Why Frisco Always Smells Like Roses in the Dallas Morning News

Alright, grab your popcorn —this one has all the makings of a classic Frisco Chronicles feature: money, media, and that familiar scent of roses wafting through the pages of the Dallas Morning News.

All Good in the Frisco Hood: Brought to You by… Medium Giant?

By now, longtime Frisco residents have noticed a curious phenomenon. Whenever the Dallas Morning News (DMN) writes about Frisco, the city sparkles. Streets are shinier. Leadership is visionary. Problems? What problems? If Frisco had potholes, DMN would probably call them “community engagement craters designed to slow traffic and save lives.”

Which raises the obvious question: why does Frisco always smell like roses in the DMN? Not weeds. Not smoke. Roses.

For years, residents have speculated. Maybe DMN is afraid of being cut off from exclusives. Maybe access journalism is alive and well. Or maybe—just maybe—it’s about the oldest motivator in local government and media alike:  Money.

Enter Stage Left: Medium Giant

Here’s where things get interesting. A sharp-eyed reader recently connected a few dots that deserve a closer look. The Frisco Economic Development Corporation (FEDC) has entered into several contracts over the years with a company called Medium Giant.

Whose Medium Giant, you ask?

They’re an “integrated creative marketing agency.” Which is marketing-speak for we make things look good. Even better? Medium Giant just happens to be the sister company of the Dallas Morning News.

Cue the dramatic music. So now the question isn’t why DMN never seems to publish critical reporting on Frisco or its leadership. The question becomes: would they dare?

Follow the Money (Because It Always Tells a Story)

When we reviewed city check registers, we noticed multiple payments over the years made to Medium Giant. Not chump change. Not lunch money.  Not “oops, forgot to expense that Uber.”

The total?  $2,105,631.76

That’s over two million dollars paid by Frisco entities to a company tied directly to the same organization responsible for shaping Frisco’s public narrative in one of North Texas’ largest newspapers.

Now, we’re not saying this proves corruption. We’re not saying there’s a secret smoky backroom with editors and city staff clinking champagne glasses.  We’re not even saying there’s an explicit quid pro quo.

What we are saying is this: If you were the DMN, would you risk torching a relationship connected—directly or indirectly—to a $2 million revenue stream by publishing hard-hitting, unvarnished reporting about Frisco’s leadership, finances, or controversies?

Hit Pieces for Some, Rose Petals for Others

What makes this dynamic even more eyebrow-raising is DMN’s recent track record. The paper has shown it’s perfectly willing to publish aggressive, sometimes glowing-less-than-rose-scented coverage of candidates who fall outside the Frisco inner circle.

Just ask: Jennifer White, Mark Piland, John Redmond

Funny how the gloves come off for political outsiders, but stay neatly folded when it comes to City Hall, current council members, and current city leadership.

Journalism, Marketing, or a Blurred Line?

Let’s be clear: Medium Giant being a marketing firm isn’t inherently wrong. Cities hire marketing agencies all the time. But when the marketing arm and the newsroom live under the same corporate roof, the public has every right to question whether the coverage they’re reading is journalism… or brand management.

Because from where residents sit, the pattern looks less like watchdog reporting and more like: “Frisco: Presented by Medium Giant, distributed by DMN.”

Final Thought

Transparency isn’t just about open records and posted agendas. It’s also about who controls the narrative—and who’s being paid behind the scenes while that narrative is shaped.

Two million dollars isn’t small change. It’s not accidental.  And it certainly isn’t irrelevant.

So the next time you read a glowing DMN article telling you everything in Frisco is just peachy, ask yourself: Is this news… or is this advertising with better grammar?

Disclaimer: This blog includes satire, parody, and comic relief.  It contains summarized accounts created solely for humor and commentary.  Any resemblance to real events is either coincidental or intentionally satirical.  Reader discretion — and a sense of humor — are advised.

