear what residents want? We could go on … and on … an on but we won’t put you through that.
Corruption is widely defined as a breach of the public’s trust by government officials who use their public office to obtain personal gain. It is dishonest or sometimes illegal behavior by those in power which can affect the performance of local government and it erodes trust and weakens democracy.
Transparent governance means that government officials act openly, with citizens knowledge of the decision the officials are making. Important components include the availability of information on government policies and actions, a clear sense of organizational responsibility, and an assurance that governments are efficiently administered and free of systemic corruption. Transparent governance is important to local governments and the communities they serve because corruption threatens good governance, leads to the misallocation of resources, harms public and private sector development, and distorts public policy.
Frisco Chronicles would love to hear from you! Do you have a blog idea or evidence of something shitty and/or shady going on? Confidentiality is of the utmost importance to us no matter who submits it (even if we are not too fond of you)! At Frisco’s Shady Shit, your secrets are safe with us! Please reach out to us by leaving a comment on a blog, send a direct message via our contact us page, or email us at FriscoWhistleBlower@protonmail.com
Now back to regular programming of The Promised Land (Part Two)
Mr. Thakur will be getting my vote!
I came down here in 1988 to interview with TI in Lewisville. While going down 121 every so often I…
there are several massage "parlors" behind LaHacienda that are foreign run..very questionable activities..one parks a junk car on the street…
there are several massage "parlors" behind LaHacienda that are foreign run..very questionable activities..one parks a junk car on the street…
Thank you for the correction.