The other day my wife said, drive me to Bath and Body, I want some of those pretty smelling hand soaps. I told her no drive yourself because I hate those soaps! Next I heard the car starting in the garage, so I ran outside and said wait a minute let me get my shoes I will drive you. My wife drives like a blind armadillo. Even if she had a self-driving Tesla she would still manage to play whac-a-mole with it. Walking into the store you are instantly overcome by the scents which in my opinion is worse than Old Spice on a hairy hooker. She starts talking to herself, “I wonder what Mimosa Spearmint or Eucalyptus Lavender smell like?” I said just buy some soap but no, we must smell every soap while I hear her utter words like aromatherapy, stress relief, and serenity. Finally, we got to the register where the young girl (couldn’t be more than 20) said that would be $89.75. Then she said would you like to pay with cash, credit or apple pay. Apple what? I pulled out my check book in my nice little red vinyl cover with my check register attached and began to write a check. Now I know we have dumbed down our youth in today’s world, but when I handed her the check, she said, “What is this and what kind of wallet is that red thing?” I said it’s a checkbook and her face turned ghost white like she had seen E.T. riding off into the dark night on a witch’s broom. She called a manager over and asked do we take these things called checks? I looked at my wife and I said I will be waiting in the car!
It is sad in today’s world kids don’t know what a check is or how to balance an account with a check register booklet. My point in telling you this is I was surprised to learn that the City of Frisco has their Check Register online for each year so you can see a list of all the payments incurred during a quarter by the city. It includes payment date, payee, amount, and type of expenditure. The city’s website reads, “in an effort to be transparent and accountable to our citizens (well that’s a first), the City of Frisco is posting check register reports showing payments made by the city.”
We downloaded each year, and I noticed under descriptions some of them said Economic Incentives and Sales Tax Grants. An example of an incentive is a government giving a major company tax breaks in exchange for them building an office or plant in their city. The goal is for incentives to stimulate the economy in that area by empowering the company to provide jobs, as well as make goods or services available for purchase.
A few caught our attention, the first being Careington Intl Corp. If our research is right then the CEO is local resident Barbara Fasola who is a donor to Cheney and main of his friends’ political campaigns. We also believe her husband does or did in in the past sit on the Frisco Economic Development Corporation. There is an economic incentive payment in March 2018 for $76800 and February 2019 for $48000.
Then you have New Reunion Title LLC which received an economic incentive in February 2020 for $9,184,546.67. Then we noticed an incentive paid to CLMG Corporation in March 2020 for $1,726,128.00 followed by one in June 2020 for New Reunion Title LLC for (1,726,128.00). We found this one odd as it is the same exact amount to the decimal point as the payout to CLMG Corporation.
Well in researching New Reunion Title LLC it shows they are headquartered in Plano and have an office in McKinney. Strangely enough the location is inside the Abernathy Law Office, which is our city attorney. We tried to do a document search and meeting search, but we could not find any incentive agreements on either company. Who is CLMG Corporation? The only thing we could really find on CLMG is a DMN article about a massive Plano development threated with foreclosure. The article states Dallas-based Beal Bank and its Plano-based commercial loan service company, CLMG Corp had quietly served notice to sell the old JCP headquarters project at a foreclosure auction. Why are we giving over $9 Million in economic incentives to a title company? What does CLMG corporation have to do with Frisco? We are trying to uncover that now so we will keep you updated.
Then there are those you just say, “things that make you go hmm?” For example, BMC Stock Holdings Inc which is based out of Georgia which has something to do with building materials which was paid over ½ million in incentives? Who is Frisco Square Developers and why were they paid economic incentive payments for $325k and $86.5K in 2018, $390k in 2019 and 2020? Another that sparked our interested was Social Finance, who received $80k in 2020 in economic incentives. A article in Community Impact states that Social Finance offers services in student loan refi’s and they will occupy 1200 square feet and employ 10 full time employees. That is a large economic incentive for 10 full time jobs.
Others make sense and we agree are positive economic incentives for companies like Costco, Drury, and T-Mobile USA and DPS Holdings (DRPepper), both have a large building just off the tollway where they have created several hundred jobs in our city. Then you have several payouts to Blue Star those all are Jerry Jones companies and they have brought a large economic boom to our community.
Grab a Manhattan cocktail and click the link above and take time to look over the city register online. You might find something that look interesting to you. If you do let us know. I am sure we will be back more as we continue to dig into the City of Frisco’s register online.
