“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.
Growing up if we saw a fire engine go by my dad would say there goes the fire brigade to save another soul. I remember watching a movie and they said to the new recruits “train as if your life depends on it, because it does.” I thought to myself could I be selfless, courageous, and risk everything? When the bell rings, could I walk through the valley of the shadow of death as Psalms 23:4 says without thinking twice? Truthfully, no I would be one of those to run away as they pass by me to run into what could be the last call of their life.
We ended our last blog with Cheney’s statement, “we have what we need.” If we have what we need then can the Mayor explain why Mr. Sapp who is the President of the Frisco Fighters Association had to speak at citizens input during a council meeting in January 2023 to bring attention of the staffing issue in the fire department.
Sapp’s statement in full from the council meeting is as follows “Mayor and Council, I’m just going to read a statement on behalf of our members. I stand here before you tonight to ask one simple question, this is the third time I’ve asked this question since the public hearing for the FY23 budget in August. Will we as a city add firefighters to this budget year? I’ve asked this question to you, the city manager, and the interim Fire Chief and we have yet to get a clear answer from anyone. I know that the interim Fire Chief has stated he has no plans on asking for staffing they feel we are appropriately staffed. The city manager follows the recommendations of the Fire Chief and we understand that you as a council can’t approve positions that were never asked for. This is not a question of whether we need additional firefighters, simply look around as our skyline is ever changing. There are billions of dollars in property we are tasked to protect. Couple that with the fact that we applied for a safer grant for 15 firefighters this year, which we failed to get. No one can honestly say we don’t need more firefighters. For years now we have raised concerns for what is considered safe staffing standards by the NFPA 1710. I have a recent independent report stating as much. Some will try to devalue the standards set by the NFPA by claiming others around us do not meet that code or because of it being a nonprofit it doesn’t hold weight. Make no mistake this city follows countless NFPA’s for the fire service because they are the national standard by which the United States fire administration sets the bar. Not to mention, we are Frisco, and we provide the best in everything we do. As our City Council, you have created a unique and exceptional environment, we should not only meet the standards but exceed them. Therefore, it’s unfair to compare ourselves to the staffing models of surrounding cities. The FY22 budget states that we would be hiring 9 firefighters a year for the next three years. Although we have a need for increased staffing levels for the current station count, this was said to be in preparation for the future station 10. The majority of this council approved that budget, and this has now been pushed back to the infrastructure regions and therefore, the staffing plan is on hold. This year’s budget for FY23 which was unanimously approved contained 19 police officer positions and added zero firefighters. We understand this was done in anticipation of the safer grant that was applied for, but again, that was denied. Now there’s no plan for this fiscal year. We need action now because it takes over a year to hire firefighters longer for them to get in seats if they had to go to paramedic school. With the progressive growth of this growth of this city this is a huge safety concern. So, I ask again: are we going to add staffing for firefighters this year or are we going to forgo staffing which will negatively impact on our growth as a department and safety of our city for the next half decade. Thank you for your time and your consideration. (Mr. Sapp left the podium)
After the Star Patriot debate the Frisco Fire Fighters Association released a video responding to comments made at the debate by the candidates. The video starts with a message that states they encourage the release of the full Circa Fire report and noted the city has chosen to release selective information regarding the CIRCA Fire and Mayday event, as well as information on former fire chief Mark Piland. Sapp pointed out that it is their job to protect their membership (being the fire fighters) and the residents of Frisco. Sapp then went on to correct several statements made by the mayor:
Mayor Jeff Cheney said we operate with 75 on every shift. Sapp, President of FFA: While at times they may see 75 people employed on an individual shift rarely are they over the minimum staffing number of 62. Regarding staffing, Sapp said the National Fire Protection Association 1710 on staffing is and has been an issue that the FFA raised many times to city management and to the council directly.
