It is election time in Frisco!  Different groups and organizations over the next two months will hold candidate forums which are an excellent way to help voters learn more about the candidates on the ballot.  It gives Frisco residents a chance to learn more about key issues and allows us to ask hard questions of those who want our vote.  The truth is that democracy works best when we “ENGAGE” with it because it fosters important dialogue about the everyday issues that affect our lives.

The first local forum of the season was the Islamic Center of Frisco (ICF) Candidate Forum.  The forum was for both City Council races and ISD races.  Our kids are grown, and we don’t pay as much attention as we should to the ISD races so this was the first time we got to hear about ISD issues.  We couldn’t watch the debate live because of streaming delay issues so my wife and I caught it the next day when it was uploaded to YouTube.  There were some moments worth talking about so if you have not watched it, get some popcorn and buckle up!

Each candidate got an opening statement.  John Keating, The Statesmen, started by asking who was in charge of the time because he could go on for 10 minutes right now.  Sir John, while we know you like to hear yourself, others don’t.  Then he said the most dangerous intersection in Frisco is standing between John Keating and a microphone.  While I am sure he practiced his opening icebreaker joke at home in front of the mirror while flexing it was not met with laughter by the audience. 

John Keating said his job is to be “available to you” and he has done that time and again for the citizens.  We would beg to differ, remember that little Universal Kids Park that came before the council from Jan 2023 to March 2023, we do!  The night of the vote, Keating cried and said how emotionally impacted he was by P&Z Commissioner Cone’s words that evening.  Wait, what, Commissioner Cone’s words? Where was his emotion for the residents who had stood before him pleading to save their neighborhood, and maintain their quality of life?  Oh yeah, he went to the beach on vacation and never met with the residents of Cobb Hill. Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya, Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama, Key Largo, Montego Baby, why don’t we go anywhere other than Cobb Hill?  AFTER THE VOTE he asked to meet with residents of Cobb Hill in the cul-de-sac to hear from them, but we are curious how it helps to listen to those you serve “AFTER THE VOTE?” 

At one point, the city council candidates were asked about the discussion of unionizing our police and fire departments and where they stand on the issue.   John’s response to this question is he served 13 years in the military; we are curious about what job he held the other 25+ years.  Oh, that’s right he was a househusband.  He said these are the men and women who wear our city’s uniform and go into harm’s way every day and unionizing that oh my God just seems awful.  Then he turns to John Redmond who is running against Angelia Pelham and says if you are not sure John, if you are that uninformed then you must reach out to someone, call your Fire Chief.  Then he said the reason we have all these problems is because the prior Fire Chief didn’t do his job properly and the unions saw that and said the door is open and we can run into Frisco.  He said this push is from outside of Texas, this was not an internal ask, and it happened because of the perceived weakness in our fire department left behind by our former Fire Chief.  Then he said the new Fire Chief Lee Glover is amazing.

Where do you begin to break his comments down? Again, I thank Keating for his service to our country and I appreciate all Veterans but that still does not exempt him from being called out.  Maybe someone who has been a househusband most of his life served as a member of his kid’s PTA and on his HOA board and spent many of his days working out to build his big-boy muscles, might not be the best person to ask about unionization.  While I am sure he liked the single PTA Moms, he has never had to be the breadwinner of his family.  Our former Fire Chief whom Keating defamed and ridiculed has spent 40+ years in the Fire Department and has an impeccable record (we know because we filed PIRS), Porter who left to go to Little Elm FD has had a lifetime of service, and Cameron Kraemer who they wrongfully fired spent 27+ years in the fire service.  That means they have worked and run into harm’s way and risked their lives a lot longer than John Keating has. 

Next, Keating went after John Redmon (Angelia Pelham’s opponent) saying if he is concerned call your Fire Chief.  We have done that in the past and we have been told we have to file a PIR for such information and then the city sends it to the AG to delay turning over the documents.  Yes, they are very TRANSPARENT as a city!   To think any citizen could call the Fire Chief and Police Chief for a meeting and they are going to talk to them about the inner workings and issues within their department is just downright ridiculous.  

Lastly, he said the reason the Fire Association is doing this is because of “OUTSIDE FORCES” due to a bad former Fire Chief.  Didn’t the Fire Association just endorse that former Fire Chief last week over you?  We took Keating’s advice and just asked several firefighters why they were doing this and guess what it has nothing to do with their former Fire Chief.  The reason given to us over and over for why they went this route for civil service and collective bargaining, is because the city management and city council hired a new Fire Chief even though that candidate (Lee Glover) had a 90% ‘NO VOTE OF CONFIDENCE” by those he would be managing. 