CHECK DATE
VENDOR NAME
DESCRIPTION
AMOUNT
10/17/17
DRURY SOUTHWEST INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
200,000.00
11/30/17
CORNERSTONE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
79,562.50
01/02/18
INSIGHT FOR LIVING MINISTRIES
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
38,000.00
01/30/18
CODE AUTHORITY, INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
5,550.00
02/06/18
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
99,307.44
02/13/18
COBB FENDLEY & ASSOCIATES INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
10,000.00
02/13/18
FRISCO SQUARE DEVELOPERS, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
325,000.00
02/13/18
IFLY HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
3,760.78
02/15/18
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
612,992.44
02/15/18
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
612,992.45
03/06/18
BRIXMOR OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
320,000.00
03/06/18
CAREINGTON INTL CORP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
76,800.00
03/20/18
FRISCO SQUARE DEVELOPERS, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
86,125.00
04/05/18
RANDSTAD NORTH AMERICA, INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
20,000.00
04/05/18
TEXAS REPUBLIC BANK NA
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
6,900.00
05/03/18
JAMBA JUICE COMPANY
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
55,200.00
05/08/18
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
76,071.11
05/08/18
IFLY HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
4,635.14
05/14/18
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
635,396.34
05/14/18
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
635,396.36
05/15/18
TRANSPLACE TEXAS LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
37,500.00
05/15/18
WALGREENS SPECIALTY PHARMACY HOLDINGS LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
13,000.00
05/31/18
HALL OFFICE PARK BUILDING 17, LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
375,000.00
06/26/18
ARGON MEDICAL DEVICES INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
26,250.00
07/24/18
MOVIE INSTITUTE
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
2,500.00
07/26/18
IFLY HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
3,869.73
07/31/18
CUSTER ROAD COMMONS LTD
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
350,000.00
08/14/18
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
113,427.35
08/16/18
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
596,255.04
08/16/18
STEWARD ENERGY II LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
1,250.00
08/16/18
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
596,255.04
09/18/18
DRURY SOUTHWEST INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
100,000.00
10/02/18
A-5 137 FRISCO RANCH LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
550,000.00
10/02/18
BLUE STAR LAND LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
333,000.00
10/09/18
4-WEB INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
5,000.00
10/30/18
CORNERSTONE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
118,750.00
12/10/18
EZYVET US INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
52,000.00
01/22/19
GEARBOX SOFTWARE, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
85,720.00
01/29/19
CIVF V-TX1M03 LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
230,000.00
01/29/19
FRISCO SQUARE DEVELOPERS, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
389,660.00
02/07/19
WINTRUST ASSET FINANCE INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
40,000.00
02/12/19
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
588,455.98
02/12/19
CAREINGTON INTL CORP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
48,000.00
02/12/19
HALL OFFICE PARK BUILDING 17, LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
375,000.00
02/12/19
TEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
750,000.00
02/12/19
VALIFY, INC.
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
9,000.00
02/12/19
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
588,456.00
02/12/19
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
95,955.83
02/12/19
IFLY HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
4,049.42
02/19/19
BMC STOCK HOLDINGS INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
800,285.94
02/19/19
TEXAS DEVELOPERS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
800,285.94
02/21/19
BRIXMOR OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
SALES TAX GRANTS
170,514.93
03/21/19
POWERSECURE INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
200,000.00
04/02/19
RANDSTAD NORTH AMERICA, INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
20,000.00
04/09/19
MULLAPUDI VENTURES
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
87,500.00
04/16/19
CARDTRONICS USA INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
374,000.00
05/14/19
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
631,272.74
05/14/19
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
631,272.74
05/16/19
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
71,473.35
05/16/19
IFLY HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
10,908.73
05/21/19
CUSTER ROAD COMMONS LTD
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
68,140.00
05/23/19
CNMK TEXAS PROPERTIES LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
400,000.00
05/28/19
MULLAPUDI VENTURES
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
78,750.00
05/28/19
TRANSPLACE TEXAS LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
37,500.00
06/25/19
MENTE GROUP LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
75,000.00
07/09/19
ARGON MEDICAL DEVICES INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
17,950.00
07/09/19
BGE INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
22,250.00
07/23/19
STEWARD ENERGY II LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
1,250.00
08/01/19
A-5 137 FRISCO RANCH LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
350,000.00
08/01/19
BLUE STAR LAND LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
333,000.00
08/06/19
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
108,572.30
08/09/19
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
610,491.86
08/09/19
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
610,491.86
08/13/19
MONROE IF HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
3,614.08
10/01/19
T-MOBILE USA INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
