‘We don’t deserve this’: Employee threatens legal action after embattled Park Board commissioner refuses to resign

QUINCY — The Quincy Park Board approved a resolution during a special meeting Thursday afternoon that censured long-time Commissioner John Frankenhoff for conduct that President Mark Philpot described as “unbecoming of a commissioner.” 

However, the employee who formally lodged a complaint against Frankenhoff wants more.

Marketing Operations Director Marcelo Beroiza said during a six-minute statement to the Park Board that he wanted Frankenhoff to resign after Thursday’s meeting.

“If he doesn’t, I’ve been reaching out for some support, and my intention is to contact the Illinois Human Rights Commission and the NAACP, file an order of protection against John and seek legal counsel,” Beroiza said.

“We don’t deserve this, guys. We do not. Nobody does. Nobody needs to be humiliated in the place of work.”

Beroiza, a Park District employee for eight years, said “behind the scenes” for the last 4½ years that Executive Director Rome Frericks, Director of Accounting Brian Earnest and other co-workers “were all intimidated.” He walked out of the boardroom after finishing his statement.

The resolution said, “Concerns and complaints have been lodged by employees related to harassing, bullying and hostile conduct by Commissioner Frankenhoff toward employees over a period of years.”

Frankenhoff, who did not resign, offered an apology.

“I’m here to face the music,” he said. “This isn’t easy for me. Of course, it’s not easy for everybody else. I would also jot it down: Message received. That’s been clear. As I’ve already said through the media, I will abide by the limitations or the resolution, which I assume will be passed to Marcelo. I wish he had stayed (in the room), but I’m sorry for that entire incident.”

The resolution was approved by a 6-0 vote, with even Frankenhoff voting in favor. It calls for:

• Banning Frankenhoff from entering the Park District offices, 1231 Bonansinga Drive, other than to attend monthly meetings.
• Removing Frankenhoff from current committee assignments.
• Preventing Frankenhoff from approaching or communicating with Rome Frericks, executive director of the Park District, or any Park District directors by phone, by email or by letter at any time.
• Limiting Frankenhoff to communication with Park Board President Mark Philpot if he has questions or a need for information related to voting on pending matters before the Park Board.
• Preventing Frankenhoff from having contact or communication with any Park District employees if the communication seems to manage or interfere with employees’ work duties or listen to employees’ complaints.
• Preventing Frankenhoff from serving as the Park District’s representative in an official capacity at any public events.
• Preventing Frankenhoff from registering for any conferences related to Park District matters.

“This resolution shall be in full force and effect immediately upon its adoption and until such time as the Board of Commissioners modifies, repeals or otherwise nullifies this resolution,” the resolution read.

Commissioner Patty McGlothlin asked Park District Attorney David Penn, who drafted the resolution along with Philpot, how long the resolution would be in force. Penn said it will remain in force until the Park Board — even after the April municipal election if Frankenhoff were to be re-elected — chooses to repeal it.

“We haven’t put a firm deadline on it,” Penn said.

“I know these are very serious charges. I know there’s a pattern,” McGlothlin said. “But … John has done a lot of good for the Park District over the years. … He is admitting that he made a serious mistake, and I think (he) probably knows there are other ones. I come from an elementary school background where there is remediation. OK, so this happened, so this is going to happen. You aren’t allowed here or there, but a second chance, if he’s re-elected, needs to be in my mind, too.”

Frankenhoff said he had no problem with an indefinite sanction, but he said he didn’t believe his actions toward Beroiza were in “an aggressive or threatening manner.”

“Perception is reality,” Philpot said. “If (Beroiza) perceives that he’s been aggrieved, then he’s been aggrieved, and that’s kind of just that. I appreciate the fact that you’re acknowledging this particular incident.”

The incident happened during a break in the Nov. 13 Quincy Park Board meeting when Beroiza spoke with Frankenhoff in the hallway outside the board room. Frankenhoff had mentioned during the meeting about learning on Facebook of a donation made to the Park District, and he suggested that commissioners sign thank you cards and Park District staff mail them — a practice that was in place “a few years ago,” Frankenhoff said.

“And I agreed with that,” Beroiza said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I will get some business cards and hand them to you.’ And that’s when John started getting flustered.”