Mayor Jeff Cheney said the National Fire Protection Associations Standards (1710) were union supported standards. Sapp said the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) along with the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) did a study on staffing for firefighting almost 12 years ago and the NFPA is a national benchmark for all things fire related. The City of Frisco follows many NFPA standards for things like the self-contained breathing apparatus or for the sprinklers that are inside the building.
Mayor Jeff Cheney alluded to the idea that sprinklers inside a building can take the place of personnel. Sapp said that is simply not true. Sprinklers are designed to allow people time to escape, not to put a fire out.
About workers compensation, Sapp said the city gave employees a worker’s comp plan several years ago and the FFA raised issue with it not being in writing. Together staff, city management and then Fire Chief and Police Chief put it together and made an ordinance. Sapp was very firm when he said, “make no mistake the mayor should not be sitting her touting that the Frisco’s effort to make sure WC protection is a valuable asset for all employees.” He also pointed out the mayor opposed House Bill 2242 in the 87 th legislative session they are also currently opposing House Bill 471 in this session.
Sapp then addressed the April 4, 2023, Council Meeting and the decision to release documents related to a complaint from the CIRCA fire. He noted this is the first time that they know of where the council voted on a PIR request. Sapp said he has asked for countless documents in the past which are either released to him or they go to the attorney general for a ruling. While he applauded their release of the documents, but he noted this was clearly done as a political tactic against Mark Piland. The reason he says this and believes this is because they did not release all the documents and he pointed out the report consists of over 500 pages. One of the issues in the report given by the Consultants is the staffing level. It states our staffing does not meet the national standard and we fall below cities of our same like and density.
The video ended with Sapp saying they will make sure that the misinformation and disinformation does not continue to lead to more normalization of deviance.
The phrase, “where there is smoke, there is fire,” refers to if people are saying or there are signs that something maybe wrong then there is usually a good reason for what they are saying. Many concerns have been raised about our current council and how things within the city are operating and there is probably a reason to be concerned. The city manager, city council and mayor should ask themselves these questions when they go to bed at night. Are we letting down those who serve us every day by not staffing according to the national standards? Are we letting down those who are willing to die for us every day by not supporting a worker’s compensation bill?
As residents, should we be embarrassed that our firefighters must ask for staff support at a city council meeting? Should we be mortified that our mayor at the same meeting responding to any citizen who questioned Universal but after Mr. Sapp spoke “crickets.” Not one member of our council said a word. The answer is YES to both! We are about to build a large hotel near the PGA, open a theme park, add another few thousand houses at the Fields development so should we be concerned that we don’t meet the national standards of NFPA 1710? According to the current council we should not be concerned. I interpret that as until someone dies we will just look the other way. How does the #1 city in America accidentally send a letter to the legislature? Someone should have been fired for that and we should release the report of why and how that happened. Wait, there probably was not an investigation done and that means there is no report. Cheney said word for word at the debate “we have 75 on for every shift.” As Maury would say, the lie detector’s test determined that was a lie! According to what the FFA published that is clearly false. Cheney said it is the city manager’s job to hire and make sure we are meeting expectations in our departments so who should we hold responsible, George Purefoy or Wes Peirson? Lastly, based on the FFA response why did the city not release the entire report and investigation? Why did 4 council members who openly endorsed the mayor for re-election vote on this item? That is clearly a conflict of interest due to the endorsement and relationship between some of these council members. Residents deserve answers to these questions, and they have the right to question those who choose to serve them.
“Let no man’s ghost return to say his training let him down.” – A Firefighter
If someone were to ask you what happened on June 28, 1997, would you know the answer? Truthfully no, the date would not stick out in most people’s minds. Now what if someone said do you remember that bizarre moment in boxing history when Mike Tyson bit off a portion of Evander Holyfield’s ear? My guess, is you remember that, and it happened on June 28, 1997. At the time, the fight was one of the highest grossing Pay Per View events with 1.99 million buys. It was the first time to break $100 million in revenue. It was round 3 of their much-anticipated rematch when one of the most iconic and grotesque scenes in sports history took place and became the most replayed slow-motion event in sports history. I remember sitting there on the couch with my wife and two boys, our mouths wide open in disbelief, that Iron Mike had just bit a portion of Holyfield’s ear. After a few seconds my wife stands up and says “Well, he must have been hungry. His mamma should have to feed him before the fight!” She gathers the bowls on the coffee table and heads to the kitchen, the night was over.
