Blow-By-Blow Breakdown

If someone were to ask you what happened on June 28, 1997, would you know the answer?  Truthfully no, the date would not stick out in most people’s minds.  Now what if someone said do you remember that bizarre moment in boxing history when Mike Tyson bit off a portion of Evander Holyfield’s ear?   My guess, is you remember that, and it happened on June 28, 1997.  At the time, the fight was one of the highest grossing Pay Per View events with 1.99 million buys.  It was the first time to break $100 million in revenue.  It was round 3 of their much-anticipated rematch when one of the most iconic and grotesque scenes in sports history took place and became the most replayed slow-motion event in sports history.  I remember sitting there on the couch with my wife and two boys, our mouths wide open in disbelief, that Iron Mike had just bit a portion of Holyfield’s ear.   After a few seconds my wife stands up and says “Well, he must have been hungry.  His mamma should have to feed him before the fight!”  She gathers the bowls on the coffee table and heads to the kitchen, the night was over.

At the Star Patriots Debate on April 3  both candidates took their gloves off but at least no one lost an ear.  The debate was filled with a few jabs, a few uppercuts, and a few hooks.   The consensus on who won depends on who you ask.  Cheney’s supporters feel he did a strong job and Piland supporters will tell you that he gave Cheney the good ole’ one-two punch and took the title.  My wife and I went, and we agreed that I would take notes on Cheney’s comments, and she would take notes on Pilands comments and discuss the next morning over coffee.  After a good night’s sleep, the sun rose, and I could smell the coffee brewing and we both took our place at the table with our notes.  A quick review in order of some of the comments that stuck out at us.

Growth: Cheney said, it’s a misperception by many people that government controls our growth patterns.  He noted that the city cannot tell a developer when they can or cannot develop their land which is in fact true. 

FACT: The city can control some of the growth by not selling off all the land it owns “right here, right now.”  The City of Frisco owned the 91 acres of land where the Frisco Star now sits, the 2.5 acres behind the Star where Blue Star built a 300,000 square feet office building, and how about the land sold for $37.9 million for Blue Stars Industrial Park?  What a lot of residents don’t know or maybe don’t understand is that back in the day the city bought a lot of land betting like a gambler  in a high-stake poker match that Frisco would grow and they could sell it down the road.  The city also “strip annexed” a narrow strip of land that effectively cordoned off a large area, protecting it from other hungry nearby suburbs.  In 1999, the State Legislature would prohibit “strip annexation” from happening in the future. 

Workers Compensation For First Responders: was discussed by both candidates but we will review in our next blog.

Golden Goose: Cheney said 30 years ago with the development of the Frisco EDC and CDC that residents of Frisco made the choice about how they wanted to develop our community and he along with every city manager and city official has done what was promised to the residents.  He also said that is how Frisco was built and that is the golden goose of Frisco. 

FACT: What residents agreed to 30 years ago (there is no formal agreement by the way) versus what residents want along the way can change.  Residents have been saying for the last 5 to 7 years to slow down, focus on the infrastructure first which has fallen on deaf ears.  The only one who cares about the Golden Goose is the mayor and his friends who benefit from them. 

Universal: Piland mentioned the last-minute bait and switch of items in the SUP, the promises from the developer to the Cobb Hill residents should have been codified in the SUP and how this should be a case study in zoning and what city officials should not do.  Cheney said what was posted on his Facebook page about the project is exactly what was sent to them but as they got through the discussion’s things change. 

Question: When things started to change in the discussions why didn’t you tell residents that on social media as you had everything else at that point?  Our guess he knew residents were not going to like the changes in hours, building height, ride height and more.

Cheney said if they had not solved the wall issue with Cobb Hill it wouldn’t have past but then he also said it would be illegal for the city to enter into an agreement between two parties for something like a wall and we cannot interfere with private property rights.

Question: Wait A Hot Minute Mayor!!  You voted for it that night instead of postponing it so the residents of Cobb Hill could formalize a private contract with Universal to make sure the “wall issue” is resolved. 

Cheney then mentioned that this project had more discussions because they knew how long it took them as a council to “wrap their head around it” so they knew they would need to do this differently and research and have community discussions.  NO, NO and NO! 

FACT:  What happened was they went live on Facebook announced it and planned to vote that night, but they didn’t expect that post to blow up and go viral.  It was over a thousand comments in a few hours and based on a review was one of the highest posts in citizens response/comments on the city page in years. Once they saw the instant outcry knowing it was an election year, they had to postpone the vote that night.  Cheney wants us to believe they did it for us the residents – that is simply not true!

