Frankenhoff won’t rule out resigning; FOIA request shows no previous formal complaints filed by Park District employees

QUINCY — Commissioner John Frankenhoff said he considered resigning in the wake of the Quincy Park Board passing a resolution that prevents him from speaking to Executive Director Rome Frericks or entering the Park Board’s administrative offices except for monthly meetings.

“I have not ruled it out,” he said after Thursday’s special meeting. “I need to have further discussions, namely with (Park District attorney) David Penn (on Friday) morning.”

However, the long-time commissioner bristled when Marketing Operations Director Marcelo Beroiza said he planned to contact the Illinois Human Rights Commission and the NAACP to seek legal counsel because Frankenhoff didn’t offer his resignation Thursday.

The resolution passed Thursday by the Park Board 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.”

Beroiza said the workplace situation was “unacceptable” because it could “continue to happen to others.”

“There always have been men like this in history in workplaces,” he said. “Men who want to break your character. Men who want to break your spirit, judge where you’re from (Beroiza originally is from Chile), judge the decisions that you make to live with.”

Frankenhoff said after the meeting his comments to Beroiza on Nov. 13, and at other times, are 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. 

“I will fully acknowledge that I ruffle feathers. I say things that staff and other board members don’t agree with and don’t like to hear sometimes. I’ve always been outspoken and passionate about all sorts of Park District matters, but I don’t think I’ve ever gone down an unprofessional path or been excessive with intimidation. That’s the part I disagree with. Some of the adjectives that have been put on me in the last week or two, I don’t quite agree with, but that’ll be up for the public to decide when they review the evidence.”

Frankenhoff is running for a seventh consecutive term as a commissioner in the April election.

Former Commissioner 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.

“The option I was hoping for, and I believe everyone was hoping for, was that he would resign,” he said. “He’s done a lot for this district over the years, but I think whatever has occurred and whenever it happened that this pattern of behavior has happened. It’s extremely obvious that you have a lot of employees who feel intimidated, and they feel scared. That’s where my heart is today.”

A Freedom of Information Act request filed last week with the Quincy Park District by Muddy River News asked for copies of public records that detailed:

• Complaints filed against Frankenhoff from 2001 (when he was first elected) to the present.
• Documentation regarding investigations of Frankenhoff by Park District officials as a result of complaints filed against him from 2001 to the present.
• Documentation of any disciplinary action taken against Frankenhoff by the Park District as a result of complaints filed against him from 2001 to the present.

Park District attorney David Penn responded to MRN’s request Thursday afternoon. (The request for documentation about investigations was denied.) The only documented complaint during Frankenhoff’s tenure as a commissioner was filed last month by Beroiza. Penn provided screenshots of text messages between Beroiza and Frericks about the Nov. 13 incident, as well as an email from Frericks sent to the other six Park Board commissioners.

“Marcelo’s thing is the only written one,” Penn said. “There were verbal comments (made to Park District staff).”

Park Board President Mark Philpot said Thursday’s meeting dealt with the specific incident with Beroiza, but he said the current Park Board and former board members believe a pattern of similar behavior exists.

“There is a consensus that this behavior is negatively impacting the operations of the Park District, he said. “Having these types of incidents occur puts us at great risk — not only with potential for litigation, but it also … could potentially damage our ability to secure grants and to receive philanthropic support.

“Nobody wants to give money to a poop show.”

No other Park District employee spoke to the commissioners after Beroiza left the room following his statement.

The only member of the public who spoke with Lisa Wigoda, who said she was a member of the NAACP. She offered a message from an unnamed person who she said was a “former member of the Human Rights Commission (of which Philpot serves as the chairman).”

“She said the racial overtones to the current situation with the Park Board is truly disconcerting,” Wigoda said. “The eyes of constituents are watching for an equitable and just resolution in a dispassionate manner as possible. What she’s asking for is that we look at this situation and consider it legislatively and without passion or anger or fury.”

When asked if Frankenhoff’s alleged past behavior should have been censured in the past like he was Thursday, Penn said, “It’s hard to speculate on that, because it’s really a board prerogative as to whether they do or don’t and how they chose to address it. I hesitate to say why a board didn’t do it before and why they did it now. Just know that circumstances coalesced as such that this board felt like it was an appropriate time to act.”

Asked if the Park District failed its employees by not having formally censured Frankenhoff until Thursday, Penn said, “I would say, from the legal scene, no, because it’s the board and how it was communicated, what was communicated and where it was. Again, we reached a certain critical mass that this board felt it was time to deal with it.”

Penn said the Park District code provided no mechanism to remove a sitting commissioner. He added that the Park Board can’t officially ask for a commissioner’s resignation.

“Did it come up? Sure,” Penn said.

“It was discussed, but I wasn’t directly asked by any other board members,” Frankenhoff said.

Frankenhoff admitted his effectiveness as a commissioner will “definitely be impaired” by the resolution that passed.

“I’m still going to be available to the public for any matters that they wish to discuss or if they need an advocate for something,” he said. “If I believe in what they’re trying to do. I’ll still be that voice. However, it will be limited to during the meetings. I can no longer advocate to the rest of the board or to the staff on any issues.”

Lyons said his biggest fear is that Frankenhoff will be re-elected and “all these things could just eventually go away.”

“If (Frankenhoff’s re-election) were to happen, we could see a lot of talent walk. I wouldn’t blame them to say, I’m not going to deal with this anymore,” he said. “The staff is scared of retaliation.

“For the sake of the staff, the Park District and the City of Quincy, please resign and go do whatever it is that you would like to do and what you have the right to do. Let this organization move forward without this blanket of drama, without this heaviness. It serves the people in absolutely no way.”

Frankenhoff said he hasn’t tried to reach out to Lyons.

“I guess it’s never crossed my mind,” he said. “I don’t expect him to volunteer to help me with the campaign.”

After the meeting, he maintained his plans to continue to campaign for re-election.

“I just hope people don’t jump to conclusions and review what’s been presented,” Frankenhoff said. “If the public feels I’m not worthy of this position anymore, then I won’t be elected on April 1. The fact that the election is so soon is a factor in my decision. The public is going to have the optimal opportunity to express their thoughts on what I’ve done, both good and bad, on April 1. So let this play out and let the voters decide.”