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.
Growing up we always had our hands in dirt or soil when helping dad with the Vineyards. I always complained and my Nona (grandma) would always say “oh, a little dirt never hurt anyone.” My dad would say “to most people dirt is just dirt, but to a farmer well that dirt is called potential.” I am sure these quotes belong to someone smarter than my dad and Nona but it did make me think, have you ever asked yourself, how much is the dirt below my feet worth? To an investor or developer dirt is like gold and depending on where it is located it can be worth a lot of money. Bill Gates began buying up land and farm operations years ago and while he leaves the farming to the professionals he understands land = asset appreciation. The dirt below the 2500 acres that PGA, Fields, and The Link is worth millions if not billions.
Developers and investors are betting heavily on Frisco which is great! With Mayor Cheney being so involved and so in love with the project I just assumed he would move out there to the greatest development of all time. Then at the debate he said he owns two pieces of property his personal home and his rental home (previous home). He said he does not own or have interest in any other land in Frisco. We were talking to a friend of ours who procured a lot in The Preserve, and we saw a picture he had taken of the builder’s map with written notes, and we thought, hmmm this looks interesting. Some realtor friends had said there was a rumor Jeff Cheney was given a lot or gifted a lot in The Preserve by the developer, but it was just a rumor.
Well by the looks of the picture Cheney and Keating have a lot under “Developer Hold” and it over looks …you guessed it…the 8th hole! It appears there is a “Friend & Family” row after all. I would love to hear from the Mayor what he plans to do with that lot next to his best friend Keating. Interestingly Cheney lives next door to Keating now in another community so I guess they are moving on up to the north side together like George & Weezy Jefferson. Cheney has to take his Florence with him which is Keating of course because you can’t leave Florence behind. Country singers Jordan Davis or Luke Bryan already said in their song “you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy dirt.” But did they buy it? I feel like breaking out in song since I don’t have any drums, and sing like Garth Brooks, ”Thunder rolls, And the lightnin’ strikes.”
Dave Ramsey: You will either learn to manage money, or the lack of it will manage you!
Growing up my mom used to get a call from the headmaster at least once a week because my brother or sister would always get in trouble. So, you can imagine my mom’s shock when the phone rang and this time it was not about my brother or sister, it was about me. The headmaster told her I challenged one of my teachers and told them they were wrong, and her statement was stupid. It didn’t matter that I was right, and she was wrong I still got in big ole trouble. I remember the ride home that day at first it was silent and then my mom asked me what I was thinking. I explained the teacher said wealth was about having a lot of money and I told her that she was wrong and that was a stupid way of thinking. I told her wealth is about having a lot of options.” She just looked me dead in the eyes and said son you have always been a precocious young man but my curiosity and boldness is what was going to get me into trouble one day. All these years later, my mom was right!
When we moved to this country my kids went to public school, which was very different from our upbringing and the type of education we had. I quickly realized that the main function of the school boards was to provide local, citizen governance and oversight of education. School boards were responsible for employing the superintendent, developing, and adopting policies, budgeting, and overseeing facilities. I always wondered what the signs of an effective school board member are. One article I read said board members should have a clear vision for the district, have good communication skills, work well as a team, and be fiscally responsible in order to adopt a school budget. They must also be accountability driven and be a little tech data savvy nowadays.
I was a little shocked this week when a new local whistle-blower messaged us some tidbits on a candidate for the Frisco ISD school board. We did our research, and we were able to confirm what we had been told and we believe residents have the right to know.
Is Dynette Davis fiscally responsible, you decide. She was sued in Collin County Courts in 2022 (case # 004-02178-2022) by Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC for “BREACH OF CONTRACT” related to the purchase of a vehicle. It also noted that she resided in Plano, Texas. The paperwork notes that account was charged off on October 30, 2019, and as of the filing, there remained an unpaid balance of $20,835.37. Ms. Davis, despite being issued a demand letter has never paid on the account.
We thought surely this is a one-off situation and we all have tough times so grace should be given. Then upon further research, we learned that Estancia at Ridgeview Ranch filed eviction proceedings 14 times from 2013 to 2015. While each case was dismissed eventually because she must have paid the rent, to have 14 evictions filed on you is outrageous.