300,000.00
12/10/19
HEALTHCARE HIGHWAYS INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
26,000.00
12/26/19
FLYERS BUILDING DEVELOPMENT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
123,875.00
01/14/20
TEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
375,000.00
01/14/20
CNMK TEXAS PROPERTIES LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
400,000.00
01/22/20
EZYVET US INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
1,488.00
01/23/20
FA PEINADO LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
84,000.00
01/23/20
FRISCO SQUARE DEVELOPERS, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
389,660.00
01/28/20
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
106,516.88
02/04/20
WINTRUST ASSET FINANCE INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
7,500.00
02/05/20
NEW REUNION TITLE LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
9,184,546.67
02/06/20
GEARBOX SOFTWARE, LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
85,720.00
02/06/20
BRIERLEY AND PARTNERS
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
190,500.00
02/06/20
MONROE IF HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
3,894.47
02/11/20
E2W LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
500,000.00
02/13/20
T-MOBILE USA INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
300,000.00
02/13/20
ALTAIR GLOBAL SERVICES LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
170,600.00
02/18/20
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
582,973.30
02/18/20
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
582,973.28
02/25/20
HALL OFFICE PARK BUILDING 17, LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
375,000.00
02/27/20
BRIXMOR OPERATING PARTNERSHIP LP
SALES TAX GRANTS
65,580.22
03/03/20
BMC STOCK HOLDINGS INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
222,720.86
03/03/20
TEXAS DEVELOPERS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
222,720.84
03/12/20
LEXIPOL LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
50,000.00
03/13/20
CLMG CORPORATION
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
1,726,128.00
04/02/20
CARDTRONICS USA INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
204,000.00
05/21/20
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
85,038.55
05/21/20
MONROE IF HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
3,278.76
05/22/20
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
575,889.42
05/22/20
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
575,889.42
06/01/20
NEW REUNION TITLE LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
(1,726,128.00)
06/11/20
HEALTHCARE HIGHWAYS INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
11,000.00
06/18/20
TRANSPLACE TEXAS LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
37,500.00
06/18/20
LEXIPOL LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
140,000.00
07/23/20
A-5 137 FRISCO RANCH LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
350,000.00
07/23/20
SOLAIS LIGHTING LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
90,000.00
08/06/20
FRISCO HOLLYHOCK 380 LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
6,425.79
08/13/20
ARGON MEDICAL DEVICES INC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
17,950.00
08/20/20
EDEPOT LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
562,092.42
08/20/20
COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION
SALES TAX GRANTS
102,773.09
08/20/20
SALES CENTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS VIII LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
562,092.42
08/27/20
FRISCO HOLLYHOCK 380 LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
9,747.41
08/27/20
MONROE IF HOLDINGS LLC
SALES TAX GRANTS
152.23
09/10/20
BLUE STAR LAND LP
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
800,000.00
10/26/20
NEW REUNION TITLE LLC
CAPITAL EXP – LAND
3,508,910.25
10/29/20
NACK PATIOS LLC
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
1,500,000.00
12/17/20
TEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN
It is good to be back from our month long sabbatical otherwise known as a holiday in my country and we have been eager to check the tip line for some new Shade. While visiting my country last month, I got to take part in the Gentleman’s Club (it is not what you think). It is a monthly tradition where the village gentleman holds a club night, enjoys some bottles of vino on the terrace, and tell wild tales. Meanwhile, the women go inside to also enjoy the vino and a couple hands of cards. We began to share jolly chatter when Paulo looked at me and said, “since you live in Texas, tell me about LAJITAS?” I politely asked if that was the name of a cocktail and he said “no, it is the name of a small famous town in far west Texas that feels like it sits on the edge of the world.” Shocked, I said tell me more as laughter abound from the men on the terrace. Paulo said, “Clay Henry is a delinquent politician full of tricks who ran for mayor of Lajitas. He was known for consuming up to 40 beers a day and he had a penchant for headbutting constituents without any warning. He was Lajitas most “FAMOUS CITIZEN” and he was the only mayor in the US with hooves.” All of looked at Paulo not sure if we should laugh or think he lost his mind, when he blurted out yep, Clay Henry was a goat! We all began to google and of course there are many stories and/or legends around Lajitas and Clay Henry. So many that it is hard to know what is true or false. One story goes that Clay Henry was killed by his son Clay Henry Jr. for being a ladies’ man and his love rival. Another story said in in 1992 when the Goat Mayor died he was stuffed chugging a beer and mounted in the general store for all the visitors to see. The craziest story of all is the one where Clay Henry was castrated by a local name Bob Hargrove after he became jealous of Henry drinking the last beer in town on a Sunday. According to the ABC News report the goat was found lying in the streets with his testicles cut off. With that all the men stood up and it was time to call it a night. The fun stops when it comes a goat losing his testis’s. I said goodbye to all my local friends and their wives then stumbled just down the steps to my room where my wife was already in bed reading a book. I said, “DAMN HUN, be glad we live in Frisco, Texas and not Lajitas with a testicleless goat!” My wife looked at me with the usual disappointment and like I was an idiot and said turn off the lights.
