Frankenhoff decides to resign as Park Board commissioner; ‘There is no joy in Mudville on this one,’ Philpot says

QUINCY — A little more than 24 hours after being sanctioned by the Quincy Park Board, Commissioner John Frankenhoff announced late Friday afternoon he is stepping down.

“Hello. Effective immediately, I am resigning as a commissioner on the Quincy Park Board,” Frankenhoff wrote in a one-sentence email sent to Park Board President Mark Philpot, Executive Director Rome Frericks and Park Board attorney David Penn.

Philpot said Friday night the entire situation was “bittersweet.”

“It’s a sad day because you have someone who has dedicated a significant portion of their life to public service,” he said. “Also it feels like it’s a vindication for those employees who were aggrieved. There is no joy in Mudville on this one.

“The main thing is that the Park District will continue to function as a strong cohesive unit, and we will go about the business of completing the mission of being of service to citizens of Quincy.”

The Quincy Park Board, now down to five members, approved a resolution during a special meeting Thursday afternoon that censured Frankenhoff, who was first elected in 2001, for conduct that President Mark Philpot described as “unbecoming of a commissioner.” 

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 was banned from entering the Park District offices, 1231 Bonansinga Drive, other than to attend monthly meetings; prevented from approaching or communicating with Frericks or any Park District directors by phone, by email or by letter; and limited to communication with Philpot if he had questions or a need for information related to voting on pending matters before the Park Board.

The resolution was to be in force for an undetermined period.

Marketing Operations Director Marcelo Beroiza filed a written complaint in November with Park District officials after an incident with Frankenhoff after the Park Board’s Nov. 13 meeting. He said during a six-minute statement during Thursday’s meeting that he wanted Frankenhoff to resign, threatening legal action and promising to contact the Illinois Human Rights Commission and the NAACP if he did not.

Frankenhoff told Muddy River News that he had considered resigning before Thursday’s meeting and hadn’t ruled it out after the meeting. He said his comments to Beroiza, which he conceded were inappropriate, were based on his performance and Park District policies.

“I strongly dispute that my inappropriate words to him in November had anything at all to do with his status as a minority, with his race or with him as a person,” he said Thursday.

Penn, who spoke on behalf of the Park Board after Thursday’s meeting, said it was “unfortunate” that the controversy had to be settled by the resolution to censure Frankenhoff.

“Whether this resolves it all the way or not, I guess that’s to be seen,” he said. “Like any situation, you want to see change in conduct and see this not be happening. I don’t know that it’s a pleasurable for anybody or a good scenario for anyone, but (Frankenhoff) is trying to address it and move forward in a positive way, and hopefully we don’t have to deal with it anymore.”

The Park Board now must find replacements for three commissioners. 

Trent Lyons said his Dec. 11 resignation was designed to expose Frankenhoff’s “toxicity and abhorrent behavior.” He attended Thursday’s meeting, saying afterward he believed the Park Board did everything “within the mechanisms that they had to deal with the situation.”  However, he said he was not satisfied after learning Frankenhoff wasn’t resigning.

Lyons was appointed to the Park Board in July 2023 to complete the four-year term of Jeff Van Camp, who said he resigned from the Park Board in June 2023 because of how Jarid Jones was elected as president at the board’s May 2023 meeting.  Lyons was elected as vice president of the board when Philpot was elected as president in May 2024.

Patty McGlothlin announced last month her intention not to run for re-election. She was first appointed to the board in November 2008, then elected to four-year terms in 2009 and 2013. She did not seek re-election in 2017, but she was re-appointed to the Park Board in June 2020 to fill the seat vacated by Bob Gough, who resigned in March 2020. McGlothin then kept her seat when she was one of four people to run for election to four spots in the 2021 election.

Frankenhoff’s resignation leaves Barb Holthaus as the longest tenured commissioner. She was first elected in 2017, and she will seek her third term as a commissioner in the April 1 consolidated election.

The other three commissioners — Alan Hickman, Jarid Jones and Philpot — were all elected for the first time in 2023.

David Grimm, Cecil Weathers, Greg Artz and Josh Crabtree all filed statements of candidacy before the Nov. 18 deadline and remain on the ballot. 

Philpot announced after Thursday’s special meeting plans for filling the vacancy left by Lyons. He said Friday that the plans will remain the same for filling Frankenhoff’s vacancy.

Questionnaires for people willing to fulfill the remainder of either 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.