Who Hit ‘Send’? Meadow Hill Estates Residents Ask How Their Emails Became Campaign Ammo

Frisco Chronicles has received multiple complaints from residents of Meadow Hill Estates after an email landed in what appears to be every single email inbox in the community. The message, sent from a Gmail account — StopMillerAutomotive@gmail.com — urged residents to vote in the Frisco Special Election for Ann Anderson.

The writer of the email openly states “I spoke to this candidate about our issue” which is problematic since he never gave the other candidate a chance to share their view on the community’s issue. Based on one conversation with only one candidate you then send an email to your entire community telling them how to VOTE? Did the writer of this email do any research into other projects where citizens objected to something nearby their home and if Ann Anderson supported it.

For example, Universal Kids! Ann Anderson spoke on 2/7/2023 in FAVOR of Universal Studios. She ignored the numerous residents who lived in Cobb Hill and throughout Frisco, that came out and said they did not want a theme park that close to their community because of the noise, traffic and potential crime it could bring. Ask residents today if it has affected their home values in that community and how many Airbnb’s now exist there. She said at the forum the other day we need to be mindful of where we place projects near communities and used the hospital power plant as an example, yet she was in Favor of Universal Kids which is going to have roller coasters looking into people’s backyard! Her words and actions – DON’T MATCH!

That raised an obvious question residents can’t shake: How does a random Gmail account suddenly have the private email addresses of an entire neighborhood?

Not a Guessing Game — It’s a Privacy Issue

Residents aren’t speculating for sport. They’re concerned because there are only a few realistic ways someone could obtain a complete HOA email list:

  • Through HOA records
  • Through property management systems
  • Through board-level access to resident data

Those email addresses are not public information. They are collected for official HOA business, not political campaigning.

From the complaints we received, many residents believe the sender may be a current HOA board member or someone with inside access to HOA records.

The Meadow Hills Estates Facebook Page Raises More Questions

Adding fuel to the fire, residents pointed us to the Meadow Hill Estates Facebook page, which states it is “run by volunteers.” That page has posted about Miller Automotive on December 10, 2025 and several other times throughout the past year.

The overlap between the campaign email content and the Facebook posts has residents asking whether the same individual — or group — is behind both. And if so, how much access do they really have?

HOA Data Is Not Personal Property

Here’s the part that matters most. If a board member obtained residents’ email addresses solely because of their position, those addresses are HOA property, not personal contacts. Using them for anything outside official HOA business — especially electioneering — is widely considered improper and, in many cases, explicitly prohibited.

HOA board members have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the association — not personal political agendas.  Using confidential resident data to influence a city election crosses a line that residents say should never be blurry.

Texas Attorney General Complaint Incoming

According to one Meadow Hill Estates resident, a formal complaint is being filed with the Texas Attorney General regarding the use of private HOA data for political purposes. That makes this more than neighborhood drama — it’s a legal and ethical issue.

We Reached Out to 4Sight Property Management

Frisco Chronicles contacted 4Sight Property Management, which oversees Meadow Hill Estates, asking the following: Did your company approve or authorize this email?  Do you have rules or policies governing how HOA board members may use resident contact information?  What safeguards exist to prevent misuse of confidential HOA data?  We are currently awaiting their response and will update readers when one is received.

The Bigger Question

This isn’t about whether someone supports Ann Anderson or opposes Miller Automotive.  It’s about trust.  Residents trusted their HOA to safeguard their personal information — not turn it into a campaign mailing list.  We hope Ann Anderson herself did not know about this email because if she did that it could be problematic also. 

Until someone explains who hit “send” and how they had the power to do it, Meadow Hill Estates residents are left wondering whether their HOA is protecting them… or politicking with their privacy.

Stay tuned. Frisco Chronicles will follow this story wherever it leads.

Disclaimer: This blog includes satire, parody, and comic relief.  It contains summarized accounts created solely for humor and commentary.  Any resemblance to real events is either coincidental or intentionally satirical.  Reader discretion — and a sense of humor — are advised.

