Back in the day, Frisco was known as a dormant suburb, north of Dallas, but today Frisco is a community undergoing vast changes and becoming its very own urban Metroplex.  Gone are the rural days when everyone knew their neighbors, and a trip to Stonebriar Mall was the excitement for the week.  Today, we are at a crossroads of transformation, and the experience of change has been both loved and hated along the way.

The reason my wife and I moved here was because we loved the sense of community, the schools, and the feeling of being safe.  The truth is all of that has changed with the massive development that has taken place in the last 10+ years.  Yes, we knew Frisco would develop and we looked forward to that at one time.  However, that is when you had a city council who engaged and listened to the residents and decisions were made based on what was best for the community. 

Frisco has changed, and to be very honest, it is now filled with dirty politics on all sides.  Secret deals are happening, and our city council is misleading us to approve projects that are in their best interest, and they are leading with iron fists.  Our priorities have shifted, and our sense of community is disappearing every day.  Today is election day, and each of us has a chance to vote for change. 

We debated on releasing the tape of Tammy Meinershagen when we received it.  In the end, we felt voters have the right to know who they are electing.  Meinershagen’s statements against the South Asian community are offensive. Calling both South Asian candidates idiots and other names is disgusting and shows a lack of leadership and integrity.  She then goes on to talk about how she is not afraid of bullies, even if they are 300lb firefighters or a black woman.  Since when are those who protect and serve bullies?  Her reference to a black woman being a bully because they disagree on how to do things would be the same as calling her an angry black woman, which I am pretty sure the black community would find an offensive stereotype. Then she references that the Frisco population is only 1% Asian, so she has no base here, and with a laugh, says that means she is white. Frisco’s lack of an Asian population does not make you white, Ms. Meinershagen, but it is clear that you want to be.

Then she goes on about her opponent saying she is “offended and insulted that he would run for city council.”  So, she is offended that a citizen who had every right to run, is running?  She pointed out at the Chamber Forum and on this tape how her opponent ran for Congress and lost – well Ms. Meinershagen, John Keating ran for higher office as well.  In fact, he left his seat early to run and when he lost he came back and took over another seat during a special election so does that make him incompetent to run?

Ms. Meinershagen continues to talk about other local leaders, Scott Johnson, Jared Patterson, and Shona Sowell.  Then she talks about residents who are or have taken a chance to run for office, like Mark Piland, Burt Thakur, Jared Elad, and Gopal Ponangi.  While many may be upset, we released these tapes. The bigger question is, WHY ARE YOU NOT UPSET ABOUT WHAT TAMMY MEINERSHAGEN SAID? 

Today Jamie Heit posted on her FRWC page that we have some shady behavior by certain candidates this cycle including that of a current candidate running for office.  Heit ignores all the shady behavior her best friends have done in the past and finds excuses for that but now she sits upon a hill of moral authority accusing this candidate of secretly recording a conversation, questioning her morals and integrity. 

Here is the problem with Heit’s statement: how does she know it was secretly recorded?  Who told her that?  Who told her that the conversation was with this candidate?   There are only 3 ways you would have known the who, when, where and if it was secretly recorded:

1) Ms. Heit you were there, and you participated in the conversation and if that is the case why were you not disgusted then with the comments by Meinershagen?  We know you were not there so we know this option is not possible.

2) Tammy Meinershagen would have had to tell you who this conversation was with and that she was unaware of it being recorded.  If that happened, it means TAMMY IS ADMITTING TO THE CONVERSATION AND WHAT SHE SAID IN IT?   

3) The candidate whom you have accused of doing this would have had to tell you they did it.  We are pretty sure that did not happen.  It would make no sense to be a whistleblower and then yell from a rooftop “It’s me!”

Our guess: Ms. Heit, you know about the conversation because Tammy told you, which means she is admitting to her statements.  Secretly recorded or not, nothing illegal was done as Texas is a 1-party state.  That means Tammy is admitting to her offensive and objectionable conversation.  Someone like that should not be a leader in our city, as her statements clearly show she Tammy has no integrity or ethical morality laying out everyone’s personal business to someone.