Citizens Input: Piland pointed out Cheney has publicly said and posted on social media they could not respond to citizen’s input (we found several posts that match Pilands claims).  Then he pointed out at the January 17 council meeting, 3 separate citizens spoke regarding Universal and Cheney responded to each one for 3 to 4 minutes.  Piland even remarked, Cheney did it under the guise of I really need to help you get your facts straight.  Cheney’s response was per the city charter the mayor runs the council meetings and they can respond to citizen’s input.

FACTS: Section 3.13 Rules of Procedure, “The city council shall determine its own rules of order and business. The city council shall provide that the citizens of the city shall have a reasonable opportunity to clearly hear and be heard at public hearings with regard to specific matters under consideration.”  At first it appears Cheney could be right but Section 2.125 in reference to meetings states “All meetings and deliberations of the board shall be called, convened, held, and conducted, and notice shall be given to the public, in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, as it currently exists or may be amended.”   That means the answer is in the Texas Open Meetings Act which states, limited verbal interchanges between citizens and council members are appropriate, discussions should not be permitted to drag on. When a member of the public makes an inquiry about a subject for which notice has not been given, a council member may respond with a statement of factual information or recite existing policy.   Piland is correct that Cheney violated the Texas Open Meetings Act that night and many other nights too speaking during citizen’s input. 

Code of Conduct: Piland also referenced the December 18(actually Dec 4) council meeting regarding the PGA where Cheney had to recuse himself due to his relationship with one of the principal members of the project.   Before he did he took Mayors Privilege and spoke for nearly 8 minutes regarding the project then stepped off the stage.  Piland pointed out the mayor violated Section 3.11 Conflict of Interest in the City Code of Conduct.  Cheney’s  said his conflict of interest technically had cured at that point because the council felt that his boss Robert Elliott was not the right partner for the project (does Elliott know this) and they needed a bigger partner which is when Omni stepped in and the ownership interest changed and it removed the conflict.  Cheney also said he followed the code of conduct, and he takes the code of conduct very seriously at the City of Frisco and so that’s why he makes sure not to involve any of his personal business in things.  “As a real estate broker, I’ve never represented the city of Frisco in a transaction, I’ve never represented a party who did business with the City of Frisco and I’ve never had an interest in any project in the city of Frisco.”  Lastly he said that he has declined every request for help from clients to get through the zoning process even though it would have been very lucrative for his firm. He closed by saying he is very transparent with everything he does and he is proud of that.”


FACT: Section 3.11 Conflict of Interest it states, “Should any person on the city council have a conflict of interest, pursuant to any state laws and/or city ordinances regulating conflicts of interest of municipal officers, with an agenda item then before the city council, they shall openly declare before discussion proceeds, and he is thereby prohibited from discussing the item or voting on the question, and is not considered as present and voting for the purposes of the tally.”    As for Cheney’s claim he cured his conflict of interest Omni’s own press release from December 4, 2018 notes it is a joint venture and the new company was Omni Stillwater Woods.  Nowhere does it say Robert Elliott is removed from the project and it was SWC Clay Roby who spoke on behalf of the project at every P&Z and council meeting, not a representative from TRT Holdings which is Omni.  Cheney can argue he cured his conflict of interest but that is a logical fallacy which is an error in reasoning that makes your arguments less effective and convincing.    

FACT:  Cheney’s claim he declined every request for help regarding zoning is also not correct.  Cheney may not have helped a client but he did help a campaign donor.  In a Dallas Morning News article written by Sharon Grigby (March 2019), he stated “Cheney told me he met Carter sometime after he became mayor in May 2017. The mayor said the developer visited Cheney’s City Hall office about a sign-ordinance provision that caused difficulties for his Preston Road multi-tenant commercial property.  “Like most developers, they reach out to the mayor and say, ‘This is unreasonable. Can you help me?’” Cheney told me Tuesday.  Although Cheney said he helped resolve the issue, he maintains that the 2018 campaign donations ($15,000)  were not tied to that case. There was never a this for that.”  Cheney is correct it is lucrative but not to his firm it was his campaign fund!

Campaign Donations: Piland referenced the City of Plano’s campaign finance rule that any person who donates over $1000 that comes before the council, would require the person on the council to recuse themselves.  Piland noted you can take as much money as you want but you will have to recuse yourself from all discussion and votes.  Cheney responded and said Plano’s ordinance was put in place two years ago after all their developments were done or largely done, and he did speak to one of their elected officials about their policy.  He said the Plano official (no name) told him the ordinance is not even enforceable, there is no teeth to it and it was put in place because of a political ideology in their community was having a tough time getting traction for the candidates that they wanted to support and now they have a situation where PACs and Super PACs along with other special interest groups lead the outcomes in elections.  