You are probably wondering why the hell did I tell you this story. Well, because I was thinking we probably didn’t miss anything while we were gone and yet we missed everything! We quickly learned that the City of Frisco hired a new, but old, yet still unwanted Fire Chief named Lee Glover, who has a 90+ percent no confidence vote from the Frisco Fire Fighters. Then we learned the Frisco Fire Fighters have started a petition to become a civil service organization and to have collective bargaining. The cherry on top was a Frisco PD Resource Officer, Kendal Augustus was fired then arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child and sexual performance of a child and yet his bond was only set at $55,000? Jackie from the TV Series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel said it best, “Life is a basically an all-you-can-eat shit show!”
Jackie is right that life is basically a shit show and sometimes it can also be the gift that keeps on giving. After unpacking I went to water my roses and my neighbor was outside, so he walked over and said I have something to show you. He pulled out his phone and said, yesterday we were on the lake, and you won’t believe the photos we captured. I quickly realized it was photos of Mayor Cheney and his wife Dana on their boat. He pointed out Zach Cheney, the mayor’s oldest son (still under 21), who was doing shots off the back of the boat with some friends while the Cheney’s watched from the head of the boat like the kings of the world!
Obviously, the Cheney’s didn’t learn anything after hosting the viral keg party at their house for Zach’s graduation in May 2021 in which their son later posted to his snap chat account. Now they will quickly deny this happened, but boat registrations do not lie! In Texas, every watercraft must be registered just like a car and that is the number you see on the side of the boat. In this case the pictures show a black Bennington 25 ft Pontoon with the registration of TX 5306 KL. To look up the current ownership of a boat is simple, and a matter of public record at the State of Texas Open Data Portal. When we ran the registration it shows the original registration date of 09/07/2022 and is due for renewal on 09/30/2024. The owner is listed as Thomas J Cheney Jr. and it is registered to his home in Frisco. We won’t give out his address, but you can look it up just clicking on the Open Data Portal link yourself.
Just because it is okay for a Mayoral Goat to get drunk does not mean the same rules apply to humans. What are the laws in Texas when it comes to minors drinking? Drinking when you’re under 21 or providing alcohol to a minor comes with consequences. If a minor attempts to buy, possesses or drink alcoholic beverages, or if a minor is intoxicated in public or misrepresents their age to buy alcohol they could be in trouble. They could face a $500 fine, attend a boring alcohol awareness class, do up to 40 hours of community service and could potentially lose their driver’s license up to 180 days.
On the other hand, adults who give minors alcohol could also face stiff penalties. Making alcoholic beverages available to a minor is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $4,000, confinement in jail for up to a year or both. Your driver´s license would also be automatically suspended for 180 days when they are convicted. Texas also has a “Zero Tolerance Law” which states, it is illegal for a person under 21 to operate a motor vehicle or watercraft in a public place while having any detectable amount of alcohol in their system.
Most interesting is that in Texas, a person may purchase an alcoholic beverage for or give an alcoholic beverage to a minor if he is the minor’s adult parent, guardian, or spouse and they must be visibly present when the minor possesses or consumes the alcoholic beverage. However, Texas Social Host Laws state it is illegal for a parent to provide alcohol to other minors who are not their children, and they could be responsible should that minor cause injury to themselves or cause property damage.
Rick Riordan, The Last Olympian once said, “patterns repeat themselves in history.” If that is true then one could say intentions are often hidden inside patterns of behavior and a good indicator of patterns is TIME! In this case history is repeating itself and just as publicly as it did last time. After watching the video which includes photos from the lake and Zach Cheney’s own open Instagram page it leaves us with a few questions.