Pocket Listings and Political Optics

Is Mayor Cheney Marketing His Own Home For Sale?

For years now, whispers have echoed through the corridors of Frisco about Mayor Jeff Cheney and his deep entanglement with the Fields/PGA development. We’ve heard the questions, and we’ve asked them too. Specifically, we’ve scrutinized the relationship between Mayor Cheney and Real Estate Mogul Jeff Cheney—who, confusingly, happen to be the same person.

Let’s rewind a bit. In a previous Frisco Chronicles blog, The Preserve, we exposed a builders’ map that included the names Keating and Cheney etched right next to select prime lots in the exclusive Preserve development. These were no ordinary plots—these were dubbed “ESPN Lots,” held by the developer for unnamed VIPs. Were they purchased? Gifted? Traded for political capital? Still no straight answers.  In our follow up blog The Preserve Lots – VIP Program we released a recording between an individual and developer/builders agent where they specifically talked about the Cheney lots.

We also exposed in that blog, an email from 2019 by John Baumgarten written to the Mayor after he came to speak at investment event about the new PGA Project.  Mr. Baumgarten wanted to know about the “unofficial lot list” and how to get on it!  It was handled by the Mayor’s sidekick at the time Lorie Medina, Chief of Staff to the Mayor.  Fast forward to today, Mr. Baumgarten has a lot on the same map, about 7 houses down from the lot labeled Cheney at the time we wrote our article.   If you missed it we highly suggest you click on the links of the blog titles and go back and read them!

Mayor Cheney has long denied any backroom dealings, double-dipping, or conflicts of interest with the PGA or Fields developments. Fair enough. But when a June 23rd video popped up on his Cheney Group Instagram & Facebook page, our ears perked up. Why? Because this time, the sales pitch was closer to home—literally.

The video in question spotlights Shaddock Creek Estates, a prestigious neighborhood in West Frisco.  The video and post talk about 68-acre Cottonwood Creek Park with peaceful lakes, winding hiking and biking trails, and fully stocked fishing ponds that are finished off with two historic bridges.  It practically sells itself. But there’s one very specific reason this caught our attention: Mayor Jeff Cheney lives there, perched on arguably one of the best lots in the entire community, as seen in the photo above at the end of the cul-de-sac. And in this video? He showcases it. Not just the neighborhood—his house, his putting green, his pool. All of it, which overlooks that 68-acre Cottonwood Creek Park!

At first glance, you might think it’s just a “love where you live” community promo piece.  Until you see the drone view of his home, his backyard, his pool, and his golf putting green, nestled against the backdrop of Cottonwood Creek Park.  Then at the end of the video, after putting a hole in one on his green, Mayor Cheney leans in and says something curious:

“If you want a greenbelt view like this, join our waiting list, because they don’t come available often.”

Hold up. A waiting list? For greenbelt properties? In one community?

We double-checked. With help from a realtor friend, we found 16 active listings in Shaddock Creek. Only one of them is listed by Cheney’s group. It’s a stunning home, priced at $1.3 million, but it’s on an interior lot, not a greenbelt. So, if you’re trying to spotlight a listing, why not that one?

Why instead feature your own private residence, which isn’t even on the market?

That’s when we got curious and started trying to connect the dots.  Is Mayor Cheney quietly trying to market his own home—without actually listing it? In real estate terms, this is known as a “pocket listing.” It’s a way to sell a property off-market, often to a curated list of buyers before it hits the MLS. Convenient. Quiet. Unregulated… mostly.

But here’s where the political intrigue thickens. Imagine this scenario:

  1. Cheney creates “buzz” by featuring his home in a video.
  2. He talks up a fictional or curated “waiting list” for similar properties.
  3. Later in his term, he announces he’s moving—perhaps to The Preserve, Frisco’s most elite enclave.
  4. And guess what? He has an “immediate buyer” lined up from the list he curated himself.

