Whistleblowers come in many forms.  If we had to describe ours we would say they are like Twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.  Recently one of our six geese-a-laying tipped us off to another high-ranking Frisco FD fire fighter who gave notice to retire.  

Jeromy Porter is a 27-year fire service veteran.  Most recently he served as Deputy Chief with the Frisco Fire Department.  In 1996, Porter joined the Lake Cities Fire Department where he spent most of his years and climbed the rank to Deputy Chief.  We asked ourselves why would a man with man years left retire now?  Then we saw an announcement in Star Local Media that Jeromy Porter was now the Assistant Fire Chief for The Little Elm Fire Department.   That made us ask, why would a man retire then go another city?  We wanted to know if he did an exit interview so asked some insiders at city hall who told us yes, he did.  We filed a PIR with the city to obtain those records and when we received them, well  we were not disappointed.

We received a copy of the City Manager, Wes Pierson’s handwritten notes from the exit interview.  At the very top it is dated 9/27 and has his name and initials next to it.  Wes writes JP doesn’t want to leave but his relationship with Fire Chief, Lee Glover is unsustainable.  Then we note 3 bullet points down the page.

The first point is titled Job Description Issue (preferred vs required).  Pierson notes Porter said the job descriptions were changed without approval.  On the side Pierson writes When, How and Why and we are guessing those were his internal questions or notes to himself. 

We had heard rumors that some shady stuff was happening in HR but we still were perplexed by Porters comments.  We went back to some of those who had reached out to us earlier from inside the city to ask more specific questions and the responses were eye opening.  It started us on a new quest of digging.

The second point is titled Lee Glover.  Pierson writes that for over 9 years Lee Glover has constantly insulted him, belittled him, made jokes on his height.  It also goes on to say Glover yelled and cussed at staff and that he would flex.  We asked an insider what “Flex” might mean she told us that Glover would Flex like he was going to shove or hit someone to intimidate them.   Pierson notes that Porter was concerned about leaving because Glover may retaliate and go after his son who is a 3 Year Firefighter with the City of Frisco.

Are we surprised by Porters claims?  No!  In a previous blog we told you about the City of Frisco, Fire Department Employee Climate Survey done in the fall of 2011.  It noted in the survey that this was the FOURTH one done over the PAST 10 YEARS.  Why would a city need to do so many climate surveys?  The firefighters felt that unless Chief Mack Borchardt and his entire Senior Staff, which included (drum roll) Lee Glover were replaced with someone from the outside, there was no way to correct the issues.  The report said from the top down they ruled with things like a temper, iron fist, and threats.  In 2023, a recent survey was done by the Fire Fighters Association and over 200 fire fighters gave Glove a vote of no confidence, so not much has changed since 2011.

The third point only confirmed what we already reported that our new Fire Chief, Lee Glover, has an alcohol problem.  Pierson writes 3. Drinking (only while traveling).  He writes JP claims that Vetterick, Owen and others felt peer pressure to stay and “close the bar.”  Based on the notes we are only assuming that Porter may have told then Fire Chief, Mark Piland about the incident because in Pierson’s notes it reads Piland (response).  Then there is a star symbol and a note it last happened at inspection of tiller and names the 3 fire fighters.  It is hard to read Pierson’s writing, but it looks like Gilliam, Odum and Dixon.

Here is what we find interesting about Porters exit interview with Pierson and his personal notes.  When it comes to point 3, we know of a July 2022 complaint about Lee Glover on a “travel trip” to inspect fire trucks and the names of those involved are different that those written in the exit interview notes.  So, it appears when we wrote about Groggy Lee Glovers behavior in a previous blog, we weren’t wrong!  It is called a pattern of behavior. 

In closing, we believe Jeromy Porter and that he is telling the truth in his comments. He is leaving and has no reason to lie and he left on a professional level. We sent an email to Porter however we have had no reply to our inquiry. What we are curious about is what did the City Manager, Wes Pierson do after this interview. Did he file the notes and act as if these issues don’t possibly exist? Did he start asking questions?

Stay Tuned to learn about Sassy Lauren Safraneks acts of possible Malfeasance!