House of Cards

by | Mar 7, 2023 | Community Development Corp, Developements, Developers, Economic Development Corp, Politics, Wade Park

Growing up my dad and his buddies would always have poker night in the basement that included cards, cigars, and liquor concoctions.  I used to sneak down the stairs to spy on them and was always intrigued by the deck of playing cards.  One night my dad told his buddies that a deck of cards is based on a calendar.  Fifty-two (52) cards represent fifty-two (52) weeks in a year and the card colors red and black symbolize night and day.  The four (4) suits represent the four (4) seasons. There are thirteen (13) cards in a suit to match the number of lunar cycles and twelve (12) court cards that represent the 12 months of the year.  A standard deck of cards has four suits: hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds and the original card suits were based on classes and can be traced back to France in the 1400s.  Suits include spades ♠ (royalty), clubs ♣ (peasants),  hearts ♥ (clergy), and diamonds ♦ (merchants). 

Once the night was over I would gather up all the cards and the next day I loved to try and build a house out of the cards. Then my brother would come by like a gust of wind and knock it over which always upset me, but I started over each time. House of cards is a metaphor for the instability of the inner workings of what appears to be the perfect partnership, structure, plan, institution, or organization.  In a house of cards, the inner workings are always weak, fragile and in constant danger of failure or collapse.  Watching Frisco grow, I have wondered are some of these developments too good to be true.  Underneath the pomp and circumstance are they just another house of cards?

In August 2014 a crowd gathered including Frisco leaders and officials from Thomas Land & Development for the groundbreaking of the $1.6 Billion, 175-acre Wade Park mixed-use development.  Excitement rumbled among residents when they learned the initial phase would be anchored by a Whole Foods store. Jim Newman, of Newman Real Estate, brokered the land deal for the project and he told the Frisco Enterprise that “having sold and developed land in this city for over 30 years, nothing in North Texas comes close to the future development.”  He went on to say it was difficult getting the Wade Family to sell the land but when they found a partner they could trust like Thomas Land Development they couldn’t be happier.  

In January 2015, the Frisco City Council, Frisco EDC, and Frisco CDC approved $122.75 million in incentives for infrastructure improvements which would be paid from revenue generated by the proposed development as the city collects taxes.  In return, Wade Park agreed to deliver a portion of the development by the end of December 2017. It wouldn’t be long before all that excitement started to dwindle when Frisco learned Thomas Land Development ran out of money and failed to secure additional financing.  Construction froze as contractors began placing liens against the development for unpaid bills and by early 2018 the future of Wade Park was up in the air and Frisco was left with a hole in the ground that locals nicknamed Lake Lebanon. 

Were any alarm bells that the city should have been concerned about so we could have possibly avoided the headache of Wade Park?  A simple google search into Stan Thomas, CEO of Atlanta-based Thomas Land Development is alarming.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported back in 2009 that Stan Thomas had three major projects in bankruptcy protection, and he narrowly averted foreclosure on The Forum Peachtree Parkway development in Atlanta.  He also had projects in London and Orlando that were virtually dead until he could find financing.  He had been sued by former partners and vendors for nonpayment and dozens of liens against him.  His company had gone from 750 employees down to just 50 employees.  Thomas had two other projects in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection which included The Rim in San Antonio, Texas, and Prospect Park in Alpharetta, Georgia. In 2019 a CBS news story pointed out that while Frisco city officials publicly expressed optimism for the project the I-Team had learned behind the scenes there were concerns early on.  They reported the developer Stan Thomas had a reputation for taking on massive debt to develop massive projects.   The report also talked about how Thomas had plans to turn a development in Sacramento into a multi-billion dollar development but it fell through when he could not pay his loans on the project. 

Again, we ask the question was the writing on the wall the whole time?  Could we have avoided the headache of Wade Park with a little more due diligence?  Was Lake Lebanon avoidable?  How do we avoid doing business with companies that are really House of Cards?  How many other projects are just another house of cards?  

