Lyons says goal of Park Board resignation is to expose Frankenhoff’s ‘toxicity and abhorrent behavior’

QUINCY — A Quincy Park Board commissioner submitted his resignation during executive session after Wednesday night’s meeting, explaining in a letter that the “toxicity and abhorrent behavior of a single, long-serving staple of the Quincy Park Board” was the reason for his decision.

The vitriol in Trent Lyons’ letter was directed at commissioner John Frankenhoff, a Park Board member since 2001. Frankenhoff will be on the ballot in April in an attempt to be elected to his seventh four-year term, and he’s been the president of the Park Board multiple times.

“John Frankenhoff’s history of manipulation, bullying, harassment and abuse would almost be impressive if it wasn’t disgusting,” Lyons said. 

Lyons’ letter (published at the bottom of this story) was emailed to local media members by Park Board President Mark Philpot, who then referred all other media inquiries to David Penn, the Park District’s counsel.

In an email to Muddy River News, Penn said the Park District has “no comment” regarding Lyons’ claims about Frankenhoff. Penn said the Park District will request information from candidates interested in replacing Lyons, who opted not to meet the November deadline to file paperwork for re-election.

Penn said the Park Board is anticipating having a special meeting on Dec. 19 to discuss future steps regarding board operations and membership and that it hopes to fill Lyons’ vacancy at its January meeting.

In a Wednesday night phone conversation, Frankenhoff said he did not attend the executive session to allow the commissioners “to speak freely.” 

“I’ve read Trent’s letter, and those are serious allegations,” Frankenhoff said. “Obviously we see things differently, but I always do what I think is best for Quincy.”

In the letter, Lyons acknowledged the time and effort Frankenhoff has given to the Park District, saying he “probably seems like a pretty stand-up guy” to the public. 

“At the same time, he has gone unchecked and allowed to do whatever he pleases throughout his tenure, from regularly sending up to a dozen emails in the middle of the night to the executive director (Rome Frericks), expecting answers first thing in the morning or he would start calling/show up, to scheming and undermining the sitting president of the board (Jarid Jones) for his entire term due to sour grapes,” Lyons wrote.

Jones was elected as president of the Park Board when he attended his first meeting in May 2023, serving for one year. He was elected by a 5-2 vote over Frankenhoff, who had served as president the previous year.

Lyons claimed Jones was elected because multiple Park District staff members threatened to quit if Frankenhoff retained his leadership seat.

“They were tired of feeling as though they served under a tyrant who cared little for the people working day in and day out and more about the glory of ‘his accomplishments,’” Lyons wrote.

Lyons was appointed to the Park Board in July 2023 to replace Jeff Van Camp, who said he resigned from the Park Board in June because of how Jones was elected. Lyons was elected vice president of the board when Philpot was elected president in May.

Lyons wrote that when he and Philpot were voted into board leadership, their goal was to “minimize Frankenhoff’s negative impact and work toward a better, healthier environment for staff.”

“Despite my best efforts, I feel that I failed you, just like so many before me — better men and women even — who saw the same thing and realized they too were powerless to do anything,” he wrote. “John Frankenhoff is an elected official. There is no boss to appeal to other than you, the literal citizens of Quincy. 

“My goal in writing this is to finally give a voice to so many who have suffered under John Frankenhoff’s ‘leadership’ and to make it clear that, while you can’t be removed from public office for being a toxic bully, you can have your actions made public so the citizens know who they have representing them.”

In a phone conversation Wednesday night, Lyons said the reason why the Park Board went into executive session was to address an altercation he claimed happened between Frankenhoff and a Park District employee.

“It was not physical. It was verbal with the employee,” he said. “To me, that showed an escalation, and it also made me concerned. I felt he was not in control of his emotions, and to have gone at staff like that, I felt my only recourse, to be completely honest, was to make as big of a bonfire of attention to say, ‘This needs to be revealed.’”

Lyons said he has heard similar stories from others and questioned how Frankenhoff’s alleged behavior has been allowed.

“Nobody has come forward, but there’s an intimidation factor,” he said. “I don’t blame anyone from the Park District staff, because, I mean, they’re scared. I’m not trying to speak on their behalf, but quite frankly, they are scared of retribution, and I honestly don’t blame them.”

Lyons wrote in his letter that Frankenhoff regularly breaks the chain of command, going directly to staff members to demand immediate answers instead of going to Executive Director Rome Frericks.

Frankenhoff provided to Muddy River News a copy of a May 2022 email exchange between himself, Frericks and Don Hilgenbrinck, then the director of business services. Frankenhoff had previously met with about 10 members of a local organization about an event held in a Quincy park.

“When commissioners entertain these people without staff present, it undermines the staff’s ability to do their jobs,” Hilgenbrinck wrote.

Frankenhoff replied, “Residents deserve a chance to speak their minds director to their elected representatives.”

“I thought that was kind of a pivotal situation between me and the staff when things started to go off the rails,” he said by phone on Wednesday.

Lyons said he had lunches with Frankenhoff and Jones almost immediately after his appointment to the Park Board and noted “anger and resentment” between the two.

“Neither of them was talking to each other, so I knew that was going to be a challenge,” he said. “The further I got into being on that board, the more these things would come out. There would be phone calls because of that and this, the constant chaos and drama that the staff is forced to deal with. I could fully understand Park Board members in the past who have looked at this and gone, ‘Dude, not my circus, not my monkeys. I will serve my term, and I’m going to get out of here.’”

Asked how many employees have complained or the number of complaints he’s heard, Lyons said, “I don’t know that I can put a number to it, but I can say I’ve had multiple discussions when (Frankenhoff) had to be reminded that it was not his place to interact directly with staff. You don’t go up to someone mowing the lawn in a park and stop them and ask them why they’re doing it this way or that way. That is not your place as a board member.”

Lyons said he believes a commissioner should not be involved in the “minutia of daily activities.” He believes the Park Board should be a “guide and advice board.”

“Staff shouldn’t cringe every time the door opens because they don’t know if it’s John to see, fill in the blank, or an email didn’t get answered fast enough,” he said. “I don’t see the benefit of having board members involve themselves in daily activities where they are not adding any value. Not everything has to be so dire. People don’t have to be on red alert.”

Lyons said his first foray into politics was “not what I signed up for.”

“I’ve never put as much emotional investment and stress into anything,” he said. “Naively, I just wanted to serve.

“This absolutely probably looks like a manhunt to demonize John. I’m not sorry, but this behavior needs to be revealed so that hopefully, either this forces John’s hand to resign and let the board and staff go forward or let the voters know to please not put this man back in this position. I’m putting myself out there, and it’s not something I really want to do. But if I’ve got to be the guy, OK, I’ll be the guy.”