Third Black man named to Quincy Park Board says ‘times are changing’; two incumbents, one other newcomer elected

QUINCY — After having just one Black commissioner in its history before 2023, the Quincy Park Board now has three Black men.

Cecil Weathers, a retired certified nursing assistant and a retired U.S. Air Force veteran, was one of four people elected to the Quincy Park Board during Tuesday’s consolidated election. Incumbents Barb Holthaus and David Grimm and newcomer Josh Crabtree will join the seven-person board.

Ben Bumbry was the first Black to serve as a Park Board commissioner from 1993 to 2003. Alan Hickman and Mark Philpot ran unopposed for Park Board seats in 2023, but Hickman was appointed five months earlier to replace Jeff Steinkamp, who died in December 2022.

“I think it shows that times are changing, not so much because we’re men of color but because of what we do,” Weathers said Tuesday night. “It’s about how we function in the community and how we’re always willing to adapt and change. It’s about our ability to see and work within the community, to accomplish things and to get the goals done that the people want.”

Holthaus was the leading vote-getter with 4,390 votes to earn her third four-year term. Grimm, who was appointed to the board (along with Dave Hogge) to replace two commissioners who resigned, finished second with 4,100 votes. Holthaus and Grimm were the top two vote-getters in 37 of the city’s 42 precincts (Weathers was in the top two in Precincts 5, 7 and 38, and Crabtree was in the top two in Precincts 10 and 39.)

The race for the third and fourth spots was tight, with newcomer Josh Crabtree picking up 2,940 votes and Weathers earning 2,887 votes. Greg Artz, a first-time candidate, was fifth with 2,727 votes.

John Frankenhoff, who was hoping to be elected to a seventh term, finished last with 2,268 votes. He resigned as a commissioner on Dec. 20 after the Quincy Park Board approved a resolution during its Dec. 19 meeting that censured him for conduct that Philpot, now the Park Board president, described as “unbecoming of a commissioner.”

Adams County Clerk Ryan Niekamp said earlier in the day that 641 mail-in ballots that had been sent out and not yet received. Ballots returned with an April can be accepted. However, when asked how many of those outstanding votes he expects to receive, Niekamp said, “Typically only a handful.”

Holthaus said she considered not running for re-election and that she’s a “firm believer” in welcoming new people to leadership positions.

“That being said, we have made a lot of good progress with the Park Board, and that excited me about continuing to serve one more term to further things along,” she said. “It made me feel good about helping to continue that momentum for one more term, and as the only woman who was running, I thought that was important as well.”

Holthaus, however, did say she expects this to be her last term.

“I feel pretty strongly about that,” she said. “I was really hesitant to put my name in the hat again. I’ve had eight really good years. I’ve enjoyed every year that I’ve been on the board. I also think any organization benefits from new individuals joining that group, so I’m happy to have contributed, and I’m happy to continue to do that for the next four years. My hope is that there will be more individuals who want to be a positive influence on the good things that are happening in Quincy.”

Grimm, who works with real estate residential and commercial rentals, technically was an incumbent since he sat in on the March meeting of the Park Board. However, he didn’t believe that made a difference to voters.

“I don’t think it helped at all,” he said. “I just don’t think the public was aware of it. I think people knew my name and knew my reputation. Everybody said they thought I was running for mayor because I had so many signs out.”

Weathers has served on many boards in recent years and has been a member of the Quincy Human Rights Commission for 20 years. This, however, was his first stab at running for elected office.

“It was a timing thing,” he said. “I talked with my son, some fellow friends and family, and i decided it was time for me to give more effort in the community. I’ve done it on the burners for years, but now I’m moving up front. It’s all about doing the right thing. As my sister Viola Majors once said, ‘You cannot bitch if you’re not in the game.’”