Funny Side Note: While it has nothing to do with our story we wanted to share that in 2015, Universal Orlando acquired 475 acres of land for $27.5 million for a future Universal theme park.  But the previous landowner Stan Thomas (mentioned above) sued Universal claiming he still owned rights to enforce private deed restrictions.  The parties settled in April 2018 but it just shows it is a small world after all since now Universal is looking at Frisco.

Back to the point of our blog, we decided to investigate some other local developments and what we found should have Frisco residents concerned. In 2012 Forest Park Medical Center at Frisco Square opened.  The developer was Neal Richards Group which at the time had developed half a billion dollars of healthcare real estate.  At some point, the company kicked off its first physician-owned project called Forest Park Medical brand. NRG became collateral damage in a fraud scandal involving two of its co-founders who were among 21 people indicted in a $40 million kickback scheme that ran from 2009 to approximately 2013 and generated an estimated $200 million in revenue for Forest Park.  It is complicated to understand but to put it in layman’s terms, the hospitals were set up as out-of-network facilities which allowed them to set their own prices then shell companies were opened to funnel millions in bribes and kickback payments in exchange for patient referrals.  Make sense?

In 2018, Philip Carter, the principal of Texas Cash Cow Investments and North Forty Development LLC who had developed Preston at Wade Crossing was arrested. In November 2018 Carter was facing state fraud charges in connection with defrauding nearly 100 Texas investors out of $17.5 million and in May 2022 he was sentenced to 45 years in state prison. 

Then in September 2022, Tim Barton of JMJ Developments was indicted by a federal grand jury on nine felony counts, including securities fraud and wire fraud.  He is accused of defrauding Chinese investors out of $26 million and if convicted could face up to 60 years in prison.  JMJ Developments purchased 4.5 acres of land in 2020 from Invest Group Overseas (IGO), the master developer of The Gate in Frisco’s North Platinum Corridor.  At the time JMJ officials boasted how it would be “the tallest building in Frisco” and was set to open in 2024.  Barton sold the property in The Gate to Petra Development LLC in December 2022 for an estimated $9 million.

We could make our own movie and instead of calling it The Wolf of Wall Street, we should name it The Wolves of the Frisco or The Wolves of the Dallas North Tollway.  Are we the only ones who are curious why so many of the developments in Frisco are somehow connected to shady businessmen or developers?  Maybe we need to hold our city management and the developers they choose to do business with to higher standards so shady shit stops happening.  

The Cost of Doing Business

by | Feb 27, 2023 | Campaign Donations, Campaign Finance Reports, City Council, Developements, Developers, Fehmi Karahan, Fields West, Jerry Jones, John Keating, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics, Robert Elliott, Robert Elliott - The Associates, Stillwater, The Link, The Preserve & Fields, The Star, Universal Kids

Since childhood, I have loved a movie night with the family.  My dad would take me to the corner store where he always got my mom a Bit-O-Honey and then he would look at me and say in his deep voice, kid you can pick a sweet treat too.  I am sure I smiled ear to ear the whole way home looking out the window of the old truck with my $100,000 candy bar in my hand.  Today the candy bar is called 100 Grand and I still pick one up every Friday with a quick pick lotto.  In the movie Other People’s Money (1991), Lawrence Garfield said, “I love money more than the things it can buy…but what I love more than money is other people’s money.”

Our lives center around other people’s money, and we don’t even realize it.  The bank owns the home until you make the last payment.  The car belongs to the lender until you make the last payment.  The new furniture you bought at Nebraska Furniture Mart that is financed over 24 months is not yours until the last payment.  By now you see the connection, until we make the last payment the thing we love is not really ours.  Politicians LOVE other people’s money because it helps pay for costly campaigns.  The more campaign contributions they bring in, the less they will have to take out of their own pockets or through a loan.  Political contributions are a time-honored tradition, and some would say “The Cost of Doing Business.”

