In April of 2021 you would have thought an El Paso dust storm full of tumbleweeds came through Frisco and upset the equilibrium of our city. As we discussed in our earlier blogs Where There Is Smoke PT 1 and There is Fire PT 2, there has been a long standing point of contention between the Frisco Firefighters Association and the city in regards to workers compensation.
In 2021 the city opposed House Bill 2242 brought forward by Jared Patterson, Texas State House Rep for Frisco. In 2023 the FFA and Patterson brought HB 471, and they have been working extremely hard to get it or similar legislation passed in Austin that would protect first responders across Texas. The fight for more protection by the FFA and Jared Paterson has continued into our 2025 Texas Legislative Session.
Even though we knew about the El Paso dust storm, my wife and I were still shocked on May 16, 2023, after tuning into the city council meeting online, like we have done every other Tuesday for years. Mayor Cheney presented a proclamation to Denton County MGMR, for all the work they do each day relating to mental health. Mental Health Awareness Month aims to increase awareness about the vital role mental health plays in our overall health and well-being and provide resources and information to support individuals and communities in need of mental health support.
At that same meeting, during Citizen Input (23:00 minute mark), Frisco Firefighters Association President, Matt Sapp, along with Retired Frisco Fire Chief Mark Piland, and Assistant Fire Chief Cameron Kraemer to address the termination of Kraemer, a 27-year Veteran of the Frisco Fire Department.
What? After 27-years serving our city and its residents without hesitation, Kraemer was terminated BY EMAIL while on medical leave and under medical supervision for PTSD which we go into more detail about in our blog Backdraft which we really encourage you to read.
By the end of the meeting, I wanted to scream like Alanis Morrissette…
Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think? A little too ironic
Where are we two years later? It is Mental Health Awareness Month again, and the second anniversary of Kraemer’s termination BY EMAIL while on medical leave. The fight is not over, not even close! It’s time to peel back the curtain on a firehouse-sized problem simmering here in Frisco? Buckle up, this one’s got smoke, politics, and no small dose of Texas-sized irony.
Smoke, Stigma & Silenced: Mark Piland
Since then, Retired Fire Chief Mark Piland has had his name wrongfully smeared and his 40-year stellar career in public service wrongfully attacked by City of Frisco leaders for speaking out on behalf of Kraemer and the Frisco Firefighters Association when he attempted to run for Frisco City Council.
The Legislative Lifeline
When your city will not support you, what do you do? The Frisco Firefighters Association has continued the fight and has been in Austin off and on the last several weeks with local State Rep Jared Patterson to fight for more protection for public safety employees in the State of Texas. Just today, HB331 officially headed to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law! The bill marks the final piece of legislation language from last session’s HB471 that our Frisco Firefighters have been advocating for the past three legislative sessions.
A Firefighters Fight: Cameron Kraemer
And Cameron Kraemer, where is he? Kraemer, while still under medical supervision, started the fight of his life against our very own City of Frisco. After a hearing on September 21, 2023, before the Texas Department of Insurance, the DMN reports that the administrative law judge hearing the case ORDERED THE CITY OF FRISCO, which is self-insured, to pay Kraemer benefits and any accrued but unpaid income benefits in a lump sum with interest as provided by law. According to John Riddle, president of the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters, Kraemer’s case is being watched throughout Texas, and it is important to the state’s 18,000 firefighters in 195 communities. Riddle said in the DMN, “For now, Frisco is among the most aggressive cities in fighting its injured employees at City Hall and the Legislature — and because of that, employees like Cameron Kraemer pay a high price.”
The battle continued as Kraemer took his case before the DOJ for them to determine if he was able to sue the city for wrongful termination which we wrote about in our blog Big Time Casino Payout. The DOJ ruled Kraemer could move forward with a lawsuit so in August 2024 Cameron Kraemer filed a lawsuit for wrongful termination against the City of Frisco in Collin County. Based on the research we have done, Kraemer is going to win, and we think he will win big! You can learn more in our December 2024 blog Kraemer vs City of Frisco that we wrote which lays out the details.
Final Thoughts from the Hillside Winery Whistleblower
Ask yourself why. Why is the city spending hundreds of thousands on a private law firm to fight so hard and drag this out for so long, when clearly, they are in the wrong? Why is the city spending tax dollars fighting our public safety employees instead of protecting them and just doing the right thing? What will this cost us, the taxpayers, when he wins? Our guess…. MILLIONS! But that is not all. We are hearing rumors of other lawsuits that have been or will be filed by former employees of the FD against the City of Frisco. We are digging into that now!