Question:  Did that communication happen via email and if so would you release the communication so we can see the Plano elected officials’ response?

Purefoy:  Cheney commented that developers made a commitment to our city to develop and invest here (sometimes almost a billion dollars) and it scares developers that the commitment made is not going to be honored after his opponent is elected.  Cheney said it probably scares somebody that wants to invest a lot of money in this community, and it could make them think otherwise.  He said developers are scared by the rhetoric and comments they are hearing in this mayoral cycle because the outcome could change the entire direction of the City of Frisco.  Lastly he said it would tarnish the “legacy” of George Purefoy and it would break the promise made to him to continue his work.

Fact: Mark Piland has said he is pro-development and would just like to see more community engagement and discussion around some of those projects.  Piland never said he would not follow through on a contract or commitment made to a developer from the city or previous administration and he also never said he was against Public/Private Partnerships.  How is hearing from residents a negative thing?  From the two debates we heard we have not seen Mr. Piland be anything other than pro-responsible development.  So why would developers be scared?   Lastly, Purefoy did amazing things for this city in the last 35 years and to say change would tarnish his legacy and the promise made to him is ludacris.   Companies and cities pivot all the time, and they are doing just fine!  Our concern should not be about a promise made to Purefoy it should be about the promises made to residents in this city every day.  Cheney used this a cheap ploy scare tactic in our opinion.

Closings:  Cheney said his most valuable experience for this community is being the leader of this community for the last six years.  He said mayors elected in this city are not people who have had careers in bureaucratic government.  He said the City of Frisco elects entrepreneurs, visionaries, risk-takers, and people who don’t want to do things the same way.  That is what Frisco is all about. He then said his superpower is building extraordinary teams and making people believe that they can do more than they ever thought they were capable of.  That is his greatest gift and what he will continue to do here in his last term.  Mostly he wants his last term to be about testing the absolute limits of what a city is capable of and in the City of Frisco will stress the boundaries of what is possible here over the next 3 years.

FACT:  I know this will be hard for some to believe but people have skills they don’t have superpowers!   He said Frisco is all about entrepreneurs, visionaries, and risk takers – really, since when is that what Frisco was all about?  The scariest thing he said is that he wants to test the absolute limits of what a city is capable of, so it’s not about you, me, or the residents, this is solely about his personal legacy and how he will be remembered.  People are telling you to slow down not stress the limits, so you can’t say you represent and listen to the people when you are doing the exact opposite of what people are asking for.

The night lasted longer than anticipated and when it was over it was clear the candidates were tired, the audience was tired, and the campaigning was about to kick into high gear.   As we pulled into the driveway of our house my wife said to me, Honey what is your superpower? I looked at her and said I am a bull shit meter! I can sense, smell, fly through and see the bull shit from anyone where around me. She simply said okay I will get that on a t-shirt for you for Christmas. Then she said it felt like one was me, me, me and the other was about team, team team.  That pretty much sums up how I felt too!

Goodbye Rock Hill

Ah! Spring! Spring is the most popular of the four seasons for obvious reasons.  It means warmer weather, more hours in the day, and more sunshine.  The buds are starting to show, early flowers are beginning to bloom, and the birds are singing a new tune.  Spring is a sign of new beginnings, it symbolizes life and how good always triumphs over evil, light over darkness, and life over death.  Hibernation has ended! It seems that many people in Frisco are starting to open their eyes, and many are expressing their concerns for the first time over what appears to be some questionable negotiations, developments, and deals throughout the years. The spring awakening always seems to be heightened when an election is on the horizon.

One of the most important aspects of Spring is baseball otherwise referred to as America’s National Pastime.  Dr.  Gerald Early, a Washington University Professor once said, “There are three things that America will be known for 2000 years from now:  the Constitution, jazz music, and baseball.  They’re the three most beautifully designed things this culture ever produced.”  From an immigrant’s perspective, he is right on point.   I remember the first game I went to after moving to America.  The sound from the crack of the bat, watching a player slide into home, eating a famous hotdog and relish, and trying to catch the foul balls that came our way.   Back in the day if you caught one of those balls you could turn them in for a ten-cent snow cone.   

In 1958, Damn Yankees hit the widescreen and it is one of the best musical sport romantic comedy films of its time.  It was about a frustrated fan of the hopeless Washington Senators who made a pack with the Devil to help the baseball team win the league pennant.   One of the most famous quotes from the movie was “One long ball hitter, that’s what we need!  Honest to God, I’d sell my soul for one long ball hitter!”  Mmh? Something about this story is hitting close to home.  Has someone in Frisco soul their soul to the devil?