In 2019, Sharon Grigsby with the Dallas Morning News did an article about Phillip Michael Carter, who was accused of taking advantage of elderly investors for million dollars, and the relationship he had with both Cheney and Keating’s campaign. Cheney received $15,000 and Keating received $5000 from Carter, both said they were returning the donations which was the right thing to do.  She interviewed Cheney for about 45 minutes and Cheney told her he met Carter sometime after he became Mayor in 2017 and Carter later visited his office at City Hall about a sign-ordinance provision that was causing him difficulties at his Preston Road commercial property. Cheney said it was not unusual and most developers reach out to the mayor and ask for help. Cheney confirmed he helped resolve the issue but was steadfast that the 2018 campaign contribution was not tied to that case and said, “there was never a this for that.” 

Cheney also told Grigsby that his “reputation is everything to me.”  He regrets not looking deeper into the allegations but he is “so busy every single day, from sunup to sundown to the weekends.”  The article goes on to say Cheney first learned of Carter’s state charges and arrest relating to fraud charges on November 14, 2018.  He immediately linked the $5000 donation from Carter but said he had completely forgotten about the entire case until he began reviewing his campaign finance reports in anticipation of his interview with Grigsby.  He admitted in the interview much of what Grigsby was laying out in regard to charges was news to him.  The article was riveting but it never discussed the timeline between his donations and when the “issue” got fixed so we did some research.    

May 24, 2018:  Cheney $10,000 by Carter Family Office LLC (Phillip Carter)

October 10, 2018:  Cheney $5,000 by North Forty Development (Phillip Carter)

October 15, 2018:  Keating $5000 by Texas Cash Cow (Phillip Carter)

October 23, 2018:  P&Z holds a public hearing for Sign Variance: Preston Wade Crossing by Frisco Wade Crossing Development Partners, LLC (Phillip Carter)

**Interesting fact the P&Z Commission in 2018 was led by Robert Cox who was appointed to the Commission in April 2016 with the first motion by John Keating and second by then councilman Jeff Cheney.

January 2019:  SEC Files Charges against Phillip Carter for a multi-million dollar fraud scheme that took place from May 2015 to Feb 2017 and totaled around $45 million dollars and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

In 2019, Frisco’s population according to the US Census was about 200,907 people. It is hard to believe that someone who is the mayor of a booming and bustling town and also an extremely successful businessman could just “forget” about a fraud case that involved a real estate developer and millions of dollars. At the time it was plastered in local DFW papers and the top story on most local news stations.  To be fair, Cheney and Keating accepted a campaign donation and nothing illegal occurred. They were never named in allegations that involved Phillip Carter and both returned the donations.  Again, this is just another situation that “doesn’t look good” and could lead many to believe that something improper was happening, even if it wasn’t.  That old perception is reality for many folks is a stinker.

Another thing we learned from Grigsby’s March 2019 DMN article was Cheney’s personal policy of not accepting more than $10,000 from a single donor when it comes to campaign contributions. I am not sure when that became his policy because he accepted $20,000 in 2017 plus $6000 in 2020 from Ali Kahla who we believe was a representative for IGO-USA, The Gate developer. I guess he also must have been ridiculously busy and forgot his personal policy almost 9 months after his interview with Grigsby and the article because in 2020 he accepted $15,000 from Fehmi Karahan (Fields).  Again, we want to say there is nothing illegal about the donations (we don’t want to be sued) other than they seem to break his personal policy.  I guess it is good to have a flexible policy that benefits you when needed.

Philip Anthony Hopkins who played Odin in the movie Thor said, “Even with two eyes, you can only see half of the picture.” If that is true, then we should all go to the Ophthalmologist to get our eyes checked out. The problem is repetition, the action of repeating something that you have already done or the recurrence of an action or event.  The repetition of “it just looks bad” starts to become a theme and that can have a detrimental impact on the citizen’s perception of you and the city. The conversation becomes about the lack of trust and confidence in our city, the city council members, and our mayor.