We also found Ms. Davis filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in the Texas Northern Fort Worth court on February 10, 2014. She was appointed a trustee from Dallas and the attorney was Patrick Swindell. What is Chapter 7 Discharge it releases individual debtors from personal liability for most debts and prevents creditors owed those debts from taking any collection against the debtor.
Now my kids have been out of school for years but someone with this much of a financial hot mess probably should not be a board member with significant fiscal oversight or responsibility. Actions like this could get you removed from some boards of directors for companies. Why is someone who lives in Plano or has a Plano address running for the Frisco Independent School Board? Should residents be concerned about her disaster of a financial mess dating back years? Is this the person we want to have oversight of our kids? I don’t know much about any of the candidates but what I do know is that anyone we elect to the ISD or city council should have the qualifications and stability needed to be in a position like that. While I understand a financial hiccup, where there are this many one should stop and ask questions.
Benjamin Franklin once said these powerful words, half a truth is often a great lie. The Armstrong Lie is a powerful documentary about Lance Armstrong, a sports legend who won the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 – 2005 after surviving stage 3 testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. Armstrong will go down in history for committing one of the best kept lies in sports history while he amassed a fortune from the sport and its sponsors. Over the years he was plagued with rumors that he was doping or using performance-enhancing drugs which he denied emphatically. Then a teammate became a whistleblower which caused Armstrong to be stripped of his titles, sponsors ditched him, and he faced several legal cases. So why did Armstrong lie? Why did he risk losing it all if it ever became public? Sports writers and enthusiasts have questions for years, but will we ever really know the truth?
The art of lying is among the most sophisticated accomplishments of the human mind. Children must learn how to lie, how to assess the reactions of the listener, and how to adapt a story to fit a believable narrative. Kids also need to learn how to decipher a lie to protect themself. Learning to lie during the impressionable years of our life is why some adults conquer the art of lying. But are all lies bad lies? Studies have been done for years to answer this question. I was blown away when I read one article that said there were 10 types of lies or deception. In Armstrong’s case he lied by omission (partial truth), used lies of falsification (lie to get attention or sympathy), told bold face lies (one tells a lie, and everyone knows it’s a lie), used lies of exaggeration (lies based on some truth), and he was a pathological liar (lies for no apparent reason).
Lies, regardless of whether they are big or small can cause a physical change in our bodies. It can trigger increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and elevated levels of stress hormones in the blood. It can also cause dry mouth, upset stomach, vomiting, sweaty hands, nervous facial twitches or hand twitches and can cause your skin to break out in a rash or turn red. I know what you are thinking right now, where are we going with this Shady Shit? Well forum after forum Mark Piland mentioned transparency and how he wanted to put in place an ordinance, like the City of Plano’s that said if you received over $1000 from any individual you could not hear any case or be involved in any discussion that could come before the council to avoid a conflict of interest or perception of wrongdoing. You can still accept large donations, but you just can’t be involved in items that come before the city – seems simple and common sense.
At one debate Cheney said campaigns are expensive and without donations it would be hard to run a campaign of this magnitude. This go around I have received a postcard, a magazine, and newspaper all with Mayor Cheney’s “Vote for Me” message. Unless you are living under a rock everyone knows who Mayor Cheney is, his record, and his accomplishments, so why is there a need to spend that kind of money? At the forum, Cheney responded and said Plano’s ordinance was put in place two years ago after all their developments were done or largely done. He said he spoke to a Plano elected official recently (no name mentioned) about their policy and the official told him that the ordinance is not even enforceable, there are no teeth to it, and it was put in place because of a political ideology in their community who was having a tough time getting traction for their candidates that they wanted to support. Now they have a situation where PACs and Super PACs along with other special interest groups lead the outcomes in elections. Watching the forum, I noticed Mayor Cheney would twitch his hands, blink his eyes and his face would turn red so it made me wonder, was he lying?
The morning after the forum I woke up, had coffee and white powdered donut (love those), and talked about the Forum with my wife. While we were perplexed we let it go and went on with our life because we did not think for a minute this was some smoking gun. Several days went by and we got an email from a follower who said they too were curious about Piland’s idea and Cheney’s response, so he emailed the Plano City Council. He forwarded us the emails and responses and that is when I the light bulb turned on. The whistle blower asked which one of the council members spoke with Mayor Cheney, could they confirm or deny his statements made at the forum, and what is their personal feeling regarding the ordinance. Surprisingly several responded and all of them had a similar consensus. We are publishing the first two responses in full below as we just don’t have time to post them all.