At the Star Patriots Debate on April 3 both candidates took their gloves off but at least no one lost an ear. The debate was filled with a few jabs, a few uppercuts, and a few hooks. The consensus on who won depends on who you ask. Cheney’s supporters feel he did a strong job and Piland supporters will tell you that he gave Cheney the good ole’ one-two punch and took the title. My wife and I went, and we agreed that I would take notes on Cheney’s comments, and she would take notes on Pilands comments and discuss the next morning over coffee. After a good night’s sleep, the sun rose, and I could smell the coffee brewing and we both took our place at the table with our notes. A quick review in order of some of the comments that stuck out at us.
Growth: Cheney said, it’s a misperception by many people that government controls our growth patterns. He noted that the city cannot tell a developer when they can or cannot develop their land which is in fact true.
FACT: The city can control some of the growth by not selling off all the land it owns “right here, right now.” The City of Frisco owned the 91 acres of land where the Frisco Star now sits, the 2.5 acres behind the Star where Blue Star built a 300,000 square feet office building, and how about the land sold for $37.9 million for Blue Stars Industrial Park? What a lot of residents don’t know or maybe don’t understand is that back in the day the city bought a lot of land betting like a gambler in a high-stake poker match that Frisco would grow and they could sell it down the road. The city also “strip annexed” a narrow strip of land that effectively cordoned off a large area, protecting it from other hungry nearby suburbs. In 1999, the State Legislature would prohibit “strip annexation” from happening in the future.
Workers Compensation For First Responders: was discussed by both candidates but we will review in our next blog.
Golden Goose: Cheney said 30 years ago with the development of the Frisco EDC and CDC that residents of Frisco made the choice about how they wanted to develop our community and he along with every city manager and city official has done what was promised to the residents. He also said that is how Frisco was built and that is the golden goose of Frisco.
FACT: What residents agreed to 30 years ago (there is no formal agreement by the way) versus what residents want along the way can change. Residents have been saying for the last 5 to 7 years to slow down, focus on the infrastructure first which has fallen on deaf ears. The only one who cares about the Golden Goose is the mayor and his friends who benefit from them.
Universal: Piland mentioned the last-minute bait and switch of items in the SUP, the promises from the developer to the Cobb Hill residents should have been codified in the SUP and how this should be a case study in zoning and what city officials should not do. Cheney said what was posted on his Facebook page about the project is exactly what was sent to them but as they got through the discussion’s things change.
Question: When things started to change in the discussions why didn’t you tell residents that on social media as you had everything else at that point? Our guess he knew residents were not going to like the changes in hours, building height, ride height and more.
Cheney said if they had not solved the wall issue with Cobb Hill it wouldn’t have past but then he also said it would be illegal for the city to enter into an agreement between two parties for something like a wall and we cannot interfere with private property rights.
Question: Wait A Hot Minute Mayor!! You voted for it that night instead of postponing it so the residents of Cobb Hill could formalize a private contract with Universal to make sure the “wall issue” is resolved.
Cheney then mentioned that this project had more discussions because they knew how long it took them as a council to “wrap their head around it” so they knew they would need to do this differently and research and have community discussions. NO, NO and NO!
FACT: What happened was they went live on Facebook announced it and planned to vote that night, but they didn’t expect that post to blow up and go viral. It was over a thousand comments in a few hours and based on a review was one of the highest posts in citizens response/comments on the city page in years. Once they saw the instant outcry knowing it was an election year, they had to postpone the vote that night. Cheney wants us to believe they did it for us the residents – that is simply not true!