Public Information Act

by | Feb 14, 2023 | City Council, Politics, Public Information Requests, Richard Abernathy

What is the Public Information Act and what is a Public Information Request?  Well, the Texas Public Information Act assures that government entities give citizens access to information about what the public servants are doing on their behalf.  It is a way for citizens to hold their public officials accountable.   The Public Information Act Handbook can be found on the Texas Attorney General’s website and lays out the “how-to” to do open record requests. 

In Frisco, many of our city council members and mayor use their personal devices (cell phones) to communicate so the question becomes what is “public information” and what is subject to the act?   If information was made, transmitted, maintained, or received in connection with a governmental body’s official business, the mere fact that the governmental body does not possess the information does not take the information outside the scope of the Act.  Emails or text messages sent via personal email and personal devices if related to city business are subject to the act.  Why is this important in Frisco?  Several of our council members use their personal devices and personal emails regularly to conduct city business.  When a request comes in, the city sends it to the individuals named and say do you have anything related to this PIR, if so please send it to us.  It allows for dishonesty, if you don’t want someone to see an email you can simply not send it.  It’s the Honor Code system.

In the ethics complaint we reviewed, Cheney wrote in his social media post “As a leader of a council that upholds transparency and full disclosure, I will provide them here without edit as they would appear in our official city records” so we decided to investigate the official record and his claims.  We filed a PIR that read:

Per Cheney’s Facebook Post (Account: Mayor Jeff Cheney) dated May 25, 2021, he admits to sending an email posing a simple question to senior members of our Frisco City Staff: “In the runoff race which Place 3 candidates have asked to meet with you?”  Each staff member was questioned separately using electronic media making their response part of the official city record and subject to public information requests.   Based on that post I would like the following communications from May 23, 2021 – May 26, 2021 :

1. All Electronic Media communications (including email, text, Facebook/Facebook messenger from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s official account) and City Manager George Purefoy

2. All Electronic Media communications (including email, text, Facebook/Facebook messenger from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s official account) and Police Chief David Shilson

3. All Electronic Media communications (including email, text, Facebook/Facebook messenger from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s official account) and Fire Chief Mark Piland

4. All Electronic Media communications (including email, text, Facebook/Facebook messenger from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s official account) and Henry Hill, Deputy City Mgr

5. All Electronic Media communications (including email, text, Facebook/Facebook messenger from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s official account) and Ben Brezina, Asst City Mgr

6. All Electronic Media communications (including email, text, Facebook/Facebook messenger from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s official account) and Jason Cooley, Ph.D. – Chief Information Officer

7. All Electronic Media communications (including email, text, Facebook/Facebook messenger from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s official account) and Ron Patterson, President Frisco Economic Development Corporation

8. All Electronic Media communications (including email, text, Facebook/Facebook messenger from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s official account) and Marla Roe, Executive Director Visit Frisco

9.  All Electronic Media communications (including email, text, Facebook/Facebook messenger from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s official account) and John Lettellier, Director of Development Services

10.  All Electronic Media communications (including email, text, Facebook/Facebook messenger from Mayor Jeff Cheney’s official account) and Paul Knippel, Director of Public Works

The response to our PIR was 7 pages, the first 2 were a copy of the post from his page and the remaining pages contained 4 text messages between the mayor and 4 senior staff members. Problem #1 it appears we received an incomplete PIR request from the city. So where are the remaining 6 text message communications?   Problem #2 Cheney quoted Marla Roe, Executive Director Visit Frisco on his social media post as saying “Just Angelia. Had a great conversation.  Henry was there.”  However, after receiving our PIR Marla Roes actual statement via text said, “Just Angelia.  Had a great conversation. Henry was there.  Will say Jennifer stopped by my house and I told her I worked for the city. Not much else.  With Angelia was via teams FYI.”  Why is this important, he left out that the other candidate had interacted with the city employee.  One via door knocking and one via Microsoft Teams.  Does not seem like a big deal but when it comes to transparency – it is a very big deal! 

We want to believe our elected officials are good people, honest people, and forthcoming.  The truth is we don’t know and that is why the act is so important because it allows us that transparency.   Transparency should never be based on the honor system.  Not everyone is honorable!   That is how they can hide the shady shit!

