Coppell Chronicle Vol. 4, No. 20
Coppell Cops Count on COPS’ Support • Nigeria Aims to Seize Coppell Estate • Council to Consider $53.5M Worth of Debt • Irving Firefighters May Collectively Bargain
The articles in this edition are all related to fighting crimes or fighting fires in Coppell, Irving, and … Nigeria?
Coppell Cops Count on COPS’ Support
Coppell’s police officers get by with a little help from their friends in the Citizen’s Police Academy Coppell Alumni Association.
“‘Dedicated’ is probably an understatement. They’re just super passionate,” Police Chief Danny Barton said of the alumni association’s volunteers. “I can’t imagine what Coppell PD would be like without them.”
Barton and I spoke during Coppell’s Party in the Park, an event that drew thousands of people to Andrew Brown Park East on June 29. Just a few feet away, members of the alumni association were outfitting children with bracelets featuring their parents’ phone numbers, just in case a kid got lost in that sea of humanity.
That Child ID Booth is among several ways that CPAC alumni support the police department. They also keep an eye on residents’ homes during vacations, provide fingerprinting services on a monthly basis, and stock a cooler that officers can access before beginning their patrols. Last week, the alumni association thanked Coppell’s two 7-Eleven stores for donating several cases of bottled water and electrolyte drinks.
As you might expect, membership in the Citizen’s Police Academy Coppell Alumni Association is limited to individuals who have completed the Coppell Police Department’s eight-week Citizen’s Police Academy class, which typically begins in January. Members of the alumni association are then eligible to participate in the Citizens on Patrol program, aka COPS.
Dan Frey is the president of the alumni association. He told me it has about 100 members, and 36 of those participate in the COPS program. In 2023, the association’s members logged more than 5,890 volunteer hours, Frey said, which included 1,702 hours of COPS patrols.
“We love our community, we support the department, and we are honored and proud to have a means to continue our connection with the department and to be of service to our community,” Frey said during the City Council’s meeting on May 28, when Mayor Wes Mays issued a proclamation thanking the alumni association for 25 years of service.
I recently tagged along for a COPS patrol with Frey and another volunteer, Rick James. Although James shares his name with a famous singer, nothing super freaky happened during the hour or so I spent in the back seat of their marked SUV, which used to be a Coppell Police Department vehicle. At one point, a dispatcher asked Frey and James to check on a broken-down vehicle near the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Sandy Lake Road. By the time we got back over there, there was no sign of the vehicle in question.
Despite my uneventful ride-along, Frey said the COPS volunteers helped more than 130 stranded motorists last year and helped direct traffic around nearly 75 accidents. Another member of the alumni association, Misty Salvie, told me about a time that officers found a body inside a home, and COPS volunteers were tasked with transporting the deceased man’s dog to Animal Services.
“‘Citizens’ patrol’ sort of gets a bad rap, because it’s usually some kind of punitive [activity], or it’s people wanting to enforce their will on the population, and that is not what we have here,” Council Member Don Carroll said during the May 28 meeting. “This organization, and the partnership you have with the Police Department, is fabulous.”
Regarding that bad rap: Frey told me that firearms are forbidden during COPS patrols, even if a volunteer is licensed to carry. He said the last thing COPS volunteers want to do is make officers’ jobs more difficult.
Because the Citizen’s Police Academy attracts people with an interest in civic affairs, it comes as no surprise that the program’s alumni include several elected officials, such as former Coppell ISD Trustee Tracy Fisher, former City Council Member John Jun, and current Council Member Brianna Hinojosa-Smith.
“It’s just been really exciting to see everything that y’all have done and how much you pour your heart into what you do,” Hinojosa-Smith said during the May 28 meeting. “It just makes Coppell that much more of a special place to live.”
Nigeria Aims to Seize Coppell Estate
A judge in Nigeria has ordered that a Coppell estate must be forfeited to that African nation’s government.
According to the Dallas Central Appraisal District, the $3.6 million home at 100 Cottonwood Drive has been owned by a company called Deep Blue Energy Services Limited since 2019. Nigerian media outlets have reported the home is one of several properties linked to Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. When issuing a final ruling on the forfeitures last month, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke said the properties were “reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.”
Emefiele has been accused of various misdeeds by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, whose website includes a Cartoon Zone intended to keep Nigerians on the straight and narrow. He has been arrested multiple times since being suspended from his post at the Central Bank in 2023, shortly after Nigerian President Bola Tinubu was inaugurated. Emefiele was appointed the bank’s governor in 2014 by a previous president, Goodluck Jonathan. Many of Emefiele’s policies were heavily criticized, including a controversial plan to redesign Nigeria’s currency, the naira.
In February, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission issued a “wanted” poster depicting four people linked to Emefiele’s case. One of them is Anita Joy Omoile, whom the poster identifies as the CEO of Deep Blue Energy Services Limited, the firm that owns the home on Cottonwood. Another person listed on the poster is Jonathan Omoile, who has owned a home on Johns Avenue in Coppell’s Westhaven subdivision since 2020.