They had all the time in the world to prance around asking us to vote to change the use of EDC funds for a Frisco Center For The Arts but they cannot simply make things right with the firefighters. Instead, we have Councilwoman Meinershagen calling them 300lb bullies and complaining that they are fighting for protections that directly affect their life. We have Bicycle Bill Woodard, who wants you to believe the firefighters are lazy (his words during the May 2024 election), and they want to bankrupt the city. You can’t get a paycheck from a bankrupt city, so why would they want to do that? Cheney and Keating want you to believe that our RETIRED Fire Chief was fired after a stellar career with the city and 10 years of perfect performance reviews. Not to mention, in our PIR requests and federal FOIA’s, we found his entire 40-year career was stellar with not one deficient performance review. Lastly, no one is paying attention to the fact that in the last 6 to 8 months, several (rumor is 6 to 8) of our firefighters are saying Hasta La Vista Baby either via retirement or quitting their job. They are going to work for other organizations and cities where they are valued.
Just hope and pray your house does not catch fire because we were already short staffed and now it is getting worse! The city loyalists just turn a blind eye as always, and function as if nothing if wrong. They want you to believe we have nothing to be worried about, but as a taxpayer you can bet, I am worried! Big Time Payouts, the loss of experienced firefighters from our roster puts citizens and businesses in jeopardy.
We are glad the municipal election season is over, and life is getting back to normal, or as normal as it can be. Proposition A which was for Civil Service was, came down to a difference of 665 votes. That is not a landslide win, and it should speak volumes to the Frisco City Council and City Management to do better. On Proposition B, which was for Collective Bargaining, it came down to a difference of 2,383 votes. City leaders and the Safety Frisco First PAC did a good job of scaring voters that if it passed our Firefighters would become a group of “Greedy Bastards” and bankrupt the city.
Residents spoke and while most conveyed their support to the Firefighters, they didn’t feel Civil Service and Collective Bargaining were the right way to go about it. According to several voters we talked to, they believe the residents need to help fight for change at city hall and demand more from our city leaders. WHERE ARE THOSE RESIDENTS NOW? Did any of those who came out to vote, go home, and take the time to email the city leadership? Probably not! Did anyone write an email to city leaders expressing concern about the City Manager who is the reason we ended voting on these issues. Probably not!
We still continue to think about the call for “more staffing” and wonder do we have a staffing issue? Did you know that over the last four years the city applied for several grants related to staffing?
What is a SAFER Grant? The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER) was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase or maintain the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available in their communities. The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local fire departments’ abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by the NFPA which stands for the National Fire Protection Association’s codes and standards.
At the 01/18/2022 council meeting the council voted on an agenda item #21 authorizing the City Manager to submit a SAFER grant application in the amount of $5,420,500 over a three-year performance period for STAFFING that would help fund 15 Firefighter/Paramedic positions needed to staff a fourth Truck Company assigned to Fire Station 9. The memo we found was from Mark Piland to then City Manager George Purefoy, Deputy City Manager Henry Hill and the entire council. The resolution says duly passed and approved on the 18th day of January 2022.
The application states “Due to this rapid growth, the City’s ability to build and staff new fire stations and apparatus is limited. The City has committed to building a new fire station, Fire Station #10 and additional apparatus, such as a fourth Truck and additional Medic, but needs federal assistance to on-board additional firefighters to staff this apparatus. Without this funding, it takes our fire crews longer to establish effective response forces according to NFPA 1710 standards which increases the likelihood of property damage and risk to the fire crews. Without this funding, our response times will increase due to the first due truck not being within close proximity to the rapid areas of development that would need an aerial ladder response.
It goes on to say, “During 2020, the city began construction on 13 multifamily housing and completed 7 multifamily housing units that were already under construction for a grand total of over 26,000 units. The City houses 22 specialty care facilities to include nursing homes, free standing nursing facilities and adult living communities. Within the last 2 years, we have had 6 new high rises completed and we have 3 high rise buildings currently under construction. This additional funding will allow for a fourth fire truck to be put into service which will increase our NFPA 1710 standards for response to a high-risk structure to include multifamily housing, specialty risk structures and high-rise buildings. NFPA 1710 recommends that an agency place 42 or 43 personnel on a fire at a high-rise structure. The department is currently staffed to respond with 34 personnel.”
Yet the City Council and City Management Say, “We don’t have a staffing issue.”
We were also surprised to see at the 04/04/2023 council meeting the council voted on an agenda item #23 authorizing the City Manager to submit a SAFER grant application in the amount of $8,894,880 for a three-year grant performance period for STAFFING. The memo written by Interim Fire Chief, Lee Glover goes on to say, “if awarded, the FY22 SAFER Grant Program would provide funding for 24 Firefighter/Paramedic positions consistent with the Fire Department’s current five-year staffing plan.”