Shelby Williams responded, “the ordinance truly does have no teeth—that’s something I’d like to fix.” Williams went on to say, “ Whomever Mayor Cheney spoke to from Plano was not correct, A) The only political ideology that drove the campaign finance ordinance was the desire to rein in the massive amount of commercial developer money influencing Plano’s elections and B) while it was argued that the ordinance would cause PACs to dominate our elections, it never happened. After the ordinance was adopted, PACspending went down significantly. He also said he wrote about this in 2021 when the new council proposed to repeal the ordinance. Here’s my article from then, which includes links and screenshots to more data: https://shelbyhwilliams.com/campaign-finance-recusal-ordinance-up-for-repeal/.”
Anthony Ricciardelli (Place 2) responded, “I voted for the ordinance when we enacted it, remain a big fan of it, and believe that it is meaningful. I agree that there are still loopholes in it, unfortunately. I would like to close those loopholes. Respectfully, I don’t think it would be prudent for me to comment on something attributed to a different council member. I can tell you that I’ve never said anything like the statements that Jeff Cheney attributes to someone on the Plano City Council.”
Like we said earlier, lying is an art form!
TRUE: Mr. Cheney was correct that there is a loophole in the ordinance that needs to be fixed and they hope to do fix it in the near future.
LIE: Mr. Cheney said it was put in place by a political ideology in Plano’s community that was having a tough time getting traction for candidates that they wanted to support. Williams said it was to rein in the massive amount of commercial developer money influencing Plano’s elections.
LIE: Mr. Cheney said they now have a situation where PACs and Super PACs along with special interest groups lead the outcomes in elections. Williams said after the ordinance was adopted, PACspending went down significantly.
Martin Luther King, Jr., once said “A lie cannot live” and he is right. Lies may take care of the present but they have no future. If you tell one lie and get caught then all your truths become questionable. I have always believed that when someone lies to you what they are really telling you, is that you were not worth the truth. That is a slap in the face, it tells you what they think of you and how little they value you or think you are worth to them. In the end we are left with one question, Mayor Cheney, who did you speak to on the Plano City Council that you quoted at the forum?
In the last week we have been sent a treasure trove of information from citizens who are “spilling the tea” and telling us they are tired of the Shady Shit happening all around Frisco. The note with this little tidbit read “my discussion with a builder rep out at The Preserve.” The builder rep talks about how some lots were held back then the rest of the lots were distributed to the builders which is what he has to sell. The builder rep says that the lots on the Golf Ridge and the Hilltop were part of a VIP Program. Upon more questions the builder rep says the VIP program was put on Jeff and the owner of the development. He says some of those lots still remain for example “JEFF HAS A LOT AND THE DEVELOPER THEMSELVES HAVE SOME LOTS.” He goes on to say “kind of like hold this lot for me because my family may want to build on it, maybe hold for a client.” Then the rep notes the development is owned by multiple billionaire families from Dallas and they reserve the right to hold some of those back, so in summation these will be held but they may fall out so stay close to the builders.”
Now we are pretty sure that Mayor Cheney said at every single debate or forum that he owns two pieces of property his personal home and one rental property. That appears to be true by tax records but if they are holding a lot for him isn’t that just semantics and slightly dishonest if he plans to build a personal home there next to his new friends the “BILLIONAIRE” families from Dallas.
Now you may ask who our source and we will just say another Frisco Whistle Blower! Thanks for tea friend! We have sent the rest on to a source in the local tv news since we learned Mitchel at the DMN omitted this from his Cheney story.
We saw John Keating today with Mr Nadeem Crook Zaman holding signs supporting Gopal. Gopal has actively funded church burning…
Classic cabal. They so badly want to be modern day mafia. Shame of Jeff Cheney and his cheerleaders.
Ahhhh NO
Doge most all of Denton & Collin county mayors quickly! Help Elon!!!
Not a chance voting for this! The current council, save Brian, are SO OUT OF TOUCH with the normal citizen…