How old are the young adults in the boat chugging shots like Clay Henry the Goat?
If they are under 21, then who purchased the alcohol for their consumption?
If the Mayor purchased the alcohol and provided it to his son that is fine, but if he provided it to his son’s friends (who are underage) that is ILLEGAL!
When the pontoon docked back at the marina – who drove the car or cars home?
Lastly, Mr. Cheney is not a secretary for the city he is the Mayor! The BUCK STOPS WITH HIM! He should be leading by example. How do you say this is okay, then say how important the Shattered Dreams program is at the high schools to stop underage drinking. As for Zach Cheney you would think his parents would have sat him down in 2021 and said “Son, you are an extension of us meaning what you do reflects on us and so you can not publish photos of you on social media platforms partying and drinking when you are clearly underage. Surely they told him to lock down his accounts so only his friends can see his debauchery. No, his Instagram clearly shows him drinking on bid day in 2022 when he was 19, as well as other times. It also shows him at AT&T Stadium tailgating – how did they get home after? It appears the Mayor and his wife were also attending the game and the Mayor clearly had on his City of Frisco Polo. Truthfully, old grouches like us are lucky – we did not have social media to get us in trouble. It is called common sense, if you are going to drink underage (most young adults do) and you are from a notable family then don’t post about it on an open social feed, and don’t take your kid out in the open to a cove on the Lake known for a good time!
Well fans, after a month-long holiday across the pond to see friends and family we are back, and we are ready to share some SHADE! Stay Tuned for what’s been brewing!
As a young adult, I loved watching game shows. The mid-1950s were a period of rapid growth in popularity for quiz shows. I remember watching Jack Barry, on-air host from 1947-1958 and 1960 – 1980 who produced and appeared on “High Low Quiz,” “Juvenile Jury,” and “Tic Tac Dough.” Then, there was Dennis James who is credited with hosting television’s first network game show in 1946 called “Cash and Carry.” One of the most popular of all times was, “The Dating Game” with Jim Lange. Rodney Alcala, a contestant on the show in 1978 is often referred to as “The Dating Game Serial Killer” because when he applied to be a contestant he had already committed at least four murders and decades later authorities discovered he was a prolific serial killer, but, I digress.
The best game show in my opinion is “Family Feud,” which started in 1976 and was hosted by Richard Dawson. He was the host known as the Kissing Casanova for his signature kiss on the cheek and lips to all his female contestants. The show would be hosted over the years by Ray Combs, Louie Anderson, Richard Karn (Home Improvement), John O’Hurley (Seinfeld), and Steve Harvey. My wife and I tune in every day to hear Steve Harvey say, “We asked a 100 people” and “The survey says!” Game shows give the audience the chance to live out our fantasies thinking, “Well, if someone must win, it could be me!”
Who uses surveys? And, what is the survey’s purpose? A better question might be “Who doesn’t use surveys?” It is common for companies to do employee surveys to measure staff engagement or companies may reach out to customers after a purchase to measure satisfaction. The overall purpose of a survey is to get feedback and ideas to understand areas of improvement. We were a little surprised and intrigued when we heard rumors in the last few weeks that the Local 3732 Executive Board of the FFA had done a survey of the firefighters in response to a new chief and in regard to some of the Mayor’s recent statements.
Let’s look at the questions in regard to the Mayor’s Statement Survey:
Question: Do you want Interim Fire Chief Glover to be the next Fire Chief of the Frisco Fire Department? The survey says 92.5% said NO, they do not want Interim Chief Glover to be the new Fire Chief, which is alarming considering he is currently running the Department. Have the firefighter’s lost confidence in Glover?
Question: Do you believe Interim Fire Chief Glover has improved/rebuilt morale and regained trust of the Department? The survey says 91.4% of the Association said, NO Glover has not improved morale or rebuilt trust. Interestingly, this directly contradicts what Mayor Cheney said at the Star Patriot Debate where he adamantly said Glover has increased morale and is starting to regain trust. When the Mayor answered with such confidence, did he knowingly lie? Was it an attempt to mislead the public to win the election? Just listen to him in his own words…
Now, let’s look at the Fire Chief Questionnaire in regard to the future hiring process of the fire chief position.