We pulled up the application and pulled some highlights. The first one states, “Over the past year, our department has seen the 90th percentile response times for first arriving fire/EMS apparatus in these areas increase to nearly ten minutes and NFPA 1710 single-family dwelling full alarm assembly time increase to over 20 minutes, well beyond the NFPA 1710 recommendations.” The second highlight states, “Without the assistance the city will likely be unable to simultaneously bear the cost of constructing two new fire stations and staffing/equipping firefighters, which would negatively impact Frisco FD’s ability to provide appropriate and timely emergency response and assembly of the recommended effective response force.”
The application goes on to say, “The Frisco Fire Department continues to experience increasing call volume and faces new risks. The total call volume for the department has increased by 76.7% since 2015.” It continues, “The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of America relocated to Frisco in 2022. While Frisco has experience with large special events, these attendance numbers are more than double the size of current venues in Frisco. In addition, Universal Parks and Resorts recently announced the opening of a new theme park scheduled to open in 2026. A new 2,500-acre development in northern Frisco is underway, with 14,000 homes and apartments planned, as well as commercial and retail development. These developments, events, and venues are new risks for the Frisco Fire Department in an area not close to an existing fire station which have resulted in significantly increased response times over the past few years.”
Fire Chief Lee Glover now says, “we don’t have a staffing issue.”
On a side note, we hope all the developers who donated $10,000 to fight the firefighters now realize the city is not prepared, they flat our said so in a federal grant.
As a resident, why do I feel like I need a shower and we are being blatantly lied too somehow! During the election Mark Piland said as the former Fire Chief he advocated over and over for staffing. Then we see this application by Lee Glover in 2023 which talks about how all the new development has put new risk for the FD and resulted in “SIGNIFICANTLY” increased call times. Most glaring is his statement “we have seen NFPA 1710 single-family dwelling full alarm assembly time increase to over 20 minutes, well beyond the NFPA 1710 recommendations.” Less than a year later we are hearing the complete opposite from Chief Lee Glover and every single member sitting perched up on the city pulpit.
For the last few weeks, we watched the Safety-First Frisco PAC scorch any ground left between the city and the firefighters. They implied they were Greedy Bastards, basically attacked their character, willingness to work, called them lazy, liars and power hungry. It was a nuclear response to an already tense relationship. Meanwhile over at the police department, Chief Shilson’s wife Jana Shilson is advocating with the PAC on social media. At the Fire Department, Chief Lee Glover’s wife Jamie Glover is also advocating with the PAC on social media.
On the other hand, the firefighters are scared they will suffer repercussions for being on the front lines of this fight for the propositions. The firefighter’s message has never changed which centers around staffing and the fact they have no confidence in city leadership or their Chief to do what is right. City leaders continue to try and blame this on former leadership which has nothing to do with it. The former leadership fought with them and for them at the polls, right next to them. Come May 5th, the firefighters said win or lose, if you the resident calls, we your Frisco Firefighters will answer that call and risk our own lives to make sure you the citizen is safe.” We ask again, what’s next? Where do we go from here?
A starting point is every resident should be asking the following questions of our City Leadership: The City Council, The Mayor Jeff Cheney, City Manager Wes Pierson and his staff and Fire Chief Lee Glover:
If we don’t have a staffing issue, then why did you “THE CITY” apply for several SAFER FEMA grants specifically for STAFFING?
Were you honest on the FEMA Safer Grants? If yes, then you have been lying to residents.
Were you honest to residents and lie on the FEMA Safer Grant? If yes, who thought it would be a good idea to lie on a federal grant application?
The 2023 SAFER grant says without assistance the city will likely be unable to simultaneously bear the cost of constructing two new fire stations and staffing/equipping firefighters, which would negatively impact Frisco FD’s ability to provide appropriate and timely emergency response and assembly of the recommended effective response force.” If that is the case, then why does the city continue to offer developers incentives to do business here, why did we build a 60+million-dollar library, and why are we considering a performing arts center? It sounds like we are broke or destitute.
The fact is only after the grants were denied did the city say we are fully staffed, trust us everything is okay, just trust your city leadership. Well, I don’t trust you….AT ALL! Will residents really get involved and express their concern to city leadership about what is happening in our city and demand they find a resolution to these issues or will we see the Fire and Police Association back on the ballot in two years fighting for Civil Service, again!