The poster also features Emefiele’s wife, Margaret Emefiele, who has owned a home on Georgian Drive in Coppell since 2012. I became aware of this saga because I have a Google News alert set up for “Coppell,” and that alert brought me to a June 2 article from a Nigerian website called NewsmakersNG that highlighted Mrs. Emefiele’s Coppell home.
However, a Nigerian court ruled last week that Margaret Emefiele’s inclusion on the wanted poster was illegal. The court ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to apologize to her and pay her 3 million naira, which equates to about $1,920.
All of these Nigerians seem to have found their way to Coppell through John Omoile, who is not the same person as Jonathan Omoile. John has owned homes in Coppell on Leisure Lane and Newport Drive since 1988 and 1993, respectively. He is Margaret Emefiele’s cousin, but they were raised in the same home as siblings.
I know that biographical detail because I’ve read many court filings related to John Omoile’s lawsuit against Godwin and Margaret Emefiele. The brothers-in-law partnered up for a few ventures in real estate, oil, and gas — some in Texas, others in Africa — before Emefiele was appointed governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank. John Omoile has been suing the Emefieles since 2021 over money he alleges they hid or stole from him.
John Omoile is the only person mentioned in this article that I’ve been able to make contact with, and that contact was through his attorney, Donald M. Kaiser Jr. Via email, I asked when and why John Omoile became a Coppell homeowner; he answered the when aspect of that question (1987) but ignored the why aspect. I also asked him how he is related to Jonathan Omoile and Anita Omoile; he identified them as his younger siblings.
According to Nigerian media reports, Godwin Emefiele is free on bail in the amount of 50 million naira, which is about $32,000. Proceedings in his trial have been adjourned until October. However, a hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow regarding his request to travel internationally for medical reasons. Perhaps he wants to see a doctor in Coppell.
Council to Consider $53.5M Worth of Debt
Tuesday’s Coppell City Council meeting will include a public hearing about borrowing up to $53.5 million. Here’s how the money generated by issuing certificates of obligation would be allocated:
$24 million for the reconstruction of Royal Lane
$12.5 million for the renovation and expansion of the Service Center
$11.5 million for the construction of Fire Station 5
$5 million for various water and sewer system projects
$500,000 for the costs of issuing bonds
During the council’s June 7 retreat, Director of Strategic Financial Engagement Kim Tiehen said issuing the debt shouldn’t require any changes to the interest-and-sinking portion of the city’s property tax rate, which is 7.0152 cents per $100 of valuation. Once property values are finalized in July, she said, her staff will determine how much money to transfer from the general fund to the debt-service fund to maintain the tax rate.
Council Member Don Carroll asked whether issuing this much debt would affect the city’s bond rating. On the contrary, Tiehen said a rating agency recently said Coppell is outperforming its AAA indicators. In fact, City Manager Mike Land jokingly asked that agency whether a new AAAA category could be created for Coppell.
Carroll said projects such as Royal Lane, the Service Center, and Fire Station 5 are the proper uses for such debt. “These are long-term capital projects that are gonna be utilized for the next couple of generations,” he said. “It’s exactly what you ought to be financing like this.”
In May, the council authorized the publication of notices that the city intends to issue certificates of obligation. To comply with a state law, those notices — which were published in the Coppell Gazette and the Rambler — included the following statements: “The current principal of all outstanding debt obligations of the City is $94,770,000. The current combined principal and interest required to pay all outstanding debt obligations of the City on time and in full is $116,865,332. The maximum principal amount of the certificates to be authorized is $53,500,000 and the estimated combined principal and interest required to pay the certificates to be authorized on time and in full is $82,725,000.”
Tuesday’s meeting will be just the start of the council’s financial discussions this month. A series of budget workshops open to the public have been scheduled for July 15, 22, and 29.
Irving Firefighters May Collectively Bargain
Irving voters will soon consider whether the city should collectively bargain with its firefighters.
On June 13, the Irving City Council approved a resolution that said a petitioners committee had gathered enough signatures to put a collective bargaining proposition on the November ballot. The rules regarding such petitions are spelled out in Chapter 174 of Texas’ Local Government Code, aka the Fire and Police Employee Relations Act. That law says a petition must be signed by either 20,000 of the city’s voters or the equivalent of 5 percent of the city’s voters who participated in the preceding statewide election.
In Irving’s case, that 5 percent would equal 2,181 signatures. The petitioners committee composed of Irving residents Charles Abide, Mark Abide, Kayla Nussmeier, Cara Vaughn, and Meghan Wadle turned in 2,426 signatures on May 14.