Question: Do you believe the organization has any qualified candidates to assume the task set forth by the City Manager’s office? The survey says 89.4% said NO that the organization does not have any qualified candidates as of now to assume the task. That is pretty telling that Frisco firefighters don’t agree with the Mayor’s view.
Question: Would you like the next chief to be an external hire or internal hire? The survey says, YES, 93.8% would like an external hire which is mind-blowing because it shows they have no confidence in current interim Chief Glover.
Question: Do you believe the finalist list should be composed of National Candidates? The survey says 91.7% responded, YES it should have national candidates. So, if it were a “national” search, why did they need to be Texas Certified? Oh no, nothing to see here.
Question: Do you believe the finalists should have experience as a chief in a department of equal or larger size and city population density? The survey says, 86.1% said YES they should have the current experience equal to Frisco’s department.
Question: Do you believe the department is appropriately preparing for the future or heading back to the past practices? The survey said 91.5%, YES, that they are heading back to the past practices. Are they referring to Mack Borchardt, the previous Fire Chief, who works now in the City Manager’s office as a special assistant?
Question: Do you believe the Department is appropriately staffed? The survey says 95.2% responded NO it is not adequately staffed. As a resident, that scares the shady shit right out of me that its own department feels that way.
Question: Do you believe there should be a stakeholders’ group of FF consisting of all ranks involved in the hiring process? The survey said 96.6% responded YES, they want to have a say in picking their next leader.
After seeing the survey, we too had some questions and decided to do some research.
Frisco’s Fire Chief was Mack Borchardt who started as a volunteer firefighter in 1973. Then, in 1982, he became the Administrator and Chief of Volunteers until 1987 when he became the City’s very first Fire Chief. Oddly, in September of 2011, the City announced he would retire and then assume new duties as a Fire Programs Consultant and Special Assistant to then City Manager George Purefoy.
Why would a fire chief take a new role out of the blue? Multiple off the record sources tell us that Borchardt was caught in some compromising situations which could have been a factor, or it could have been his staff and the association just didn’t like him either.
In the fall of 2011, a Climate Survey was done in the Frisco FD to identify growing concerns of firefighters and officers. It notes, “…there is a lack of trust, respect, and dignity between officers and firefighters. The culture… is very negative and one of intimidation, retaliation, and fear.” The examiner notes that in the conversations with the Chief and Officers they lead her to believe there is some truth to the claims. The report also notes there is considerable animosity regarding Chief Borchardt and that many in the department felt the entire senior staff along with the Chief needed to be replaced because they were all trained in Borchardt’s style. The most telling part of the report was that many firefighters believe the then Chief Borchardt was trying to run the growing department like it only had 20 employees, and instead of hiring those best suited for the job, he hired his friends.
Lastly, it notes the department is understaffed for the growing population (ding, ding, ding). At the time 76.3% of the respondents indicated they would leave the department if they could.
While we have no concrete evidence, multiple sources said Borchardt was pushed out. George Purefoy stood up for him and said, if he goes then I go, so instead Borchardt was moved into a new job at city hall working for George himself. After reading the report, it begs the question was Chief Borchardt removed “not retired” because of his personal behavior and management style that had torn apart the Department?
Did then City Manager George Purefoy save his friend with a cushy job right next to him at city hall? It is important to note that the current Interim Chief and candidate Lee Glover steadily advanced through the ranks of management in the fire department under the leadership of Mack Borchardt; so, based on the report, it might be plausible to assume Glover still has Borchardt’s management style and that is why the new survey shows no confidence in him. Either way, Borchardt and Glover are what some would call “thick as thieves.”
In 2013, the city hired Mark Piland as the new Chief of Frisco Fire Department. According to many of the sources we talked to, YES, change did start to happen, but it didn’t help that Piland was met by resistance from then Manager George Purefoy who conveniently had Mack Borchardt, the previous fire chief, in his ear. Think about it, if you are an old fire chief of 20+ years, would you want to see what you built in the Department change right in front of your eyes?
Tension began early on from what sources tell us, making it very difficult for Piland to make significant changes. Borchardt worked the ear of his longtime friend and boss George Purefoy for years, straining the relationship from the onset with Piland and Purefoy. We are guessing Piland realized early on he was facing a losing battle going up against the old fire chief in the City Manager’s ear day-after-day during his entire tenure. One has to wonder, is this why Piland thought he might better serve the City as Manager? One also wonders if the new City Manager Wes Pierson was really chosen because he would fall right in line?