Then you have Jake Petrus, otherwise known as the “Town Bully” for the cabal.  He posted that this was a private conversation, secretly recorded at xxxx home.  The only way Jake would know who the other person was or where it was recorded is if TAMMY TOLD HIM!  If he is right, that means he talked to Tammy or someone who had talked to Tammy, to know how and when.  THAT PROVES THE CONVERSATION IS LEGIT AND THAT TAMMY IS CONFIRMING HER ROLE AND STATEMENTS.

Either way it doesn’t matter if Tammy knew or didn’t know – what matters is Ms. Heit and Jake Petras would not know “the how, when and with who” without Tammy confirming it.  That means she knowingly said nasty, hurtful, demeaning, racist things and spread the personal business of those who had trusted her to others in the community like a game of show and tell.  Personally, if I were Johnson, Keating or Pelham, I would be glad to know about this.  Clearly it shows they cannot trust Tammy, who they thought was a confidant/or a friend. 

I don’t think those who considered her a friend would have ever guessed she is spilling the secrets of their lives and private conversations too others.  While we are not the greatest fans of Angelia Pelham and John Keating the fact is they have the right to know their fellow city councilwoman was talking trash about them to others in our community.  Simply put, this was probably not the first time Tammy allowed her loose lips to talk trash – it was just the first time she got caught.

If Heit or anyone, for that matter, wants to claim that someone who recorded this is not fit to be a leader, then we want to know why Tammy’s statements and behavior which clearly show a lack of integrity, knowledge or ethical morality is not being called out to be a leader in Frisco?  She should resign!

In closing, Tammy kept referring to Frisco as “my city, my city, my voters, my budget, …” – this is not her city, it is our city!  She seems to have forgotten that on her quest for Broadway or to be on Broadway.  We also want to be clear that we will always protect our sources at Frisco Chronicles. We do want to make it very clear; WE DID NOT RECEIVE Pelham’s text or the Meinershagen conversation directly from the candidate Heit and Petras are currently calling out.  We received the text from Source A and the recording from Source B, and neither of them was the candidate Heit and Petras are attacking online.

As for Broadway Frisco – Prop A & B we would ask you to consider this before voting:

Today, we hear “Tourism, Tourism, Tourism,” and most recently, how we need to be more like Nashville.  The thing is, Nashville has a deep history back in the 1920s.  They had a thriving publishing industry, then came the advent of the Grand Ole Opry in 1925.  When WSM began broadcasting live performances from the Grand Ole Opry, it positioned them to become “Music City USA.”  By 1945, it was one of the most popular radio programs in America and established Nashville as a hub for country music.  They made urban renewal a priority and renovated several landmarks, including the Music Hall of Fame and The Sommet Center.  Broadway (similar to 5^th Street in Austin) became known for bars and a honky tonk music scene.  It was the cornerstone for emerging young artists and a short distance trolley ride from the iconic Music Row.  Major record labels headquartered themselves in Nashville, and it became a gathering place for the arts, entertainment and music.  They did not simply build a 340-million-dollar Broadway, and become Nashville overnight!

What is the problem with Frisco being more like Nashville?  We never implemented our identity as we began to grow and develop into a Nashville.  Purefoy took us down the road to being Sports City USA!  It worked!  Now the city council says we must be more like Nashville to compete, or else!  With every development, we have heard Mayor Cheney say this would have a HALO Effect on our city, making us the greatest city in America.  Now, all of a sudden, if we don’t spend $160 million or $340 million to get FRISCO BROADWAY, we will lose the economic boom to Nashville?  The AMC Awards are happening here, not in Nashville, why?  It is being held at a great venue.  We didn’t have Frisco Broadway to win over the AMC Awards.  We are not Nashville!  We will never be Nashville! We are Frisco, Texas! 

Please vote no to the propositions in order to protect our community and the residents who live here.