“Let no man’s ghost return to say his leadership and training let him down.” – A Firefighter
Do you know what the “Golden Rule” is in politics? It is rules for thee but not for me, which we have told you about many times. Common folks are expected to abide by the laws and ordinances like obedient little sheep. In the meantime, our politicians roam the pasture of power with the freedom of a rebellious teenager. They preach about transparency while hiding behind closed doors in executive session like hermits guarding their precious secrets. The concept of accountability is elusive like a mirage in the desert and the tragic outcome is voters losing faith in the system. In politics, only one thing is consistent and that is the double standard.
Ordinance No. 2020-10-69 which goes along with the Texas Election Code authorizes the City Council to enact reasonable regulations concerning the time, place, and manner of electioneering on a public premises used as a polling location. In the ordinance it states a “voting period” shall mean the period beginning the hour the polls open for early voting and ending when the polls close or the last voter has voted on election day (whichever is later).
The voting period is important because the ordinance states it is an “OFFENSE” for any person to leave electioneering signs on City-owned or controlled property that is used as a polling location before 6:00 p.m. before the “voting period” begins and to have them up (24) hours after the voting period ends. According to the ordinance any person, firm, corporation, or business entity violating this Ordinance, could be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and possibly face a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
The first email we received said that they knew of several people who made complaints to the City Secretary or Code Enforcement about signs being put out on April 21st, at least 6 hours before the allowed time frame. Who was the offender in this case? Glad you asked, it was John Keating, Angelia Pelham and Safety-First Frisco Vote No PAC who violated the rules. Did the city send out someone to confirm the violation? No. Did the city fine someone for the indisputable violation? No!
The email continued and said since it happened on a Sunday when Code Enforcement is off duty, they were not able to confirm or prove the violation. Why didn’t Code Enforcement ask the city to pull the security footage at each fire station, as they are surrounded by cameras? Did they receive time stamped photos with any of the complaints? This is how they “brush it under the rug.”
Even if they had been working, would you want to write a ticket or citation to a sitting council member? How could a code enforcement officer be comfortable with that? The CE Officer knows the council members could make one phone call, that will go down the chains of command, leaving the CE officer vulnerable. If they had been caught, Keating, Pelham, and the Safety-First Frisco PAC would have just blamed it on the “contractor” who put out the signs. Fred Lusk is the contractor, and he has done if for years, just look at the campaign finance reports. Mr. Lusk knows the rules! How about we call it what it is, Special Treatment! It goes directly to rules for thee but not for me!
This year the battle for the ballot votes was a heated one. So much so, that the following weekend after the original sign violation Code Enforcement was on the clock. Did they approve overtime for Code Enforcement for Saturday and Sunday April 27th and 28th? According to witnesses they did make an appearance at the open polling stations over the weekend. Based on conversations with some regular poll greeters who work every election, they have never seen code enforcement, especially not on weekends. What was special about his election, that code enforcement needed to work weekends?
Code Enforcement played a critical role in this election. In fact, we received another email that stated Code Enforcement showed up wearing “Body Cameras” like a police officer. Now according to the election code, Section 61.014 election officials recommend police officers turn off body cameras when within 100 feet of a voting station. That applies to officers on or off duty. The reason, it helps to maintain voter privacy while voters are voting at polling stations, standing in line to vote, or walking in and out of voting stations. Why did Code Enforcement need body cameras? Did they turn their body cameras off or violate someone’s privacy near the polls? Have they ever had to wear body cams before?
Another email stated it felt like Code Enforcement was hassling or targeting the Frisco Firefighters. For example, the ordinance states you are allowed to have a tent, canopy or similar covering that does not exceed 10 feet by 10 feet in size. The firefighters were not aware of the size restriction and had a 10 x 20 tent at Station 7. They were told the tent was in violation and had to come down immediately. The firefighters complied without issue.
Then the code enforcement officer pointed out that it was also an offense for them to attach, place or otherwise affix any electioneering sign, literature, material, tent or other device to any building, tree, shrub, pole or other improvement on City-owned or controlled property used as a polling location. He told them the new vinyl banner made for the propositions had to come down from the tent. The firefighters complied without issue.
The firefighters got created and used their vehicle at another polling site and again they were told they could not affix signs to their truck that was outside the 100ft electioneering marker. Based on the verbiage above we would argue the truck which is owned by a firefighter is not a building, tree, shrub pole or other improvement on city-owned property. If that is electioneering, then why were candidates allowed to put signs in the windows of their cars at stations all over the city that were parked on city-owned property?
Next, he pointed out that any sign on the premises could not exceed four (4) square feet and could not exceed more than (4) feet in height including any supporting poles. The firefighter’s response was to cut up the banner to meet the guidelines. If felt like the next day, we saw new signs and confirmed they had printed new signs that were 2 x 2 and 4 x 1. According to the email, Code Enforcement was not amused by the new signs when they returned and apparently measured each one of them at each station to make sure they were within ordinance size requirements.
