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?
On October 30, 2023, we published our blog Another One Bites The Dust which was about Fire Chief Lee Glover killing the Squad Unit and Blood Program. Generally, Squad which is a 2-person group, responds to all high acuity EMS calls and critical care calls, as well as all structure fires in a city. It is like no other unit in the department and when in trouble if you have a need for the most advanced or technical medical procedures in the field, they are the team you want at your front door. It must have ruffled a few feathers at city hall because Bobblehead Bill was quick to act as the mouthpiece for the city and troll social media to tell us we were wrong.
We took his statements and submitted a PIR the next day for the proof to back up his comments which he spewed all over the North Texas Politics Facebook page. On November 15th we received a letter back from the city with a PIR Invoice for $90 dollars. It is the breakdown that we found interesting of those charges:
Labor: Identify Search Terms / Set Up Search / Download / Export Emails: $3.75
Labor: Compile / Review /Conversion / and Redactions of Emails: $41.25
Labor: Fire / HR Department Records Collections: $30.00
20% Overhead: $15.00 for a GRAND TOTAL OF $90.00
We paid and then waited for our files. Now in a new year, still waiting, we emailed the city on January 12024, asking when we should expect our files. The next day we got an email back from the city that read, “The City of Frisco has reviewed its files and has located documents responsive to your request. HOWEVER, DUE TO CONFIDENTIALITY, the City has chosen to seek a ruling from the Office of the Attorney General regarding the release of a portion of the responsive documents. The remaining responsive documents are available. They also mentioned some figures we asked for were released in a different PIR that we chose not to pay another $100 dollars for.
What did $90 buy us? There was a PDF which contained 15 or so emails, two additional outlook message attachments, copy of the blood contract, two excel spreadsheets that contained the hiring/history breakdown and the call count. That’s it … because the rest (which we don’t know what that is) has been sent to the AG.
Question 1: Did the city charge us for a copy of the blood contract that Bobblehead Bill offered to send out to anyone who emailed him for free without a PIR? Question 2: WHAT IN THE HELL COST $90.00? We have paid $30 for way more information than this in the past.
Woodard’s Statement: The blood transfusion program isn’t going away; in fact it’s expanding. We use data to analyze the best use of resources. Right now, Squad sits almost all the time.
Fact or Fiction: We asked for the study or data they used to make their decision and the response we received was, “There are no records responsive to a “Study.” Then they said it was the number break-down for blood products administered and the number of squad responses that the department reviews for decision-making.
The breakdown for the “Blood Administration” since 2018 is as follows: 1 in 2018, 5 in 2019, 12 in 2020, 5 in 2021, 10 in 2022 and 13 in 2023 (through 11/1/23). Initially looking at the blood administration program the numbers are going up each year. While it is not tons of patients it is showing a trend that is going up, not down.
As for the Squad response breakdown the numbers provided to us by the city are 1502 in 2021, then 1103 in 2022, and 538 in 2023 through 11/1/23. Initially looking at the numbers it would appear Squad calls are going down just like Woodard stated, but we were curious what happened that resulted in 565 fewer calls on one of the busiest apparatuses in a growing city.
We of course went digging for the answer and we learned there are several call types for example, unresponsive, unconscious patient, medical emergency 1 and 2 calls. The call type determines which apparatus responds. Several whistleblowers sent us information on an email by Fire Chief, Lee Glover’s where he gives direction shortly after being named Fire Chief to start taking Squad off certain types of calls to reduce the numbers which makes them look EXPENDABLE. If you look at the call history SQUAD was removed from all ME 1 and ME 2 calls in district 4 and then they were removed from all unconscious and unresponsive calls for the entire city. WELL, WELL, WELL now that explains how calls for SQUAD dropped over 565 calls in less than a year. Maybe that is what Glover’s email meant when he said “Make It Look Pretty”
Woodards Statement: In 2024 we expect to add this program to every ambulance we have, further expanding the program.
Fact or Fiction: We asked about the costs and how they planned to fund the personnel training and the cost for every ambulance to be outfitted to carry the blood products. The response from the city was, “Paramedics will be trained in blood administration in an on-duty rotation at no added cost to the city and that blood will be carried on two vehicles with trained personnel every day.” We were not provided with any details on the cost to retrofit any apparatuses to carry blood.
Woodards Statement: We have been working with our medical director (as well as any other required parties) to ensure the program is run appropriately and has all the proper staffing. He also posted a picture of section 2.2 of a blood contract acting as if that was the guarantee they had.