Frisco has gone through many changes over the years and with each one a little bit of Frisco’s history seems to be erased.  The most obvious was in 2020 when the council considered renaming Rockhill Parkway.  Established in 1854, Rock Hill was one of the oldest communities in Collin County and earned its name from the white rock escarpment on which it was built.  By 1898, it had a thriving community featuring two schools, four churches a grist mill, a cotton gin, a blacksmith, a drugstore and a grocery store.  In 1902, St. Louis and San Francisco railroad bypassed the town and within months most of the businesses, townspeople and churches had relocated.  By the mid-1930s, only one African American Baptist church remained.  In the 1960s the black school closed and in 1973 the general store was razed leaving Rock Hill and its rich history a distant memory to many.  One of the last connections to its history was the street named Rockhill Parkway. 

On June 23, 2020, a letter was sent to residents informing them of the road name change and they could respond with any input by July 14, 2020.  Renaming  Rockhill Parkway to PGA Parkway hit a nerve with many locals who felt like the council was erasing what little history was left of the old town.  While doing research we came across an article in the Frisco Enterprise that reported in July 2020 that Assistant City Manager Ben Brezina acknowledged the name change had been a topic of conversation for at least 8 to 10 months.  John Lettellier of Development Services for Frisco said moving forward with the proposal happened in just the last 6 to 8 weeks.  The article also noted The Heritage Association of Frisco learned about the proposed change by way of a community member who received the notice and, they had never been approached by the city for its historical background.   Lastly the most interesting thing in the article was a statement posted on the Facebook page by then councilman Tim Nelson that the item was proposed by a member of the council and consensus was to move forward.  Hmmm… I wonder who proposed the name change?

Here is where it gets interesting, in our research we found that many who supported the name change were big businesses with big money and investments in Frisco:

  • Kyle Wilks – President of Wilks Development (who is behind Firefly Park in Frisco)
  • Edmund Garahan – CEO of Carbon Companies (building Luxury hotel near PGA)
  • Triad Frisco Partners (developer of 1310 urban living units, 8 retail buildings, 1 convenience store with gas pumps, 5 parking garages on the southwest corner of Dallas Parkway and Rockhill Parkway)
  • Fehmi Karahan – Fields Development (June 29, 2020 letter of support)
  • David Fogel – Manager of Rockhill Legacy (Development at Rockhill & Legacy)
  • Blake Nelson – Managing Partner (7-Eleven located Rockhill Parkway & Preston)
  • Darrell Crall – COO of PGA (letter specifically notes they feel strongly there is a long-term value to the PGA branded and the roadway would showcase to millions the PGA Frisco partnership and evolution of Frisco)
  • Michael Smith – TRT Holdings, Inc. (Part of Omni Stillwater Woods Golf Resort)
  • Fehmi Karahan – Fields Development (July 17, 2020 letter writes that the city has made an extraordinary financial commitment to the new PGA  project and should use all available means to support the success of that project.  We strongly urge you and the city council to support the full renaming of Rockhill from Teel to Coit)
  • Clay Roby – PGA Frisco / Stillwater Capital / The Link (the renaming will further establish Frisco as Sports City USA and appropriately showcase the HQ of the PGA of America)

On Aug 4, 2020, citizens made their way to the podium for Citizens Input to against the change.  If you watch the meeting, the mayor remarked that the city of Frisco has always made it a commitment to preserving our history and they even invested 3 to 5 million into the Heritage Museum.  He was on city council in 2009 when the road was changed to Rockhill Parkway but he doesn’t remember it and until a few months ago he does not believe many people even knew the story of why it was named Rockhill.  He believes Prosper ISD naming the their new high school in Frisco city limits Rock Hill Highschool is a great way to remember the community of Rock Hill.  Sadly, he seems to criticize the volunteers at the Heritage Museum for not being accurate on the history and calling the exhibits dated and we need to do better there telling our story.  He noted that the PGA and Fields wants to write their own story and they have been good partners to the community.   Councilman Woodard suggests renaming Northeast Park to Rock Hill Park he is willing to help get that done.