Analyzing an Ethics Complaint

by | Feb 14, 2023 | City Council, Ethics Complaints, Frisco City Secretary, Home Rule & City Charter, HR Department, Politics

In 2021 several Ethics Complaints were filed by residents involving those who serve on the city council.  One of those complaints was filed by Frisco resident Ms. Rouse and was against Mayor Jeff Cheney.  It alleged that the mayor used his city email for political campaign purposes to support then-candidate Angelia Pelham.  It pointed to a Facebook post by the Mayor on May 25, 2021, where he states he asked each senior member of city staff, “In the runoff race which Place 3 candidates have asked to meet with you?”   He then proceeded to publicly publish the responses in a Pro Angelina endorsement on his official Mayor Jeff Cheney Facebook page.

Review of Mayor Jeff Cheney’s Sworn Response:

Mayor Cheney states in his sworn response that the complaint does not comply with the requirements for filing a complaint and that Ms. Rouse did not provide a statement of facts but instead offered her statement of opinions, assumptions, and allegations, and none were not supported by facts or evidence.   FACT: First Exhibit A,  Ms. Rouse pointed directly to the mayor’s post on May 25, 2021, which that acknowledges on May 24th he used electronic media and sent a message to every senior staff member and then published their names and answers to his question. 

Second, he proceeds to state that none of the responses were a result of his city email (he texted them) so that part was factually false.   TRUE: He texted senior staff and her reference in the complaint was he used city email.   OPINION: One could argue the mayor tried to mislead the public in his social media post when he says he sent it via electronic communication because most would assume that he alluding to email.  

On his social media post, he notes that any city staff response is part of the official city record and subject to Public Information Requests.  In his written sworn response, he noted that he was not asking any of the senior staff to support a candidate.   TRUE: His social media post is correct in that Senate Bill 933 & 944 states work-related text messages sent by public officials (the mayor to senior staff) are a matter of public record even if sent from their own personal device or outside work hours.   OPINION: He said he was not asking them to support a candidate, but he did not explain why he was asking the question.  So the senior staff had no idea if it was a personal question if he was asking for city purposes, and/or asking on behalf of his position as Mayor.  The mayor did not tell them ahead of time he was going to use them in a social media post where he intended to support a candidate.  Had he been upfront with city staff about his intentions they may not have chosen to respond to his text. 

Third, he states in his response that the complaint on its face does not state a violation of the ethics laws.   FACT: Ms. Rouse in the third paragraph of her complaint stated the section and specific portion of the City Ethics Code she believed the Mayor had violated (Sections 6, 7, 8, and 9).  OPINION: Now we are common folk and no legal eagle but upon review, it is our opinion the Mayor most definitely violated Section 7 of the City Code of Ethics Section A (1) which talks about influencing subordinates and states a city official shall not directly or indirectly, induce or attempt to induce any subordinate of the Official to participate in an election campaign or to engage in any political activity related to a candidate or issue.  Also, it is our opinion he violated Section 8 of the city code of ethics which states a city official shall now knowingly assist or induce or attempt to assist or induce another city official to violate any provision of the Code of Ethics. 

In the mayor’s sworn response to the complaint, he said citizens were asking him if city staff had met with any of the candidates and argued they had the right to know.  OPINION: He is partially correct, and he should have told each resident they can file a Public Information Request (PIR) requesting that information from city staff, city management, and the city council.  However, say 5, 10, or even 100 citizens asked that question it does not mean the mayor should use that in a campaign support message for a candidate.  He did not post these responses in an FYI public information message.  He published these responses in a political endorsement for Angelia Pelham on his OFFICIAL MAYOR JEFF CHENEY Facebook page where he tagged the OFFICIAL Facebook page for Angelia Pelham for Frisco and in the last sentence he says make your voice heard, vote Angelia. 