Boom. House sold. Narrative controlled. Questions deflected.

Is this legal? We’re not real estate lawyers, but it’s worth noting that Texas has rules about marketing homes, especially off-market ones. The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) have guidelines about Coming Soon listings, MLS requirements, and anti-discrimination compliance when homes are not listed publicly.

Even if this is technically allowed, the optics are questionable at best. A sitting mayor using his influence and real estate platform to potentially market his own home behind the scenes?  That’s a tightrope walk across a political and ethical canyon.

If his home sells in the next 6 to 8 months, will we look back at this blog and his video and realize it wasn’t just a love letter to his neighborhood—but a soft launch of a personal transaction?

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO HERE https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1F465VBDq3/?mibextid=wwXIfr

We’ll be watching. And we’ll be asking.

As always, stay skeptical, Frisco.
Frisco Chronicles


Disclaimer: This blog contains opinions and commentary based on publicly available information and listings. All real estate references are for informational purposes only. We are not licensed real estate professionals and do not offer legal or financial advice.

Fake Faces, Real Consequences: The Dirty Trick That Crossed the Line in Frisco Politics

Politics is nasty. No surprise there. It attracts the best and the worst in people—but mostly the worst when election season heats up like a June sidewalk in Texas. And while anonymous commentary has long been a staple of free speech (hey, Frisco Whistleblower isn’t exactly sending selfies), there’s a wide, dusty canyon between anonymity and outright impersonation.

Let’s make this clear: creating an anonymous account to voice your opinion is one thing. Creating a fake account using someone else’s real photo, name, and identity? That’s a whole other universe of dirty. And in that universe, you’re not just trolling your political enemies—you’re potentially slandering innocent people and opening them up to have their reputational ruined, legal jeopardy, or worse.

Case in point: a local keyboard warrior operating under the name Bryan Bridges III (sometimes known as Ezra Bridges) has been bouncing around social media like a pinball, slapping his name on some big accusations and slinging insults like confetti at a cheap parade. The problem? The smiling face on Bryan’s profile pic? That’s not Bryan. That’s James Bridges—a real man who lives near the Oklahoma border, works with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and whose wife of 36 years is a Texas schoolteacher. He is a father of two sons and a grandfather of four grandchildren. He leads Bible studies and hosts weekly FCA huddles.

We are guessing James Bridges is not the Frisco flamethrower or political hatchet man. We are guessing he is just a man, living his life, who probably has no idea his photo is being used to publicly drag elected officials, political candidates, and constituents through the digital mud.

We like to fact check, so we have reached out to James Bridges via email and will be reaching out to his wife as well.  We will of course let you know how he responds.  If he responds the way we think he might, it’s going to be a doozy.  We’ve taken all the screenshots sent to us of Bryan Bridges III comments and archived them as evidence. And if Mr. Bridges didn’t give consent for his image to be used in this toxic identity-theft theater, then “Bryan Bridges III” might be facing more than a few angry replies. He might be facing a libel suit. 

Let’s stop and think about this: what if James’s employer stumbles across these posts and assumes he’s the one spouting off? What if someone at his wife’s school district mistakes him for the venomous ghostwriter behind the name? This is the sort of stunt that doesn’t just smear political opponents—it scorches innocent bystanders, too.

There’s a word for people who do this kind of thing: cowards. Cowards with no moral compass, hiding behind stolen faces because they know that if they showed their own, they’d have to answer for the mess they’re making.  Maybe if they showed their face then we would know if they were the spouse of a council member, or a town bully, or maybe the sister of a political candidate.

Frisco deserves better than this kind of clown show. Say what you want, stand for what you believe—but do it under your own name or be completely anonymous.  But don’t put real people on the line who don’t even live in our town to carry out your devious acts.  Frisco Whistleblower has never claimed to be anyone but a resident of Frisco.  We are not portraying ourselves as anyone we are not, we are just not disclosing who we are.  Very different!