Fact or Fiction: We asked for any communications between the city, blood bank, and medical director discussing the EXPANSION of the blood program. We were provided no communications between the city and their Medical Director where they discuss expanding the program and discussions to ensure the “program runs appropriately” as Bobblehead Bill stated.
We also asked for a copy of the approval letter from the blood bank and/or hospital where they guarantee to give more blood to more vehicles. The city provided us a signed 2018 Blood Contract and the signed 2023 Amendment. The 2018 Contact clearly states in the “SCOPE OF THE AGREEMENT” the city is to store a certain amount of blood and plasma in AN AMBULANCE UNIT in a continuously monitored refrigerator. In the section he posted “SUPPLY OF BLOOD PRODUCTS” it states it will provide what the city needs, however due to the unpredictable nature of the demands for blood products, the hospital can NOT GUARANTEE the city availability for ALL OR ANY PORTION of the blood products to be supplied. Hey Bill, it says an ambo unit meaning singular (aka 1) and did you read “No Guarantee.”
As for the 2023 Amendment, it is simply an updated FEE SCHEDULE meaning the cost the city has to pay for the blood and plasma product. Then it states the remaining terms and conditions of the contract from 2018 will continue in full force and effect, unchanged. Well, Well, Well Bobblehead Bill… there is NO GUARANTEE THEY WILL SUPPLY BLOOD FOR EVERY AMBO. Did we read that right? Prices for blood and plasma have gone up considerably and now we are talking about carrying it on every ambo instead of 1 or 2 specialized Squad Teams. In a nutshell it means more taxpayer money, more taxpayer money, and more taxpayer money. Besides the cost increasing for carrying the product that has a shelf life which means it has to be switched out, we also now have to retrofit ambos/vehicles and train more personnel. It sounds like we are wasting money when what we have currently is working.
In closing, it looks like Bobblehead Bill needs to do more research! There is no guarantee in writing that the hospital will agree to expansion or that they will guarantee you any product. Why would we retrofit any apparatus or vehicle on a “WHAT IF THEY GIVE US BLOOD MENTALITY.” The DRASTIC DROP in the Squad response numbers can be related to Glover removing them from certain calls. Why would he do that? According to insiders he has hated this program since its inception back in 2018. The city wants to sell you on that this is a good decision, however if you ask a firefighter, what might they say? Let’s just say it is your life on the line, are you willing to give up a dedicated team to critical care that literally could mean life or death?
The holidays are over and 2024 is here and we have continued our deep dive into the misdealings of the City of Frisco. We keep finding these little or maybe not so little nuggets of information that are cause for question and concern. Perhaps this will tie you over as we continue to investigate and verify our new leads.
In 2023 we saw several posts about the Frisco Firefighters Association regarding staffing, Assistant Chief Kraemer being fired after 27 years with the city, and the filing for Collective Bargaining and Civil Service. To say our interest was piqued is an understatement, we knew we had to investigate.
We decided to go back and read some of those old posts by the city and the FFA but we were surprised to see…many of them disappeared. We don’t know if anyone else noticed, but the Frisco Communications Dept. took down the city’s posts and propaganda videos that were paid for by taxpayers’ dollars, and the council’s open letter to residents damning the Frisco Fire Association for daring to gather signatures to place Civil Service and Collective Bargaining on the May ballot. They even deleted citizens’ comments in the posts from the late summer and fall.
Now, the naysayers will say the city didn’t delete anything, but they did. The proof is in the city’s posts where the links no longer work. For example, John Keating posted, “This isn’t a political battle or one for financial gain. It’s a powerplay by those who serve themselves, and do not have the best interests of Frisco at heart. They have misrepresented our city staff and leadership and our beloved Frisco Fire Department!” Then you have George Purefoy’s statement with a link that reads “unavailable.” Even Bobblehead Bill Woodard had to get in his two cents.
According to insiders the FFA never wanted to go in this direction, but they feel the city management and the city council didn’t follow through on the promises they made to silence them. In the past, the FFA threatened similar action when they felt that their concerns for safety were being ignored. Fast forward to today, what has changed since then? Insiders tell us they don’t trust Fire Department leadership, the city, or the council. On top of breaking promises, ignoring the results of climate studies done over the years, many feel the city used the FFA to oust the Fire Chief and an Assistant Chief who were threatening to file complaints on the city. The cherry on top is when the city ignored the Mayor’s Study asking the FFA if they would like Interim Chief Glover as their permanent chief. Despite the over 200 firefighters that said NO, they still hired him. This is the same chief that the city sent down to Austin to speak AGAINST Texas House Bill 471, protecting our first responders.