Going back and watching the city video for this meeting, Cheney read the agenda item and then made a few statements.  Cheney started by saying the complaints should have facts, not allegations, and he denied any wrongdoing.  He also stated it does not allege facts sufficient to constitute a violation of the ethics policy.  Then he recused himself and Bill Woodard, Mayor Pro Tem took over.  They received advice from the city attorney, opened the public hearing for citizens’ comments, then some of the council gave feedback.  One member of the council noted that any complaint should have contained a sworn affidavit and that she needed to have a lawyer help her.  Then Bill Woodard (Mayor Pro Tem) said “I know every member up here has spent a significant amount of time reading these complaints over the weekend, discussing them with the city attorney, then discussing them tonight in executive session again with the city attorney”  – wait, what?  Bill Woodard admitted to discussing the complaints before the City Attorney would have met with them at the City Council in executive session at its next regular meeting to present a written report describing in detail the nature of the complaint, and the attorney’s assessment of whether the facts as alleged constitute a violation of the ethics laws.”   So that leaves us asking, who discussed it over the weekend?   How can we be sure there were no back-door deals made for a vote?  The issue is perception and transparency.  If the city does not follow its own process written in its Code of Ethics then how can we trust the process?   Why does a citizen with a true concern need a lawyer to file an ethics complaint, last I checked we the citizens voted you in and you work for us!  Now we have no voice without an attorney.

The council agreed in a 5 – 0 vote to dismiss the complaint.  Now let’s look at the shady shit that makes the Ethics policy bogus!

City of Frisco’s Ethics Policy

by | Feb 8, 2023 | City Council, Home Rule & City Charter, HR Department, Mayor Jeff Cheney, Politics

As Frisco has grown so have residents’ concerns and questions about future developments, density, and the lack of transparency between the city, its leaders, and residents.  In recent years residents have called for transparency and filed ethics complaints against members of the city council.  Before we get into the complaints and why the system is rigged, you first need to understand the process. 

The process for filing a complaint under Ordinance number 09-04-25 with the city is for any person who believes that there has been a violation of the ethics laws to file a sworn complaint with the City Secretary.  The complaint must identify the person or persons who allegedly committed the violation, provide a statement of the facts on which the complaint was based, identify the rule of rules allegedly violated, and be sworn to in the form of an affidavit. 

As for confidentiality, the ordinance also states that no city official shall reveal information relating to the filing or processing of a complaint except as required for the performance of Official duties.  All papers relating to a pending complaint are to be confidential.

After filing a copy of the complaint, the notification process begins.  A copy of the complaint shall be promptly forwarded by the City Secretary to the City Attorney and the person charged with the complaint.  The person charged with the complaint shall receive a copy of the ethics rules and be informed that within fourteen days of receipt of the complaint, they may file a sworn response with the City Secretary.   

A copy of any response by the person charged in the complaint will be provided by the City Secretary to the complainant, who may within seven days reply to the sworn response with sworn writing filed with the City Secretary and a copy of the response will be provided to the person charged in the complaint.  Then the person charged with the complaint may request a hearing. 

The ordinance states “at any time assistance is required, the City Secretary shall provide information to the persons who inquire about the process for filing a complaint.”  

Once the complaint has gone through the process it will be reviewed by the City Attorney.  Within seven business days after the attorney receives the complaint the City Attorney shall make an initial assessment of the complaint.  The City Attorney is to assume that all facts alleged are true and determine if the facts constitute a violation of the ethics law.  After that is completed the City Attorney meets with the City Council in executive session at its next regular meeting to present a written report describing in detail the nature of the complaint, and the attorney’s assessment of whether the facts as alleged constitute a violation of the ethics laws.   Then in an open session of the council meeting, a majority of the council members not implicated in the complaint may dismiss the complaint based on certain grounds,  determine that the complaint on its face does not state a violation of the ethics laws, or refer it to an investigation. 

Sounds easy, right?  Sounds fair, reputable, and honest right?  If you ask Ms. Rouse she might disagree with you!   Next, we will dig into the Shady Shit of one of the complaints.