This is a follow-up to the Cease-and-Desist post. Stay with me here; there are some things to unpack.
It appears the Cease and Desist letter was sent because Jared and Burt didn’t like people showing Jared’s and Burt’s support for the Union’s efforts to unionize in Frisco. That is laid out in the letter, even though they accepted a Union endorsement.
The question then becomes, why are they so concerned? They had both accepted the endorsement of the Union. And yes, the “Association” is a Union. They are a local chapter of the Internation Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). Look it up. Perhaps they are concerned because unionization has been rejected by Frisco voters.
There are unions in Texas. Frisco has previously rejected Civil Service and Collective Bargaining by voting against them. Most people know, or have heard of, the first two types of unionization, Civil Service and Collective Bargaining. But, many are unfamiliar with Meet and Confer (M&C). M&C is basically a watered-down version of collective bargaining. The biggest difference is state law does not require M&C to be approved by voters. It can be voted and approved by a simple vote of a city council. Remember that – it’s important.
Back to why they are concerned….I asked Jared and Burt. I sent both Jared and Burt an email and asked if they wanted to comment on Mrs. Shipman’s public statement, and if they supported unionization in any form (Civil Service, Collective Bargaining or Meet and Confer). As is typical with any type of commentary request, I included a deadline, so they knew when I planned to publish their response. The email was sent to both of their campaign accounts as well as both of their City Council email accounts as follows:
“I am crafting an article for my new website with my opinion on Tracie Shipman’s comments from Tuesday night. Would you like to provide rebuttal or comments on her statements?
Since it was the subject of her statement and I never saw an answer, do you support collective bargaining, civil service and/or meet and confer?
A lack of a response will be received as a response that you do support these items. I will publish any lack of response as support, and I will advise the public that you were given notice that a lack of a response would be received as support and you were given the ability and opportunity to respond and chose not to do so.
Please respond by Sunday 12pm.”
Burt did not respond.
I received the following response from Jared.
“I received your message. Your email asserts that failure to respond on your timeline will be treated as support for specific policies. To be clear: you do not have the authority now or in the future to assign positions to me, nor to manufacture consent by imposing unilateral conditions.
Any attempt to publish now or in the future that I support or oppose a matter based on your stated presumption would be false and misleading.
I engage with the constituents of Frisco directly and through legitimate public forums—not through ultimatum-style emails that predetermine my views. Matters that you listed in your email require careful legal and financial evaluation, and I will communicate my positions when appropriate and in a manner that respects the voters and the seriousness of these issues.”
To be clear, as a constituent, we ALL have the ability to view the actions of our elected officials and determine where we believe they fall on an issue. Sometimes words and actions differ, and constituents will choose to believe, or not believe, an elected official’s statements based on their actions.
Jared and Burt accepted a Union endorsement but refuse to directly state to Frisco citizens whether they support any of the forms of unionization including Meet and Confer.
Jared’s statement above leads me to additional questions.
I sent him an email to his official account and asked a legitimate public interest question. While he may not have liked the way it was written, why does he not believe an email to his official account is not a legitimate public forum?
Why does he need time for additional legal and financial review. These subjects were on the ballot in 2024. He voted in that election. Hopefully, he educated himself on these issues prior to voting in May 2024, or maybe he didn’t and he voted in ignorance?
He also accepted the endorsement of the Union in 2025. It would be reasonable to hope he educated himself on the topics the Union obtained signatures on and placed on the ballot. He is seen in multiple photographs with the President of the Union, who in fact attended his victory party. Is the public to believe he has never spoken the Union, or the Union President about these matters? Or voiced support for efforts for unionization to the Union President?
Has he made a promise to the Union that he doesn’t want the public to know about?
Or maybe he doesn’t want the Republican Party to know that he supports Union positions. It is after all directly against the GOP Platform to support public sector unions.
(Whether party politics should be involved in a non-partisan municipal race has become irrelevant. It’s happening and I don’t see a way to reverse that, so that’s a debate for another time)
So why does a council member who has voted on an issue, taken an endorsement from a group, not want to tell his constituency and voters where he falls on the issue?
He knows Frisco residents voted those items down, so if he agrees with the public, why not tell them? Unless he doesn’t agree with the public vote and supports those items and obtained an endorsement from the Union in exchange for his promise to support unionization including Meet and Confer.
What if, the Union is trying to get people on council so they can bring M&C in front of council and get it passed since it doesn’t require a vote of the Frisco residents?
This is a problem with unions. They get people elected that do what they want; then negotiate with the very people they helped get elected. Who is looking out for the taxpayers in that case?
Why can’t an elected official simply say “This is how I voted, this is what I believe”. It really is a simple question.
So, Jared and Burt, please state directly do you support Meet and Confer? Do you support Civil Service? Do you support Collective Bargaining? Did you tell the Union you support Meet and Confer? Did you tell the Union you support Collective Bargaining? Did you tell the Union you support Civil Service? Frisco residents deserve to know.