Now we know, you are wondering, why are we going over this again? Well, we learned the city HAD TO TAKE DOWN the propaganda they posted because it was a No-No (illegal) so they scrubbed their social media. What would they do? How would they fight against civil service and collective bargaining?
Well, we found a new nugget which is quite disheartening. On November 8th, papers were filed for what they call a Specific-Purpose Committee or PAC—Political Action Committee. It appears the city recruited former Mayor Mike Simpson (who endorsed Mayor Cheney) to appoint Richard Peasley as treasurer of a PAC called Safety First Frisco. The description reads, “Citizens opposing Civil Service and Collective Bargaining in Frisco, TX.”
This smells like shit and is clearly a move by the City of Frisco to get a highly respected Frisco resident to spin their story. I’ve met Mayor Simpson a couple of times. He wouldn’t remember me and my wife, but I certainly admired his leadership back then. I can’t help but think he might change his tune if he really knew the whole story. Can someone send him a link to our page?
Before deciding either way at the ballot box, talk to the Frisco Fire Association. I am generally not for unions and civil service, but learning most of the cities around us are Civil Service and that collective bargaining is the only thing that will protect them from a corrupt city making decisions that can literally kill them. My wife and I will be voting YES for them. Either way you can bet we will be following the campaign contributions for this NEW PAC! I have a feeling that is going to offer up a lot more nuggets.
According to Star Local Media, here are what those terms mean, according to state law:
Civil service: A system with a three-citizen commission to assess the hiring, firing and promotion of firefighters. Under Frisco’s current system, city officials have that power.
“What civil service does is eliminate favoritism,” FFFA Secretary Treasurer Dustin Allen said.
Collective bargaining: A system allowing both the fire department and the police department to become their own bargaining agents when it comes to agreements on wages, staff numbers and recruitment.
“That allows the [departments’] association to, as a collective, sit down and meet and discuss working conditions with the city or city management,” Allen said.
Russian Roulette is the practice of loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at one’s own head. It is basically a game of chance! When it comes to filing a PIR with the City of Frisco, it too is like a game of Russian Roulette. Will they provide the documents or won’t they? Will they do it in a timely manner or delay it by sending it to the Texas Attorney General for an “opinion.”
Since Whistleblowers’ inception back in February of last year we have continually addressed the issues of PIR GATE. In our April 2023 blog we talked about a PIR that FWB filed for Universal Theme Park / Project P117. An email came back from the city that the cost of the documents would be $72.36 and payment was made. Imagine FWB surprise when the city came back asking them to clarify what information they are seeking?
Problem 1: How did the city determine a price of $72.36 for the documents requested if they needed clarification of what was being requested?
THE CONCLUSION: Then on April 18th FWB receives an email saying they have released a few documents, and the rest has been sent to the Attorney General for an opinion. Well, 8 months after initially filing for the PIR the documents were finally released. Why did it take so long? What was it the city didn’t want us to find out about the Universal Kids project?
Now, let’s talk about the PIR we filed for any communications between John Keating or Angelia Pelham and Venton Krasniqi. When the city responded with no responsive records, we were curious, who is Venton Krasniqi? He is a mystery man who donated $10,000 to John Keating and $5000 to Angelia Pelham yet neither of them has shared a text or email with him? That sure seems strange since those are not small donations. Furthermore, we are now curious is this the same man listed in several lawsuits in Collin County regarding debts?
Then we talked about the PIR we filed in May 2023 in regards to the “Public Safety Study regarding the Police Department Staffing” that was funded by federal grants. The response was we could view the document only by coming to city hall because it was copyrighted. However, the organization who did this study has done many other similar studies and they are all published on the web. Why is Frisco’s copyrighted? What made Frisco’s study so special? We never went to view the report because we were contacted by an internal PD source who supplied us with a full copy of the study after seeing our blog. What did we learn after reading it? The city probably didn’t want the residents/public to know the city they claim to be one of the safest cities in Americas has a staffing deficiency in the PD department.
A few months later in October 2023, on a tip from a resident, we filed a PIR that reads, “We would like any emails regarding the flooding that took place on 7/3/23 near 2447 Sleepy Hollow Trail. Emails from PD, streets department, city management and city council. We would like any pictures taken by the streets department at the scene since they were called out by PD. We would like to know what caused the flood?” On October 23, we were surprised to see the status change to: Sent to AG for a Ruling.
WAIT A DAMN MINUTE, you are going to tell me a simple PIR about a street flood must be sent to the Texas Attorney General? The Conclusion: As of today, this still has a status of Sent to the AG for Ruling which means it has been open for over 2 months (about to be 3 months). Something smells like SHIT in Frisco.