Citizens Input: Piland pointed out Cheney has publicly said and posted on social media they could not respond to citizen’s input (we found several posts that match Pilands claims). Then he pointed out at the January 17 council meeting, 3 separate citizens spoke regarding Universal and Cheney responded to each one for 3 to 4 minutes. Piland even remarked, Cheney did it under the guise of I really need to help you get your facts straight. Cheney’s response was per the city charter the mayor runs the council meetings and they can respond to citizen’s input.
FACTS: Section 3.13 Rules of Procedure, “The city council shall determine its own rules of order and business. The city council shall provide that the citizens of the city shall have a reasonable opportunity to clearly hear and be heard at public hearings with regard to specific matters under consideration.” At first it appears Cheney could be right but Section 2.125 in reference to meetings states “All meetings and deliberations of the board shall be called, convened, held, and conducted, and notice shall be given to the public, in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, as it currently exists or may be amended.” That means the answer is in the Texas Open Meetings Act which states, limited verbal interchanges between citizens and council members are appropriate, discussions should not be permitted to drag on. When a member of the public makes an inquiry about a subject for which notice has not been given, a council member may respond with a statement of factual information or recite existing policy. Piland is correct that Cheney violated the Texas Open Meetings Act that night and many other nights too speaking during citizen’s input.
Code of Conduct: Piland also referenced the December 18(actually Dec 4) council meeting regarding the PGA where Cheney had to recuse himself due to his relationship with one of the principal members of the project. Before he did he took Mayors Privilege and spoke for nearly 8 minutes regarding the project then stepped off the stage. Piland pointed out the mayor violated Section 3.11 Conflict of Interest in the City Code of Conduct. Cheney’s said his conflict of interest technically had cured at that point because the council felt that his boss Robert Elliott was not the right partner for the project (does Elliott know this) and they needed a bigger partner which is when Omni stepped in and the ownership interest changed and it removed the conflict. Cheney also said he followed the code of conduct, and he takes the code of conduct very seriously at the City of Frisco and so that’s why he makes sure not to involve any of his personal business in things. “As a real estate broker, I’ve never represented the city of Frisco in a transaction, I’ve never represented a party who did business with the City of Frisco and I’ve never had an interest in any project in the city of Frisco.” Lastly he said that he has declined every request for help from clients to get through the zoning process even though it would have been very lucrative for his firm. He closed by saying he is very transparent with everything he does and he is proud of that.”
FACT: Section 3.11 Conflict of Interest it states, “Should any person on the city council have a conflict of interest, pursuant to any state laws and/or city ordinances regulating conflicts of interest of municipal officers, with an agenda item then before the city council, they shall openly declare before discussion proceeds, and he is thereby prohibited from discussing the item or voting on the question, and is not considered as present and voting for the purposes of the tally.” As for Cheney’s claim he cured his conflict of interest Omni’s own press release from December 4, 2018 notes it is a joint venture and the new company was Omni Stillwater Woods. Nowhere does it say Robert Elliott is removed from the project and it was SWC Clay Roby who spoke on behalf of the project at every P&Z and council meeting, not a representative from TRT Holdings which is Omni. Cheney can argue he cured his conflict of interest but that is a logical fallacy which is an error in reasoning that makes your arguments less effective and convincing.
FACT: Cheney’s claim he declined every request for help regarding zoning is also not correct. Cheney may not have helped a client but he did help a campaign donor. In a Dallas Morning News article written by Sharon Grigby (March 2019), he stated “Cheney told me he met Carter sometime after he became mayor in May 2017. The mayor said the developer visited Cheney’s City Hall office about a sign-ordinance provision that caused difficulties for his Preston Road multi-tenant commercial property. “Like most developers, they reach out to the mayor and say, ‘This is unreasonable. Can you help me?’” Cheney told me Tuesday. Although Cheney said he helped resolve the issue, he maintains that the 2018 campaign donations ($15,000) were not tied to that case. There was never a this for that.” Cheney is correct it is lucrative but not to his firm it was his campaign fund!