Remember in 2011/12 when the climate survey showed the “CULTURE” of the Fire Department was horrible and the only way to fix it was to get rid of the management and start over with a clean slate.  The city council at that time forced George Purefoy, our City Manager, to remove Borchardt. George Purefoy turned in his resignation letter threatening to leave if the city forced him to do that.  The consolidation made was to retire Borchardt as Chief of the Fire Department, but then George Purefoy hired his best buddy as a “CONSULTANT” for the city and he is on the payroll making over $200K per year, driving a city vehicle and consulting for other cities making money on the side.  I am a taxpayer, and I would love to make $200k after being forced out of a job because I was such a bad leader.  As for Lee Glover the Assistant Fire Chief at the time he remained in his position under the new Chief Mark Piland.  The city kept him even though the 2011/12 study said he was part of the problem. 

Then they promoted Glover in 2022/23 right after the Association had just taken a survey showing Lee Glover had a 90% plus “No Vote of Confidence” from the fire department.

This was not an external force, Mr. Keating, the local fire association pulled the trigger because of the city’s constant slap in their face. It is because of Wes Pierson the City Manager, Lee Glover the new Fire Chief, and the City Council that this is happening.  Keating considers himself a man of integrity, a veteran, and a champion for others, but the reality is he had no educated answer to the question, no facts to spew, so to deflect the fact that he doesn’t understand the issue, he attacked two other candidates.  The last person who should be hanging someone out to dry or judging someone is John Keating who likes to go in the pool with women who are not his wife. 

The next question for the candidates was “National and international politics have had an increasing influence on local elections, how do you address issues outside of your authority but are top of mind and concern for residents of this city.”  Keating again stands up and talks about his 13 years in the military and how he has seen firsthand the devastation of warfare.   He went on to say he could not be more proud of the young people who have come before the council and shared the emotion in such an articulate fashion of what they are experiencing through their loved ones overseas.  The young people he is referring to, are those at the meeting to speak out on behalf of Palestinians and want a proclamation to condemn Israel. 

He continues that the best peace treaty and proclamation is prayer.  And that the Council could issue a proclamation, but it is not like it is a big deal.  Then he says he doesn’t want to belittle the proclamation process; however, he just did.  In a nutshell, if you got a proclamation from the city, Councilman John Keating thinks IT’S NO BIG DEAL.  Pray on that!

The next question was, with all the development recently focused on tourists, what are we doing to prepare for the traffic and what projects coming up are focused on or for residents?   Keating pointed out we had 7 million tourists visit Frisco last year and yes there is a little traffic congestion, but he thinks traffic runs pretty smoothly in Frisco.”  He also said we used to be reactive to traffic, and today we are proactive to traffic, with over 200 million dollars going into roads. To point out the obvious, Keating has never worked an 8 to 5 job which means he has not had to spend countless years facing rush hour traffic in Frisco.  He does not spend over 30 minutes at DNT/Main or DNT/Eldorado trying to get through the lights so in his mind traffic runs smoothly.   I am not sure where Keating has been for the last 5 years, but traffic is horrible in every part of this city, and it gets worse every day.  In summary, he listed nothing specifically being developed for residents which means the 7 million tourists are more important than the 230,000 residents who call Frisco home and pay taxes here.

Keating was asked, if you are anti-union, why do you ask for the Fire Association’s endorsement every election?  Keating quickly responded he does not ask for the endorsement every election and he is not sure where that notion comes from.  He said when talks of collective bargaining and civil service began, he stepped away or stepped back from that.  He continued; that he still fills out the questionnaires sent out by the association to keep communication open, but he put on there “THAT HE IS NOT SEEKING THEIR ENDORSEMENT.”

We reached out to the Frisco Fire Association to ask for a copy of the questionnaire and a copy of all the candidate’s responses.  The email we received back said the board would have to review that request but we did find a copy of one on Facebook that been posted in 2021.  We also asked if Keating clearly stated that he was not seeking their endorsement as he stated at the forum.  The association’s email stated Mr. Keating “DID NOT PUT ON HIS QUESTIONNAIRE ANYWHERE THAT HE DID NOT WANT TO BE CONSIDERED FOR AN ENDORSEMENT.”  We also asked the association if it is clear to candidates that filling out the form is part of the endorsement process.  The association responded, “The email to all candidates regarding the questionnaire is very generic. It says hello our time to gather questionnaires for a potential endorsement and to fill out the questionnaire if you want to be considered.”