If you remember in our Day 6 Breaking The Law blog, we explained how we filed a PIR on Fire Chief Lee Glover and were told no responsive records. In the case of this PIR, who is responsible for releasing those records? Well, that would be the Human Resources Director, Sassy Lauren Safranek, that’s who! Interesting how Sassy came up with the responsive records the second time around, AFTER WE TOLD HER WE ALREADY HAD A COPY OF THE LETTER AND A VIDEO CLIP.
We decided to file another PIR to broaden our search on November 22, 2023, that reads “Copy of all emails and documents related to Lee Glover over his career span with the City of Frisco relating to any job complaints both formal or informal (confidential) by equals, superiors, and subordinates. Any complaints received informal or formal even if confidential via the Frisco Fire Department Complaint Form, relating to his breaking the Frisco Fire Department Policies or City of Frisco Code of Conduct or policies. Any Administrative Warning Letter issued to Lee Glover over his career with the Frisco Fire Department. Any Notice of Investigation issued to Lee Glover over his career span with the Frisco Fire Department. Any emails between Lauren Safranek, Henry Hill, George Purefoy, Mack Borchard, Wes Peirson or Lee Glover regarding the hiring of Lee Glover going back to 1/1/2022 to Present. Feel free to redact personal numbers, birthdays, contact info, etc., allowed by Texas State Law.”
The Response: On December 14, we received a letter in which they located the responsive records and that they re-released at no charge the records because they had already been provided to us. However, that is not exactly true. What we asked for above is very clear so imagine our surprise when we find in the documents they sent back one titled Case 64. The Problem: Case 64 is related to a previous PIR request regarding HR Director Safranek falsifying documents which this document should have been included in, but it wasn’t which is more proof they are withholding documents. Why did we accidentally get the document in the current request, we have no idea. Secondly, it has the Fire Chiefs Candidate Binder that we didn’t ask for. Third it has the pay scale for the Fire Chiefs, which we didn’t ask for. It has the Appleton Complaint which we already know about and was in the previous PIR request. That’s it!
The city wants you and I to believe that Lee Glover has never had any other complaints, write-ups, warning letters, or has broken policies or procedures which he has been cited for over his entire career. Do you believe that? Well, you shouldn’t because we have evidence to the contrary. It leaves us asking, why has the city not released the information related to this PIR that we requested? Again, something smells like SHIT in Frisco.
The Conclusion: You may have guessed it; we filed ANOTHER PIR that said we want to follow up to clarify that Appleton and Mayday are the only two items in his HR file over the span of his career? We asked for anything starting from the beginning of his career in 1991 to the present: 1. Any job complaints, write-ups, or reprimands, both formal or informal (confidential) by equals, superiors, and subordinates. 2. Any complaints, write-ups, or reprimands received via the Frisco Fire Department Complaint Form that includes informal or formal even confidential 3. Any complaints, write-ups or reprimands relating to his breaking the Frisco Fire Department Policies or City of Frisco Code of Conduct or policies. 4. Any Administrative Warning Letters issued to Lee Glover during his time at Frisco FD. 5. Any Notice of Investigation issued to Lee Glover during his time at Frisco FD Are we to believe that since 1991 there have been only 2? We paid $30 plus dollars and want the full PIR as we already know of some that have not been included in the original PIR response.” It is currently in processing!
Lastly, we can’t forget Bobblehead Bill Woodard who went off halfcocked on Facebook defending the city’s decision to cut a lifesaving blood program that just a few years before the council praised from the top of the city council meeting pulpit. While Bobblehead Bill said folks could just email him and he would share the documents we decided to handle it the proper way by filing a PIR on 11/1/23. We uploaded images of his statements in the PIR and asked for the items he referenced. The PIR said,
1. On November 1st Bill Woodard posted on North Texas Politics page a response that talked about a 12-page report and posted a picture of a Section 2.2 Supply of Blood Products. He offers to email the 12-page report to anyone who emails him so we are requesting it formally and since he is willing to send it out freely to anyone who emails him we assume there will be no cost for it.
2. He also posted the following comment below: The blood transfusion program isn’t going away, in fact it’s expanding. We use data to analyze the best use of resources and right now the squad sits idle almost all the time. So that staffing is being divided up and assigned to the BC vehicles, along with the blood transfusion program. This will double (from one to two) the availability of this program on every shift, and better utilize personnel and equipment. In 2024 we expect to add this program to every ambulance we have further expanding the program, which necessitates the training of everyone on those pieces of equipment. We will also be doubling (from one to two) the number of safety officers on shift. This will allow for additional training and promotional opportunities. We would like a copy of the study and data used to analyze the best use of resources that reflect how this decision was made. We would like a copy of the new contract/agreement that the hospital and blood banks will supply the blood for all ambos now and going into 2024. We would also like to know the cost and how it will be funded to train everyone (as he states) on those pieces of equipment.