As a side note, I had some of these suspicions months ago when I filed a PIR asking for Borchardt’s recent contract renewal by Purefoy that was signed just before retiring, which, NO, we still have not received.
Now, it’s 2023 and Glover, who has been the Interim Chief, is a candidate for Chief of the fire department. You can bet he wants that position badly, and his mentor and friend in the city manager’s office, Mack Borchardt would not mind seeing him in the position either. If that wasn’t enough, we asked around, and multiple officers told us shocking things regarding Glover that left us flabbergasted. YES, flabbergasted!
Obviously, out of fear of losing their jobs, I can understand why they would not want to go on the record. With that said, multiple firefighters spoke off the record. They have witnessed the Interim Frisco Fire Chief belligerently drunk multiple times in public and threatened them if they ever spoke up about it. The same firefighters confirmed he was recently seen in the street at a FD Conference, again belligerently drunk, peeing on a tree in the median during the middle of the day. Witnesses also say he drank heavily at lunchtime during some of these conferences. So now, the current survey makes total sense. All of these factors, history, and more, contribute to the survey results. We were told he has a known history of maliciously undermining all ranks of FD leadership for his own personal gain.
Based on what we were told, someone at city hall might want to ask the following interview questions of Interim Chief Lee Glover:
Is it true you have a history of being belligerently drunk at FD training conferences and FD apparatus purchasing meetings?
Do you have a DUI on your record from August of 1985? Were you sentenced to 2 years’ probation? Is the city aware of this?
Did you urinate on a tree in the middle of the street at an FDIC conference in Indianapolis? And is it true, you threatened FD staff if they spoke of the incidents and suggest they would “regret it?”
Is it true you have a history of using your rank to cause people in your department to fear losing their job should they go against you?
If we told you there was a tape of you making racially inappropriate statements how would you respond? Do you have a history of making racially inappropriate statements?
If the City had the guts to sit down with the staff today face to face for an honest conversation, would your current staff say all these incidents were true?
Lastly, does the Public Lewdness charge from 1992 and the indecent exposure charge in 2000 belong to you or your father?
From the City’s recent meet and greet, we now know the candidate shortlist is Rob Bergersen, Richard Davis, Lee Glover, Kenneth Johnson, and Marc Pate. None of them have held the position of Chief. But, we learned of a few names that were removed, and we are interested in asking, why since they seem to have much more experience? Take Paul Henley, who is the Fire Chief in Flower Mound and President of the Texas Fire Chiefs Association–why was he taken off the list? Chief Lasky in Lewisville, a 40-year veteran and has served as a Fire Chief for the last 12 years–why was he taken off the list? Hello? With the stellar background of on some of these candidates, one should wonder why they were removed from the list. “Survey Says…“
Imagine you live in a city where the newly elected female mayor calls a press conference to make an extraordinary announcement regarding a new recruiting policy for the police department. Shortly into her speech she says the police department must accept ALL willing recruits meaning anyone, regardless of colour, gender, height and weight as long as they can attend and pass a 14-week course in the academy. A large number of candidates immediately come forward, sign up, and next thing you know they are standing before the Captain and Lieutenant of the academy. They are greeted by their instructors who say, “My name is Captain Harris! In case you missed it, this is Sergeant Callahan! We are the meanest instructors here. We’ve got you because you are the worst people here. You are “D” Squad; “D” for “dirtbags”. When I say: “Hey, dirtbags!” that means you. You people are going to hate my guts for the rest of your lives. I am going to make you sorry that you ever came here.” The group of misfit recruits work hard and train hard in order to prove themselves capable of carrying the badge. Funny thing is they end up succeeding despite and because of their eccentricities. Well, that is the plot of the very first Police Academy movie in 1984 which grossed $149.8 million worldwide. The series of films would become one of the most popular “police movie” franchises in history grossing another $387 million for the sequels. It was simple slap-stick humor, usually based on simple characterizations and physical attributes of the “underdogs” struggling to prove themselves even though they faced constant opposition from those who ran the academy. My favorite scene of all time is when Hightower gets a driving lesson on how to drive so he can pass the police exam.