Because when you steal someone else’s identity just to hurl insults in a local election? That’s not speech. That’s sabotage.  And we’re not letting it slide.

Let us know what you think:

Should the Frisco Police investigate this? 

Should our city council members demand an investigation into this, the same way they did into the so-called “illegal recordings per Laura Woodward and Bryan Bridges III?”  If they would like James Bridges information, we are happy to supply it to them.

“Silence, Shame, and the Swift Vanishing Truth Bomb”

Well, Frisco…we didn’t have this one on the bingo card today.  The soap opera that is Frisco politics just added another act, and this one had all the flair of a daytime drama mixed with a deleted tweet. Today, we were all witnesses to what could’ve been a turning point — or at the very least, a moment of reckoning. That is, until it vanished faster than ethics at a campaign fundraiser.

This morning, Marcia Locke, fiancée of Councilman John Keating, broke her silence on the now-infamous Toxic Tammy Tapes. You know the ones — the recordings that have been circulating through local inboxes and Facebook threads like wildfire through a dry prairie.

Not only did she break her silence, but boy did she come in swinging a bat that was on fire. In a now-deleted social media post, Locke took to her page and finally addressed what we’ve all been talking about in hushed tones and wide-eyed reactions:

“I can no longer accept the pressure to stay silent,” she began. “I am not okay with what has been thrown at myself or my family… Politics is one thing… Being a person of integrity is a requirement of an elected official… and I have to speak my truth.”

 Let’s pause for applause. 👏👏👏

But then Marcia didn’t stop there. She went full-on mic drop mode, calling out Councilmember Tammy Meinershagen directly:

“Tammy, you were exposed!!!”

Then—like a twist in a Netflix docuseries—she receipts us. Locke posted a screenshot from our very own comment section, a post from a reader named Rick, thanking him for telling the truth.

“Accountability is not persecution,” Locke wrote. “Those were your actions, your words, your choice, and your consequences. I look forward to early voting tomorrow!”

🔥 Mic. Drop.  Honestly? It felt bold. It felt brave. It felt truthful.

Ladies and gentlemen, for a few shining hours, we thought finally, someone with firsthand knowledge, courage, and ties to the inner circle was willing to stand up, take the heat, and say what needed to be said.

We were so floored we even commented on the post ourselves—respectfully, of course. We said we were glad she spoke out and told her truth, but also disappointed it took this long. After all, when the house is burning, it doesn’t help to show up with a water hose two years later.  But then…

Poof!!! The Post Was Deleted.

Gone. Like it never existed. No follow-up. No explanation. Just silence.

And now, we’re left wondering: What happened?

  • Did a certain councilman, mayor or city manager make a phone call?
  • Did someone remind her of who’s pulling the marionette strings on the cabal puppets?
  • Was there pressure from a political ally?
  • Did the local Cabal whisper in her ear?
  • Or did someone with influence promise support… in exchange for silence?

Who knows? But what we do know is this:

For one minute, Marcia had the guts and glory to speak up—and then someone, somewhere, convinced her to un-speak.  That’s not transparency. That’s political puppetry. And it reeks.  It is the clearest sign yet of the power behind the scenes in Frisco politics.

If politics is theater, then this was the deleted scene they didn’t want you to see. Which only confirms what many in Frisco already suspect—truth is dangerous here, and the pressure to suppress it comes fast and hard.  We can vouch for that as we were served papers ourselves today.  More details to come about that!

We applaud Marcia for finding her voice, even if it was just for a few hours. We hope she finds it again. And next time, we hope she doesn’t give it up so easily.  Because, like she said, “integrity is a requirement of elected officials.”  That must mean that the silence in the face of corruption isn’t just disappointing, it’s complicity.  We will be reminding you of John Keating’s silence when he jumps to run for Mayor in a year!