3. Bill Woodard also stated “We are putting the blood transfusion program on multiple vehicles. So yes it is expanding. And we have been working with our medical director (as well as any other required parties) to ensure the program is run appropriately and has all the proper staffing.” We would like to know how many vehicles the blood program will be on with trained personnel. We would like any emails between the city management, fire department and council with the medical director and required parties he mentions.
4. Steve Cone of P&Z also chimed in so we would like to see the numbers of how the proposed changes to Squad / Blood Program is better than the status quo arrangement. We would like to know the # of blood transfusions teams available per shift, before and after the changes to the program.
The Conclusion: Because Bobblehead Bill offered to send this to folk we assumed there would be no charge but guess what, the city charged us $90.00 which we paid, and we are STILL WAITING FOR THE INFORMATION. Now, they have updated the status to read “Sent to Attorney.” We are not holding our breath we will get the information back before the end of 2023.
In closing, we have a very important question for you to consider. How can the city get a request or for an item, then go to a council meeting, have a discussion in executive session, come out and vote to release confidential HR documents on a retired employee who is under a gag order and is actively running as a political opponent against Mayor Cheney? Please note while Cheney recused himself from the vote 4 of the city council members who participated in the vote had already publicly endorsed Mayor Jeff Cheney which means they probably should have recused themselves. The CHERRY ON TOP is a DMN Reporter had an article in the paper 12 hours later which in our opinion was a political hit piece! If all that can be done in a simple council vote how come they cannot do that for other PIR’s?
Why did the city not send the request from the media to the Attorney General like they do all other requests? Well because they have 30 to 60 days to respond with an opinion which means the election would have been over. At the time Mark Piland was gaining momentum on Mayor Cheney. Cheney and his big developer friends who have BIG INTERESTS in Frisco needed Cheney to win so they just did not have that kind of time. They needed a push in the polls so hence the vote to release the records. It is even more questionable that they didn’t release the full report only a subsequent report that was done related to the political candidate. Being that the vote had HUGE RED FLAGS pertaining to CONFLICT OF INTERESTS which is a great reason to SEND IT TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
This is our public plea to the City of Frisco and the City Council Members, IF YOU HAVE THAT KIND OF POWER THEN WE ASK YOU TO BRING OUR PIRs UP FOR A VOTE. Then VOTE YES unanimously, JUST LIKE in April 2023 to release the following: 1. Universal Kids Documents 2. Documents related to Bobble Head Bills rant on Facebook regarding the Blood Program. 3. The entire HR file for Fire Chief Lee Glove and Mack Borchardt 4. Documents related to a simple street flood 5. All of Lauren Safranek emails for the last two years and 6. Any other open PIRs currently just for the purposes of being FAIR and TRANSPARENT
They would never vote to do that because it does not help them, but it possibly hurts them. The City of Frisco withholds documents, delays the process and flat out lies as to what they have and don’t have. Kristy Morrow is the City Secretary but we don’t think it is her decision on what is released. She sends the requests to the departments or individuals named in the PIR and they respond with the appropriate documents. So, if Sassy Lauran Safranek is colluding with Lee Glover do you think she is going to release the documents requested, probably not. It is a game of RUSSIAN ROULETTE, A GAME OF CHANCE OR TRUST. We DO NOT TRUST the City of Frisco – not one bit! We have proof they have lied and withheld information and that should make residents very wary and angry. This is our city, not their city. It is our tax-dollars!
Mack Borchardt began his career in the Fire Service in 1973 as a volunteer firefighter. In 1981, after serving with the McKinney FD, Borchardt became the city administrator in Frisco and the Fire Chief of the Volunteer Frisco FD. In 1987, Mack Borchardt had input on the hiring of the new City Manager, George Purefoy. Shortly after Purefoy became city manager he named Borchardt as Frisco’s first Fire Chief since the fire department had grown from a volunteer force to a department with 150 full time employees. You can imagine the loyalty these two have to each other, as they came up together in this city and worked side by side for years.
In 2011, Borchardt received the 2011 Fire Chief of the Year award from the Texas Fire Chief’s Association. That is why it is a little shocking that in the Fall of 2011 the city did a Climate Survey in the department that came out Jan 6, 2012. The report was not good, and it said in order for the “people issues” to be resolved the department needed to change from a negative, hostile, retaliatory environment to a positive, more supportive one that encourages communication. It said the city must make changes and it started at the top by bringing in new management.