Any who, in Dragnet (Part 1) we went over the 27 recommendations from the Three-Year Strategic Staffing Plan for the Frisco PD and now we want to tell you about a few points that my wife and found interesting in the study. First, police calls are rated on a scale of Priority One to Three. Priority 1 calls are crimes in progress and incidents that put citizens at risk. Priority 2 calls are to ensure situations don’t escalate into a more serious incident. Priority 3 & 4 calls are non-critical. In 2019, the city had 595 Priority 1 calls and they expect that number to be over 900 calls in the next 3 years. The average response time in 2019 for a Priority 1 call was 5.25 minutes. Priority 2 calls had an average response time of 6.48 minutes and in 2019 they had 21, 571 calls. In regard to calls, the study said “Frisco PD patrol staffing increases are necessary to increase the capacity of the FPD Patrol Division to absorb the expected increases in calls for service to decrease response times for calls. With these changes, FPD patrol will align with contemporary patrol staffing standards and be able to accommodate modern police service demands.”
Another key point relating to patrol was “ The City of Frisco needs to make steady progress towards the goal of adding 42 patrol officers over the next 3 years. Without additional staffing, the FPD Patrol Division will not be able to absorb the expected increases in calls for service, increase self-initiated activities, or decrease response times without negatively impacting other patrol performance objectives (e.g., immediate availability and patrol visibility).”
Second, the study looked at the Traffic Division which handles hit and run accidents, traffic enforcement and accident investigation. The study said, “As the population of the City of Frisco continues to grow and more visitors come to enjoy its entertainment venues, additional traffic officers are needed.”
Third, when it comes to investigations we learned investigators assigned to the Crimes Against Children Unit was assigned an average of 13.6 new cases per month in 2018, an average of 20.5 new cases per month in 2019, and an average of 25.8 new cases per month in 2020. The number of new cases assigned to Crimes Against Children has substantially increased; almost doubling from 2018 to 2020. I will be curious to see the average number of cases per month once the Universal Kids theme park opens. It is important to point out that the study said there is not a national standard on the number of new cases that should be assigned to an investigator each month. The general standard used by the study is 12 cases per month for violent crimes (which covers crimes against children / persons).
Last, we learned that the Detention Division and the Communications Divisionat the time of the study operated with the minimum staffing level 24/7/365. More shocking was the Training Unit currently pulls their certified TCOLE instructors from their regular responsibilities as a patrol officer, investigator, or other role within the department to provide the in-service training. The study pointed out that with the size of FPD, this is an inefficient process and impacts the staffing levelswithin divisions and units from where the trainers are drawn. If the Training Unit is sufficiently staffed, it can provide all in-service training for FPD personnel.
In a city with a population of 227,426 residents, should we be concerned about staffing levels in two of the most crucial departments in this city? Absolutely we should be concerned about that! In fact, an insider told us that Purefoy didn’t care too much for Chief Piland because at internal meetings he would constantly try to address staffing issues and was quickly shot down by the then city manager. All we hear from top city officials, the mayor and some council members are the slogan “SAFEST CITY” and we that could be true right now, but what about the future? The question everyone should be asking themselves is will we be the safest city 10 years from now. More importantly, why does it seem as if city management at city hall is operating with a reactive management style meaning reacting to problems as they arise vs proactive management which is where we see ahead, anticipate problems, and take steps to prevent the problems from happening? Was the city proactive in taking steps to meet the 27 recommendations in the study over the last 3 years? If not, why?
Frisco is an amazing city and all we want is for it to stay that way. We must ask how is it we have all this money for incentives, developments, TIRZ and public/private partnership opportunities but we can’t find the money to fix staffing issues? Why is it we can find money in the budget for two more Assistant City Managers? If those questions don’t make you stop and think, then maybe this will. Imagine it is 12:30 am and one of our police officers answers the call for a disturbance in a Home Depot parking lot and upon the officer attempting to make contact with the subject, the man produced a gun and opened fire, striking our officer in the chest just outside of his vest. As he lays there he knows he is going to die so he calls out on the radio, “118, tell my family I love them.” Communications responds, “I can’t copy.” The officer responds one final time, “118, tell my family I love them.” That is what happened to Officer Dia in Toledo and there is nothing to say it can’t happen here. What if one of our fire fighters goes into the burning flames of a Frisco home to rescue a child and the next thing you hear is the PASS device sending out distress signals. Those signals mean that a fire fighter is motionless and probably trapped or deceased. The flames at this point are out of control and it is clear we have a firefighter down. Will it take losing one of our own before we before residents wake up and demand more answers? When does the city decide to step up to the plate, be transparent about our staffing levels and do the right thing? Is it too late?
Our question is, would they still both endorse Mayor Cheney today? They didn’t in the recent election so it makes you wonder, why?
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