In the intricate dance of politics, strategic maneuvering often extends beyond conventional means. Employing a political infiltrator to gain an advantage over opponents is akin to deploying a subtle, yet potent weapon in the arena of power.  You are maybe thinking this does not happen in Frisco, right? We received several emails from readers and insiders saying it did.  The Infiltrator Playbook can unearth secrets about your opponent’s campaign.  The result can make a candidate alter their political narrative and potentially shape the very fabric of political dynamics.

We received an email about how the Frisco Safety First PAC (aka the city) sent insiders to a private event held by a Stonebriar resident for John Redmond, Mark Piland, and the Frisco Firefighters Association.  It was like a meet and greet but at the country club open to residents who lived within the community interested in meeting the candidates.  According to the sender, former Frisco Mayor Michael Simpson and former Frisco City Manager, George Purefoy showed up.  Other guests included Dick Peasley whose name appears on the PAC paperwork and represents the city on the North Texas Municipal Water District for the last 10 years.  Steve Trent attended who serves on the Visit Frisco Board. Next, you had representatives from the Pelham campaign including Linda & Ed Kelley and Ann Harris.  Linda serves as Angelia Pelham’s current campaign manager and Ann served as her campaign manager in 2021.   That is quite a list of the Who’s Who of Frisco! 

Simpson, Harris, and the Kellys, qualified per the invite we received a copy of because they reside in the community.  We were puzzled, why would they want to go to a meet and greet when they support Keating, Pelham, and Safety Frisco First PAC?  Then you have Peasley and Trent who live in Frisco Lakes, and Purefoy who lives across the tollway who did not qualify per the invite.  Peasley is on the Safety-First Frisco PAC paperwork and that is why we are confused.  Call me stupid, but WHY WOULD YOU GO TO AN EVENT FOR CANDIDATES THAT YOU DON’T SUPPORT AND COULD CARE LESS TO GET TO KNOW?

According to the email someone from the club asked Purefoy, Peasley, and Trent to leave because it was a private event.  The person close by heard one of them say, “We are with Mike Simpson and want to offer an opposing view.”  I asked my wife if she would want to sit through a meet and greet for candidates, she had no intention of voting for?  Her answer was short and to the point, “hell no!”  Then she asked me if the party crashers invited the opposing FOR view to their meet and greets.  She has a valid point. 

We keep going back to WHY DID THEY COME?  The only clear answer is to spy with their own little eyes, cause trouble, or infiltrate the event to hear what the other candidates had to say and to disrupt it with the opposing view which we find to be rude and classless. If they felt strongly about hearing the opposing view on the propositions, why didn’t the same people insist that the Frisco Chamber of Commerce invite the Frisco Firefighters Association to the Chamber community forum?

Next up we heard about the Frisco Firefighters Association holding an event at a local restaurant and they invited the community to come out and talk to them.  My wife and I went to eat and check things out.  As we sat there, I said to my wife, don’t those guys look familiar?  We pulled up the email sent to us, and there were some familiar faces, Dick Peasley and his Vote No Friends. 

We thought it was so nice of them to show up and offer so much support for the Frisco Firefighters (just kidding), but they were there to watch and listen to what was happening at the FFFA Meet and Greet.  We are guessing they paid close attention so they could report back to Frisco Star Enterprise.  Now it is a public restaurant, but it was no accident Dick Peasley and his friends showed up and kept trying to engage with firefighters.  If we had to guess, they probably were recording them and everything they said to try and use against them later in the campaign. 

If we were to ask Dick, why are you here?  My guess is we would be told to make sure the “opposing” side was represented.  How many times do you think the Frisco Firefighters, Piland, or Redmond showed up at their private events?  Just a guess, but we would say zero!  It was clear they would attend every event they could based on their orders from Frisco Star Enterprise.  WHY WOULD YOU GO TO AN EVENT FOR CANDIDATES THAT YOU DON’T SUPPORT AND COULD CARE LESS TO GET TO KNOW?

The best one, we saved for last!  We received an email tip that Keating may have put a plant into the firefighter’s campaign station at the polls.  At first, this was a stretch even for us, but we kept reading.  The email stated they had been at the Fire Station to do a few hours of poll greeting and noticed an older lady sitting with the firefighters.  They stopped to say hi to them and asked if the stranger was one of their mothers out to help for the day.  They responded no, she just came over and sat down with them and said something about she would not hold a Vote No sign and wanted to support the firefighters. 

When their time was done, they went about the day when she realized one of her earrings was missing.  She wanted to backtrack her steps and ended up going back to the fire station.  She pulled into the parking lot and noticed it was empty except for two cars across the way from her.  She recognized the “older woman” from earlier that day sitting with the firefighters and already knew who the man was from seeing him at the polls. 

Well, who was it?  Jason Zelovics, owner of Mustang Strategies LLC, a political consultant and guess who he represents, John Keating!  In fact, Keating has paid Mustang Strategies over $85,446.50 from October 2023 to April 2024 for political consulting, mailers, signs, digital media, flyers, and polling expenses.  Why was this woman talking and being so friendly with Zelovics, who DOES NOT support the firefighters?  The email said, something felt off, so she started taking pictures and videos of them in the parking lot.  She saw them exchange a little “black thing” and then after about 30 minutes they said goodbye and drove out of the parking lot. 

Flustered, she forgot about her earring and drove home.  Later that evening her husband shows her the new Safety-First Frisco post which talks about yellow firefighter shirts, and it has a close-up photo of the so called “union” logo.  The next day when she went to complete her two hours at the polls and noticed the same woman wearing a “KEATING T-SHIRT” and holding a Re-Elect Keating sign.  As she walked by the firefighters, she said hi and stopped to tell them what she saw, and they said they knew something was off by the questions she asked and because she wanted a shirt so badly.  They seemed to blow it off, the writer said. 

After reading her email and looking at the pics we thought, this woman was not crazy.  That leaves us with one very important question.  Did Keatings “political consultant” put a mole in with the firefighters to try to get a shirt, take pictures and record them?  Did they use the little bit of info they obtained to adjust their communication talk track?  The lady came back every day until election day, never talked to the firefighters again and held a Keating sign every time.   

In closing, it was clear the Safety-First Frisco PAC, Keating and Pelham’s people were going to go to any lengths to win.  There was a lot of “Fields Developer Money” at stake and expectations to pull off a win.  We should all be asking the following questions:  Why did Dick Peasley and his buddies show up over and over at both private and public events held by the “other side?”  Why did Dick Peasley feel the need to berate the firefighters at the polls telling them they are overpaid and under worked?  What level of desperation did you feel that you had to send a 70-year-old mole into sitting with the FFFA at the polls to gain intel?  Is Keating proud of his Cheating (in many ways apparently)?  We would also like to know if Keating will release the itemized bill from Mustang Strategies. Why, well something does not add up that he spent $85,446.50 more than any other recent local and even some state-run elections.

The coward must abandon his dignity before he abandons the field of battle – James B. Donovan