The decision was made that Borchardt had to go, and a new Chief was coming. Borchardt turned in his resignation letter Feb 23, 2012, to his good friend George Purefoy. However, Borchardt was not going anywhere! His buddy and good friend George Purefoy created a position for him at city hall right next to him in the City Managers officer. In his severance agreement it states Borchardt on or before January 1, 2013, will be REASSIGNED by George from Fire Chief to Fire Programs Consultant reporting solely to the City Manager King George or his successor. The job was guaranteed until Feb 15, 2015. It is important to note he is still there today in a six-figure job doing who knows what with a city vehicle. King George his friend and confidant took care of him.
Why is the relationship between King George and Mack Borchardt important? When the city hired Mark Piland as Borchardt’s replacement it rubbed those loyal to Mack Borchardt in the department the wrong way. Folks like Assistant Chief Lee Glover and Barry Dixon in Fire Fleet Management. See their loyalty was always going to be with Mack which Piland did not know at the time, but it really left him a sitting duck.
Why are these relationships important to the Valve Report? Well, we are about to tell you. Snowmageddon 2021 was unforgettable for many Texas residents. Record breaking below freezing temperatures for nine plus days killed more than 200 people and resulted in millions being without power or water for days. In Frisco, starting February 15, the Fire Department responded to 162 calls in 7 hours which is 3 to 4 times more than the average call volume in a 24-hour period. Then came the news that Frisco FD was fighting the Circa Apartment fire that lasted over 36 hours. Over 260 units were affected by the fire, four Frisco Firefighters were transported to local hospitals with minor injuries. The FD had never experienced a fire of this magnitude, then add in record breaking temperatures.
As life started to return to normal the Frisco Fire Department had two parallel reports working in the department. The first was the Mayday Report which was supposed to be a learning tool for the department related to the Circa Fire. The other was a report called the Valve Report and if you are anything like us, you are asking the same question we did. What is a Valve Report? Well, during Snowmageddon several of the fire trucks suffered freeze damage to the valves, piping and pumps on the apparatus vehicles.
In an April 19, 2021, email to Henry Hill, George Purefoy the City Manager writes “I’ve heard that numerous fire trucks suffered freeze damage during the severe winter storm in February. It is my understanding that in the past, lines were emptied of water to protect the valves from freezing and the resulting damage; however, during this most recent event apparently that wasn’t done on the vast majority of the fire engines. I’d like to see a report which details the damage/cost to repair and, if accurate, what procedure(s) will be put in place to help keep this type of damage from occurring again.” Henry Hill replies we will investigate what occurred and get back to you. Then King George replies “It is my understanding that it was extensive and supposedly only one truck was drained as had been the practice in the past.”
To many, this might look like a normal email, but it is not! King George starts by saying I’ve heard…heard from who? Then he says it is his understanding that in the past, lines were emptied, how did he know that? How does he know what was or was not done in the most recent event? How would he know it is extensive and that only one truck was supposedly drained? How did he know the past practice of the department? The answer is Mack Borchardt, who was getting full reports and secret emails from Assistant Chief Lee Glover. No wonder why Assistant Chief Lee Glover was put in charge of the Valve Report for the department.
On April 27, 2021, the first draft of the Valve Report was done, and several insiders told us Piland was not happy because Glover had not talked to anyone in operations before writing it up or sending it out. Piland felt the report needed to be fair and accurate which required feedback from those on the front line at the stations and those within operations, not just Fire Fleet Management, Barry Dixon (a Borchardt loyalist).
We were told from two inside sources Piland asked Assistant Chief, Cameron Kraemer to reach out to the stations and operations and get feedback on the original draft so that both sides would be represented. This report was emailed to Mark Piland on May 5, 2021. In fact, the report mentions the procedure for draining the pumps has been taught and successful for many years and is documented in an internal training bulletin in 2016. It also noted due to the high volume and the constant exposure these apparatuses had to history making extreme freezing temperatures contributed to the damage.
Then through our PIR we found two emails from Lee Glover to Mack Borchardt titled Pump Info. The first was on April 29 and simply says, “Enjoy the read!” Hmm, I wonder what Glover meant by that. Then the second email was on May 17, 2021, and has no message just an attachment titled Department Memo Fire Apparatus Valve Damage 04272021. So, two emails from Assistant Chief Lee Glover to his buddy, the man he considers the CHIEF which only undermines Piland.