Campaign Donations: Piland referenced the City of Plano’s campaign finance rule that any person who donates over $1000 that comes before the council, would require the person on the council to recuse themselves. Piland noted you can take as much money as you want but you will have to recuse yourself from all discussion and votes. Cheney responded and said Plano’s ordinance was put in place two years ago after all their developments were done or largely done, and he did speak to one of their elected officials about their policy. He said the Plano official (no name) told him the ordinance is not even enforceable, there is no teeth to it and it was put in place because of a political ideology in their community was having a tough time getting traction for the candidates that they wanted to support and now they have a situation where PACs and Super PACs along with other special interest groups lead the outcomes in elections.
Question: Did that communication happen via email and if so would you release the communication so we can see the Plano elected officials’ response?
Purefoy: Cheney commented that developers made a commitment to our city to develop and invest here (sometimes almost a billion dollars) and it scares developers that the commitment made is not going to be honored after his opponent is elected. Cheney said it probably scares somebody that wants to invest a lot of money in this community, and it could make them think otherwise. He said developers are scared by the rhetoric and comments they are hearing in this mayoral cycle because the outcome could change the entire direction of the City of Frisco. Lastly he said it would tarnish the “legacy” of George Purefoy and it would break the promise made to him to continue his work.
Fact: Mark Piland has said he is pro-development and would just like to see more community engagement and discussion around some of those projects. Piland never said he would not follow through on a contract or commitment made to a developer from the city or previous administration and he also never said he was against Public/Private Partnerships. How is hearing from residents a negative thing? From the two debates we heard we have not seen Mr. Piland be anything other than pro-responsible development. So why would developers be scared? Lastly, Purefoy did amazing things for this city in the last 35 years and to say change would tarnish his legacy and the promise made to him is ludacris. Companies and cities pivot all the time, and they are doing just fine! Our concern should not be about a promise made to Purefoy it should be about the promises made to residents in this city every day. Cheney used this a cheap ploy scare tactic in our opinion.
Closings: Cheney said his most valuable experience for this community is being the leader of this community for the last six years. He said mayors elected in this city are not people who have had careers in bureaucratic government. He said the City of Frisco elects entrepreneurs, visionaries, risk-takers, and people who don’t want to do things the same way. That is what Frisco is all about. He then said his superpower is building extraordinary teams and making people believe that they can do more than they ever thought they were capable of. That is his greatest gift and what he will continue to do here in his last term. Mostly he wants his last term to be about testing the absolute limits of what a city is capable of and in the City of Frisco will stress the boundaries of what is possible here over the next 3 years.
FACT: I know this will be hard for some to believe but people have skills they don’t have superpowers! He said Frisco is all about entrepreneurs, visionaries, and risk takers – really, since when is that what Frisco was all about? The scariest thing he said is that he wants to test the absolute limits of what a city is capable of, so it’s not about you, me, or the residents, this is solely about his personal legacy and how he will be remembered. People are telling you to slow down not stress the limits, so you can’t say you represent and listen to the people when you are doing the exact opposite of what people are asking for.
The night lasted longer than anticipated and when it was over it was clear the candidates were tired, the audience was tired, and the campaigning was about to kick into high gear. As we pulled into the driveway of our house my wife said to me, Honey what is your superpower? I looked at her and said I am a bull shit meter! I can sense, smell, fly through and see the bull shit from anyone where around me. She simply said okay I will get that on a t-shirt for you for Christmas. Then she said it felt like one was me, me, me and the other was about team, team team. That pretty much sums up how I felt too!
Actually, Michelle, you blocked me after one post asking a simple question. You didn’t like the question, that simple. Also,…
Look at the faces of Vote for Frisco ISD and you will know who would have contacted the contractors for…
Keep in mind that these $1.1 Billion in bonds are financed for 30 years. Today's rate for a 30 year…
My response is intended for Ginni--just to avoid any confusion.
I appreciate that you reached out to me privately after posting this. I'm also happy that we've come to a…