Now, we know Code Enforcement is just doing their job, but we were curious were their actions based on a complaint called in or were they simply doing a polling site inspection when they noticed these violations? Did everyone at the polls receive the same attention as the firefighters? We will know as soon as we get the PIR back from the city.
Another email stated, Code Enforcement came out to check the roadway political signs at polling stations. Apparently at Station 7 a “John Keating” 4 x 6 roadway sign popped up before early voting began. Code Enforcement arrived with two officers who walked over to the roadway signs at the edge of city property. The email stated they glanced at the Keating sign then walked right past it to 2 other signs that belong to John Redmond and Mark Piland. The officers talked and looked at the iPad they were carrying. That is when they noticed a person walking towards them who appeared to be from one of the campaign teams. When the campaign rep returned, they asked them was going on now? The campaign person replied, “I guess there was a sign complaint.” She said she was just checking to make sure there were no issues with her candidate’s signs because she was concerned with how they were looking at them. She said then they pointed out to her where the city property line was, and the Keating roadway sign was right on the line.
The email stated they were concerned by what they heard because just weeks before her brother (a sign contractor) had several roadway political signs go missing from the same spot. He thought it was because they were on city property, but it turns out it was private property and the landlord from the shopping center had taken them down. At that time code enforcement pointed to the Angelia Pelham and John Keating signs located next to the sidewalk (which you can see in the picture right next to the Vote NO sign). The Code Enforcement officer them at that time those signs were right on the city property line which lines up with the bush on the opposite side facing the private property. Keatings new sign was at least 2 ft in from the back side of the bush so it should have been on city property. So, where is the city property line? Maybe the city should disclose that so people can follow the rules better.
The last email we received referred to the violations happening at Station 8 on Election Day by none other than John Keating, his poll greeters, and the Cheney’s. The email stated that for several of the morning hours Keating’s poll greeters were walking into the parking lot to greet people exiting from their cars. They would talk to them about how they need to go in and vote for Keating and against the propositions then come outside and take a picture “with the candidate or Mayor.”
Unsure if that was allowed, a poll greeter emailed Collin County Elections to ask the rules about being in the parking lot outside of the 100 ft marker point. Elections emailed back it was okay, so a poll greeter for another candidate went out to the parking lot stood on the grassy median and did the same thing Keatings poll greeters had done all morning. It was at that moment, when Jeff and Dana Cheney yelled out, “you can’t do that, you can’t do that!” Then she said a voice from the side said, “well you have been doing it all morning and told them elections confirmed they can do it.” That is when Mayor Cheney said Frisco has an ordinance against doing that and Dana Cheney yells out, I can just file a complaint; I will call right now and file a complaint.
Next, they saw the poll greeter come back up to the sidewalk and one of the poll greeters emailed the City of Frisco to file a complaint against Keating and his poll greeters, and Cheney’s. The email included videos and pictures of the violations (which we received also). Within 20 minutes, Code Enforcement showed up at Fire Station 8 and told everyone they had a complaint with pictures of poll greeters electioneering in the parking lots and reminded them they cannot enter the parking lots or driveways. They told the poll greeters if they had to come back, they would be writing tickets.
Mayor Jeff Cheney was referring to Section 54-213 of Ordinance No. 2020-10-69 which states, “It is an offense for any person to engage in electioneering on driveways or parking areas on the premises of a polling location or in such areas that the fire chief or his/her designee determines to be unsafe for electioneering or determines will interfere with patrons or city employees and staff who use the areas other than for election purposes. This restriction shall not apply to electioneering signs, literature or materials that are attached to vehicles lawfully parked at the premises of a polling location.”
In closing, say it with us, “Rules For Thee But Not For Me!” Clearly the Cheney’s and Keating know the ordinances so why did their own team break them all morning long? Keating stood on the sidewalk and watched his poll greeters go after car after car in the parking lot all morning. Why didn’t Keating or the Cheney’s correct the electioneering offense happening then by his own poll greeters? Dana said she could go in the parking lot because she did not have any clothes on supporting a candidate, but that is not true because before she stepped into the parking lot, she was holding a candidates sign on the nearby sidewalk, so it was clear she was poll greeting regardless of what she was wearing. It is just another example of how the rules don’t apply to the Elite who sit on our council. We can understand giving a warning for violations but not when it’s the City Council and the Mayor whose signatures is on the ordinance. Maybe Cinderella Cheney needs to hold herself, her husband, her adult son, and their friends on council accountable for their actions.
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