Piland then asked Vetterick to take both drafts and merge them into one report so that all sides were represented in the report which created the final version that was emailed to Mark Piland from Deputy Fire Chief, Scott Vetterick on May 18, 2021. Was this report acceptable to King George and his minion Henry Hill, well of course not! That would be too easy.
Fast forward to June 25 King George sends out an email to a few different people asking them for feedback or advice on any changes. The first email was sent to Mack Borchardt and Henry Hill at 10:35 am and the second email was sent to Ron Patterson at 11:10 am. What could he possibly be asking for feedback on, well it is a letter to Chief Piland. Interesting King George goes to his buddies, confidants, and everyone else but the active current Fire Chief himself, Mark Piland.
The email King George sent makes it clear he is not happy with the final memo submitted. Our guess is because it was not written by Borchardt. What does the final draft look like, well we can only guess like the one we attached. The damage was going to cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars between parts and hours to replace. A few insiders told us Glover did a hastily report that put the blame on the fireman. We asked them why Glover would do that, and we were told to protect Barry Dixon (Borchard/Glover loyalist). According to a fleet expert it was Dixon who wanted steel and brass ball valves which were known to freeze. We were also told Glover sent his report to Borchardt and Purefoy instead of proper channels through the Fire Chief, Mark Piland . Why? Because he did not like that Piland asked him to get more perspective for the report.
Add to that we were told a complaint was filed against Barry Dixon in Fleet Management some time ago for falsifying records and for filing a false complaint on a fire captain. According to several inside sources Dixon was caught red-handed, but Glover came to the rescue to SWEEP, SWEEP, it under the Aladian flying carpet.
In closing, what did we learn from the Valve Report? It was another tool to try and undermine, discredit, and lay blame on Fire Chief, Mark Piland. Other than that, we learned nothing. One thing is clear, Mark Piland had a hard time because he was never going to be given the respect from the Frisco Insiders at city hall. He simply was not Mack Borchardt and from everything coming out it appears there was a concentrated effort to undermine him and disrespect him from HR all the way to the City Manager’s office. A city insider told us Purefoy never wanted Piland or any other Fire Chief there, he wanted Borchardt, but his hands were forced.
The question we have is WHAT DOES MACK BORCHARDT ACTUALLY DO? We know he played Fire Chief behind the scenes of the actual Fire Chief while Piland was there. My guess is he is doing the same with Glover. He was supposed to be over Exide and well that has not gone well. So, what is he making $200K+ dollars a year doing for the city? Now that Glover is Fire Chief do you think he enjoys happy hours with Borchardt? We are betting they do! The good old boy network is very alive and well at city hall. Just look at George Purefoy now, he has opened a consulting firm with Ron Patterson.
In 1952, one of the most popular shows on tv was I Love Lucy and one of the best episodes was Vitameatavegamin. Lucy meets with the director of the commercial and he explains that Vitameatavegamin is a health tonic and gives her the lines to learn. What none of them knew was the health tonic was 23% alcohol. During the first practice set, Lucy reads her lines and then takes a spoon full of the health tonic and begins to make funny faces because it tasted so bad. Take after take Lucy got a little more drunk, and by the time it was over Ricky had to take her off the stage. The episode is a perfect example of truth in advertising.
Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, it’s time to spill the secrets once and for all! If you live in Frisco then you hear city leaders reflecting on how Money Magazine voted Frisco the #1 Best Place to Live in America. The truth is Frisco is a great city to live in, but it has not been ranked #1 since 2018 which is 5 years ago. In fact, in the 2021/22 Money Magazine, The City of Frisco was ranked #19 for the Best Places to Live. That means in 5 years we fell 18 spots so why do they continue to talk about a ranking from 2018? Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves; how did we drop 18 spots? Is this truthful advertising?
The City of Frisco puts together a series of video messages called Progress In Motion to talk about the change and growth happening in our town. The series is truly one the city’s greatest forms of advertising. These videos are so professional, and they cover an array of different topics. Wes Pierson recently stated in a July 2023 article in Frisco Enterprise that there is a powerful message behind the idea of “Progress In Motion.” For Frisco’s city manager, the city tagline inspires a focus on the concept of “growth” rather than “change. Sometimes when people talk about change, there can be a negative connotation related to change, but if you talk about progress, it really emphasizes, in my opinion, a focus on growth,” he said.
Even our own Mayor puts out a series of videos on his Cheney for Frisco Mayor YouTube page. When we saw his campaign video this year announcing his re-election we were impressed because it was truly a professional video with amazing footage. Then my wife said, “I could swear I have seen this footage before” and I replied, yeah probably in another video he has done running for office. She was adamant that was not it and night after night as we sat watching tv she played on her iPad until I heard, “See, I told you I have seen this footage before,” and with a big grin on her face, she played me one of the city’s Progress in Motion videos. Then she played a portion of Cheney’s campaign video and sure as shady shit it was a match. We decided to do a little research to see how much of his election video matched up with the Progress in Motion videos put out by the city. We decided to do a little research to see how much of his election video matched up to the Progress in Motion videos put out by the city.