“I replied to him and said, ‘Well, that’s the problem. You say you’re going to do s**t and you don’t f***ing do it,’” said Frankenhoff, who claimed the interaction was “spontaneous” and “not premeditated.”

“I realized the situation that I was in, and I put my hand between me and John and I stepped back,” Beroiza said. “I said, ‘John, we’re done here. We are done.’ I stepped back about four feet away, and John sat there for just a second, and then he walked away.

“The way he was physically talking to me, I (didn’t) want to escalate this (and have) more intimidation or more conflict. Because for years, I never encountered this situation in my life, so I really didn’t know how to react. Besides stopping the interaction, this was an act of motivated harassment towards me … which was filled with intimidation, insults and putdowns, interfering with my work performance at our district.”

Beroiza said the incident has inflicted “additional emotional stress and mental anguish,” adding that “this needs to be stopped immediately and not be tolerated.”

Beroiza also claimed Frankenhoff’s behavior has led to three previous Park Board presidents — Bob Gough, Roger Leenerts and Jarid Jones — “walking away from (the position because) none of us wants to deal with this.”

Leenerts, whose one four-year term ended in 2023, did not agree with Beroiza’s comment when contacted Thursday night.

“The reason I didn’t run again is because I was very certain I would not have a city of Quincy address in the near future, and I wasn’t going to end up resigning in the middle of a four-year term,” he said. “John could be a challenge to all the commissioners, and he certainly was a challenge to Park District staff while I was there.”

Gough, now the publisher of Muddy River News, said while Frankenhoff made his tenure as Park Board president difficult at times, he left the Park Board in March 2020 as part of a career change.

“I unseated John as president, which understandably caused some friction, but I attempted to extend an olive branch by asking him to serve as chairman of the board’s finance committee, no small task, and he accepted,” Gough said.

“But John spent much of the next two years undermining efforts to get the Park District more involved in riverfront development, crying foul when I attempted to meet with city and county officials to begin formulating some plans. Park District Executive Director Rome Frericks was aware of these, and even attended some of the meetings, and other board members were looped in regarding these brainstorming sessions.

“John claimed they were Open Meetings Act violations when they weren’t and had Rajah Maples bring her camera to the door and demand access. I respect Rajah a great deal and she was just trying to do her job, but she was sold a bill of goods.

“Then when Roger Leenerts was elected to the board, John recruited him as the swing vote so he could regain the presidency. Then Roger became board president himself. Judging by the comments he gave MRN, looks like Roger had some buyer’s remorse.

“Did I leave because of John’s behavior? No. Did I find his behavior to be a problem? Yes. Do I think he should resign now so the Park District can turn the page? Yes.”

Contacted Thursday night, Jones said in a text to Muddy River News, “I don’t believe I will add value with a comment at this time.”

Frankenhoff provided to local media outlets late Thursday night a series of 33 screenshots he claimed were from his phone showing text messages between himself and Beroiza. He said in an email the communications could be requested through the Freedom of Information Act, but “I’m being proactive so you can see the full picture.”

“Can you detect a single granule of harassment, tension, discrimination, intimidation or negativity?” Frankenhoff wrote. “Or do you see collaboration, respect, teamwork, candidness and humor? Today Marcelo said there have been problems for four years. How does that comment compare with this raw data?”

Philpot opened Thursday’s meeting by saying it was not about “a personality conflict.” 

“It is about unacceptable conduct and perhaps a pattern of behavior which not only has negatively impacted the morale and operational tempo of the employees of the district but threatens to cause the reputation of the district irreparable harm, not to mention the potential for litigation which could tie the district up in court for years, costing the taxpayers thousands, if not more, in compensation for damages to the aggrieved parties,” he said.

After a short executive session, Philpot announced plans for filling the vacancy left by Trent Lyons, who said his Dec. 11 resignation was designed to expose Frankenhoff’s “toxicity and abhorrent behavior.”

Questionnaires for people willing to fulfill the remainder of Lyons’ term are on the Quincy Park District website and must be returned by Jan. 8. Philpot said interviews with prospective commissioners will be conducted in executive session after the Jan. 15 meeting, with a vote on a new commissioner likely to be held that night.