Today the only reminder that Rock Hill once existed is a historical marker located on the northeast corner of PGA Parkway and Preston Street.  The name change passed to PGA Parkway but the question is did it ever have a chance to be kept Rock Hill Parkway?  Almost every developer who wrote in support of the name change donated to the campaigns of several sitting on our council.  When Fehmi Karahan the King of Fields writes that the city should use all available means to support the success of that project and that he urges the city council to support the full renaming of Rockhill from Teel to Coit the city is going to do just that.  Cheney accepted over $30k in January 2020 from the big names on these letterheads and he needs that money to pay back his $99,000 personal loan that he took out for campaigning because as he said at the recent debate he is not an independently wealthy man.  Has Bill Woodard followed through on working on the renaming of Northeast Park?  Not from what we can see.  When Universal was recently in front of the council we heard each of them say that they listen to the residents and this is just another example where big money, big investments, and big companies take priority over residents.  Words can come from one’s mouth but actions are what matter.  That night a man said the citizens of Frisco are being exploited for money and by its actions that is the way it looks.   It’s time to bring change to Frisco in this upcoming election and the others in the future.  Maybe those sitting on the lofty hill have become too comfortable.  I ask you, has someone perhaps sold his soul?  I am reminded of the song  “Whatever Lola Wants.”  I would have to change the words up a bit and sing,

Verse 1

Whatever  Fehmi wants, Fehmi get

Whatever the PGA Frisco wants, the PGA Frisco gets

(Bridge)

I always get what I aim for

And your heart and soul is what I came for

Verse 2

Whatever Cheney wants, Cheney gets

Whatever the developers who come here want, the developers gets

(Bridge)

Don’t you know you can’t win

Your no exception to the rule

I’m irresistible, you fool

Give in (Give in, you’ll never win)

Follow Up: Seal of Approval

When you run for any office at the local, state or federal level you have to know that you can and will be questioned by the public you serve. It comes with the job that you choose to do! As the election is getting closer we choose to look at the candidates supporting people for Mayor. Jonathan David Spencer had no endorsements for us to review. Mark Pilands endorsements to this point have been from PAC’s who interviewed all the candidates who came in for the process. Mr. Cheney is the only one who has individual citizen endorsements for us to look at. We did not target one candidate and only one candidate!

An endorsement is a public declaration or the act of giving one’s public approval or support to a candidate running for elected office. When you choose to put your name out there, then you choose to open yourself up to being discussed. Let me be very clear, we did not attack or threaten any person or business, we do not condone anyone attacking or threatening any person or business and we don’t condone phone calls to candidates or their families making attacks or threating anyone.

We sent an email to each person asking the following:

Did you talk to all the candidates regarding their views or beliefs before choosing to endorse one?

If yes, can you tell us the top 3 reasons for your endorsement of Mayor Cheney?

If no, do you think your endorsement was transparent or should be transparent that you did not met with all the candidates?

If they owned a business who has done business with the city we asked if they think that business could affect their decision on who to endorse?

In our blog, we only listed the businesses since they were on the individual’s original endorsement posted on Mayor Cheney’s Facebook page. We pointed out how one of his supporters has some of the best BBQ in town and we have visited downtown Frisco many times enjoying several of the business mentioned and have nothing bad to say about any of them. We simply asked if they are doing business with the city or the Mayor personally that could affect their endorsement because the public has the right to know that. Noting a check for $1.5 Million is not a bad thing, it is a payment for an economic incentive agreement that was written up between the city, developer, and Frisco EDC and that is public record we believe people have the right to know for the purposes of transparency. Also we made no negative mention of Adams or her businesses, we simply asked a question of her role as a precinct chair (which she brought up in her video) and did her endorsement conflict with the platform she took an oath to uphold. Noting that several are on boards and commissions within the city is public record and people have the right to know.

As for Mr. Young, he specifically asked us to mention the following: “Please make sure to include the list of the elected officials I have hosted (list of all the names) at Verona Villa. So we did! If those mentioned did not like their name in our blog then they can talk to Mr. Young who asked us to mention them by name. If anyone has any doubts that he asked us to post certain names then please email us and we will send you Jason’s email so you can see where he asked us to make mention. We did not attack his business in the blog in any way we just noted that one time they had previously done business with the city. I don’t see that as a big deal and I would guess most reading out blog don’t see that as an alarmingly big deal so why is Mr. Young taking to his Facebook page making it a big deal?

Lastly, lets clear up any confusion! We are not associated with any campaign! We have no association to the Cheney, Piland, or Spencer campaign. We also emailed the school board candidates and we are not associated with any of those campaigns either or any sitting ISD board members. As for the businesses mentioned they have done nothing wrong nor have the business owners. Myself and my wife, nor anyone we know, has made any threating calls or sent any threatening emails to anyone, ever at anytime. I take that accusation very seriously! Libel and slander are very tough works to be thrown around loosely and I can say with confidence we have not posted anything that is not factual and we can back up everything we have posted with documentation.

Sincerely,

Frisco Whistle Blower