In Cheney’s election video at the 24 second mark you see the drone footage coming into the Cowboy Star which is from the NFLs HBO’s Hard Knocks: The Dallas Cowboys at the 07-second mark. Did he get approval from HBO, NFL and Jerry Jones to use that footage? Would any of them give him authorization to use that for a political campaign ad? Should we consider this and endorsement?
Now compare Cheney’s election video to the Progress in Motion – Public Safety Training Center video. On Cheney’s election video at the 1:17 mark you see footage of the fireman from the back in a training which is an exact match to the PIM at the 1:39 video mark. Then at the 1:18 mark on Cheney’s election video you see footage of a burning car which matches the 1:09 video mark in the PIM video. Then at the 1:22 mark on the election video you see a Frisco Police Car which matches the footage at the 1:22 video mark in the PIM. Lastly, at the 1:24 mark on Cheney’s election video you see footage of the FD training center which matches the 1:28 video mark on the PIM video.
On Cheney’s election video at the 1:43 mark he talks about The Rail District and the future of outdoor entertainment. Interestingly the renderings were produced by Kimley Horn and are on the city’s site and labeled with the Frisco logo. The renderings are show in an article on Frisco Enterprise and they note the renderings which match Cheneys election video were the courtesy of The City of Frisco.
On Cheney’s election video at the 2:16 mark he shows the ground-breaking of the Dr. Pepper Keurig office complex with Jerry Jones which is an exact match to the start of the city’s PIM – Keurig Dr Pepper Groundbreaking video.
On Cheney’s election video at the 2:23 mark he shows the ribbon cutting of Texas Health which is an exact match to the PIM – Texas Health Hospital Frisco video.
Cheney was even bold enough to use ESPN or PGA footage of Tiger Woods in his election video at the 2:25 mark. We found a few city videos and it appears as if the PGA may have given the city some footage to use for advertising videos. The question is did they give Cheney permission to use footage in a political campaign video? Did he have permission to use the professional golfer and their likeness in his video? Did he have permission from ESPN or the PGA to use this footage in a political campaign video? Do ESPN or the PGA endorse Mayor Cheney? Is Tigers appearance an endorsement? At the 2:30 mark he uses Universal’s Theme Park rendering given to the city for press releases. So, did he have NBC Universal’s permission to use their rendering in a political campaign video? Does that mean NBC Universal endorsed the mayor? Lastly at the 2:50 mark in his election video he shows aerial views of the new PGA which look very similar to the PIM PGA videos.
You are probably wondering, why is this important? Well, in 2021 a local resident filed an ethics complaint against the mayor for using his city email to solicit feedback from department heads which he later used in a personal Facebook post to endorse and support Angelia Pelham for council. In the complaint she cited it was a violation per the Code of Conduct Section 7. According to Section 7: Public Property and Resources it states a city official shall not use, request, or permit the use of city facilities, personnel, equipment and supplies for private purposes (including political purposes). Now his fellow council members voted against moving forward with the ethics complaint in 2001 but in our own opinion it was clear as day he violated it then. SO, DID HE VIOLATE THE CODE OF CONDUCT WITH HIS ELECTION VIDEO?
We are estimating about 75% of the election video is made from city footage. Are political candidates allowed to use city footage paid for by taxpayers? Does the city not have any copyright rules? Is it fair for anyone to use city footage? If so, then I could make a video and use some of the footage that includes Cheney speaking? Can a realtor in Frisco make videos using city footage to advertise their business? What about small businesses, can they use city footage to make social media commercials for their business? Can a local realtor use local renderings from P&Z documents to advertise their business and talk about new things coming to Frisco? Were all the candidates aware they could use city footage to make political campaign videos? If they were allowed to use the video footage was it disclosed to them or was that something the Mayor knew as an “inside tip” that he used for his advantage. A video of this nature could and probably does cost thousands of dollars if he had to film all this footage himself. Filming is not cheap or inexpensive. So, did the mayor pay the city for the use of the footage? Is this another example of Jeff Cheney taking Mayoral Privilege for his personal use and benefit?
We are thinking that someone needs to look in the mirror and decide if he is the FAIRest of them all.
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Big flash light will soon be shining all over you Mr.FC ... Enjoy what's left of your anonymity.