The Irving Professional Fire Fighters Association’s website features a Q&A about collective bargaining. One of the questions is “What requirements would Collective Bargaining place on the City of Irving?” Here’s how that’s answered:
“Under the Texas Collective Bargaining law, the City of Irving would be required to recognize the group chosen by the majority of Irving fire fighters as their exclusive bargaining representative. The City would then be required to meet and bargain in good faith with the chosen group to negotiate over mandatory subjects of bargaining such as wages, benefits, hours, and mutually agreed upon working conditions.”
One of the other questions addressed on that website is whether collective bargaining creates a union that Irving’s firefighters would be required to join: “No. Texas law prohibits any organization from requiring membership in any employee association, union, or group. Collective Bargaining does NOT change that. In fact, Texas law guarantees that employees who choose to not join their respective employee association shall receive the same bargaining opportunities, benefits, and wages as every other employee in the same class.”
According to the Texas State Association of Fire Fighters, voters in 28 cities have approved collective bargaining for their firefighters.
“It provides a cost-effective way to retain highly trained local firefighters, resolve disputes, and prevent litigation — in other words, keep the focus on cost-effective delivery of excellent service,” the state association’s president, John Riddle, told me via email. “All negotiations between the firefighters and the city are public, so citizens can see for themselves what’s happening in the fire department.”
Fort Worth is only the North Texas city on that list of 28, which also includes Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and El Paso. The most recent addition to the list is the Austin suburb of Leander, where 66 percent of voters approved a collective bargaining proposition in the May 4 election.
Frisco’s ballots featured a similar proposition in May. It was rejected by 58 percent of that city’s voters.
Chronicle Crumbs
• Although he’d been a paid subscriber to this newsletter since 2021, I never met Larry Inman, who died on June 28 after a long battle with kidney cancer and was laid to rest on Saturday. Our failure to connect seems odd, given his circle of friends; I’ve had multiple conversations with each of the other gentlemen in the photo above, which Scott Wilson included in a Facebook tribute. It was a nice companion piece to Inman’s obituary.
• On Wednesday, Coppell ISD announced that Chris Gollner is the new principal of Coppell Middle School North. He will replace Greg Axelson, who is taking over the Coppell High School Ninth Grade Campus because that school’s inaugural principal, Cody Koontz, has moved to Marcus High School in Lewisville ISD. Gollner’s commute will hardly change at all because he has been the principal at Denton Creek Elementary School for two years. Before that, he was an assistant principal at Coppell High School.
• The Board of Directors of the Northwest Dallas County Flood Control District will meet at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the Oaks Riverchase apartment complex’s clubhouse. According to the agenda, they will consider “defeasance analysis from Hilltop Securities with respect to the 2016 bond issue.”
• Following the lead of their counterparts in Plano and Rowlett, the members of the Irving City Council are set to approve a resolution that calls for cutting the amount of money the city contributes to Dallas Area Rapid Transit by 25 percent. The resolution is on the consent portion of Thursday’s agenda, which means the council may approve it without debate.
• Also on Thursday’s Irving City Council agenda: a zoning variance requested by a developer who wants to turn a shuttered automotive repair business along the Interstate 635 service road into a 24-hour poker club. The variance would allow the Irving Social Lounge to have 25 fewer parking spaces than the city’s minimum requirement for a business with “indoor amusement” uses. On July 1, the Irving Planning and Zoning Commission voted 8-0 to recommend denial.
• Last December, the Lewisville City Council approved a permit that will allow Costco to double the number of pumps at its gas station on State Highway 121. A form filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation last week indicates the $4 million project will begin in January and last nearly six months.
Community Calendar
Coffee With a Cop: These events typically happen at coffee shops, but the July 11 edition will be at VariSpace Coppell. Coppell Police Department officers will be hanging out there between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.
Caregiving Heroes: This support group for people who are assisting loved ones with aging or other concerns usually meets at First United Methodist Church of Coppell on the first Saturday of each month. But the July meeting will happen at 10 a.m. on July 13.
Amy Martin: The author of Wild DFW will be at the Cozby Library and Community Commons at 2 p.m. on July 13 to discuss the natural wonders in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Retro Barbie Party: The Cozby Library and Community Commons will celebrate 65 years of Barbie between 2 and 4 p.m. on July 14. This come-and-go party will feature pink mocktails, games, and crafts. Guests are encouraged to dress in their best outfits inspired by Barbie or Ken.
Soul Escape: The nationally recognized professional dance company will perform at the Coppell Arts Center at 7 p.m. on July 16 and at 6 p.m. on July 21.
July Paint & Sip: Sea Turtle: Kate Shema of Createria Studios will guide participants through a relaxing evening of creating a painting of a sea turtle. This event, which will begin at 6 p.m. on July 17, is for adults only because alcohol will be available.
Texas Gypsies: The eclectic band featuring a violin and a horns section — on top of the requisite guitar, bass, and drums, of course — will perform at the Coppell Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on July 20.
Wow Dan. Excellent investigative reporting on a super local story. Wonder how many properties Coppell are owned by foreign "investors."
So who is actually living in the mansion on Cottonwood?