Another audience question was related to how many years he has served on the council.  The terms are typically three years in duration.  Keating served on the Frisco City Council Place 4 from 2010 to 2016 for 2 terms or 6 years.  After a short break, he ran and was re-elected in 2017 for an open seat that had one year left on the term. Then in 2018, he ran for Place 1 where he has served since 2017 to the present. Keating is now running for his final 3^rd term (3 years).  That means by the time Keating is done serving he will have been on the council for 16+ years if he is reelected.  He noted he will be the longest-serving council member.  No wonder Keating does not want to come right out and say how long he has been on council. 

It was finally closing time for the forum and Mark Piland called Keating out and said if they were giving out Pinocchio’s Keating would have a basket right in front of him.  Keatings face turned red and was hot to trot to respond to his opponent.  He stood up buttoned his jacket, huffed and puffed, and said “You were fired as the former Fire Chief.  Two independent investigations, not by the city council, not done by the fire department.  This man cannot be trusted, he does nothing but lie, and blame others as you’ve seen him demonstrate tonight.  It is absurd and I am going to move past that and say my record speaks for itself.”  He talked again about his military time, his 7 years on the PTA and time on the HOA board, and 16 years on council and that politicians don’t last, leaders do.  Men and women of their word last, people who lie, cheat, steal, and blame others don’t last.”

We sent a PIR to the Fire Association and asked if they believed Mark Piland, the former Fire Chief, was fired.  We also asked if they felt the investigations mentioned by Keating were “Independent’ and fair.  Per the email we received, from a representative for the association, “No, I do not believe Piland was fired.  I believe clearly he RETIRED.”   As for the investigations, the representative for the association said, “I believe the investigation into the Mayday report was independent. I do however they took liberties and investigated many things that were not involved in the complaint.  As for the second investigation, I would not call it an investigation, when you only talk to one party and not the person that’s the source of the investigation. In this case Piland!”

As for the “Two Independent Investigations” Keating mentioned, it was the head of HR Lauren Safranek who oversaw those.  The same head of HR changed the FD job descriptions and failed to have the department head; Chief Mark Piland sign off on the changes.  Instead hoping no one would notice she used his previous 2017 signature on the document.  She didn’t expect a firefighter to ask questions which brought to light her and her department’s forgery.  To hide her fraud, she used the investigation to find something about the current Fire Chief at the time to use it to fire him or make him retire.  However, after she spent over $100k of taxpayer money to fund a false investigation she didn’t like the results too much. If you want to learn more about the whole cover up just read our blog Day 12: Tangled Web of Lies.

Mr. Keating let’s talk about your record.  Yes, you served in our military, and we are all grateful for your service to our country.  In the same way, we are grateful that Mr. Piland has spent 40+ years serving as a first responder.  Your website says Promises Made, Promises Kept, but have you?  In an email we received from a pet advocate, you stated if an animal shelter made it to the bond by the citizen’s bond committee, then you would support the residents having an opportunity to vote for it.  However, that night you agreed in lockstep with your 4 other council members to remove the animal shelter from the bond.  Promise Broken! 

Then in 2021, you filled out the questionnaire for the firefighter’s endorsement, which we wrote about in our blog Jammed-Up John Keating, and you said you supported more staff (4 men trucks).  You wrote Frisco is growing and we need to plan accordingly. You wrote we must budget for a new 14-day pay cycle, benefits, Fire Station 10, and personnel and equipment. Since being elected in 2021, you have not supported any of the items you wrote about and promised on the questionnaire.  You signed your name to this document and turned your back on the first responders you said you supported.  You are part of the reason the fire association today is going for collective bargaining and civil service.  Promise Broken!

You have a total disregard for rules such as using the City of Frisco logo while campaigning.  Do you believe the LEADERS OF ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING CITIES IN AMERICA (in your own words) should post a picture of himself implying he is naked and holding a sign that reads “Get Naked!”  Your judgment on that one sir, was way off for this conservative. 

Before you stand at your pulpit and shout, “People who lie, cheat, steal, and blame others don’t last,” you might want to look in the mirror.  You lied and cheated on your wife in the most public way possible, at the forum you blamed Redman for being ill-informed.  You lied and said Piland was fired when even the city website says he retired. You lied about writing on the 2024 Fire Association questionnaire that you were not seeking their endorsement.  You had total disregard for a whole neighborhood concerned about their homes due to a new theme park and felt your time was better spent on a beach somewhere.  You continually blamed Piland at the forum when you didn’t have an answer for something to deflect your shortcomings.  

Mr. Keating, you were right about one thing, it is time for a leader, and YOU ARE NOT IT!