Two years after Seneca County faced public backlash for using taxpayer-funded communications to defend Commissioner Bill Frankart, another county department has used an official government account to promote him — this time by celebrating his Republican rally six days before Election Day.
Now the three commissioners responsible for overseeing that department aren’t answering questions about what happened.
Commissioners Anthony Paradiso, Brent Busdeker and Frankart have ignored repeated requests for comment. Emergency Services Chief Nicholas Summers, who acknowledged personally sharing the political post, answered TiffinOhio.net’s initial inquiry but has not provided substantive answers to subsequent questions about the assignment, its costs or whether other political candidates received comparable services.
Frankart, a Republican incumbent, faces independent candidate David Ziegler in the Nov. 3 election.
EMS promoted Frankart’s rally, then changed its caption
As TiffinOhio.net first reported Wednesday, Seneca County Emergency Services shared Frankart’s Facebook post celebrating the Republican “Rise and Rally” he hosted Tuesday.
The gathering featured U.S. Sens. Jon Husted and John Thune, Dr. Mehmet Oz, U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, state Sen. Bill Reineke and state Rep. Gary Click.
At 10:39 a.m. Eastern Wednesday, the department published this caption on its official Facebook page:
We were excited to be apart of this special visit! Thanks for the invite 🫶
The message celebrated the political gathering without mentioning emergency operations or public safety.
At 11:42 a.m. Eastern, 63 minutes later and after TiffinOhio.net began questioning the post, the department edited its caption to add:
This truly highlights our emergency response capability working with Federal, State and Local Public Service Agencies.
The department retained its original message but added an emergency-services explanation that had been absent when it first promoted Frankart’s event.
Summers has not explained who revised the caption or why the change followed the newsroom’s inquiry.
Who requested the emergency deployment?
Summers responded to TiffinOhio.net’s initial questions at 4:05 p.m. Eastern Wednesday, before the newsroom’s reporting deadline. He confirmed personally sharing Frankart’s post and denied that Frankart, his campaign or event organizers requested or encouraged the Facebook publicity.
He defended the department’s presence at the rally by citing security concerns surrounding prominent political figures:
Seneca County Emergency Services was present in an official emergency response role because high-value political targets were present.
Summers said personnel participated in emergency planning and staged along the roadway to provide assistance if needed. He acknowledged that department personnel and operational resources were committed to the assignment.
But he has not identified who requested the standby, who authorized it, how many employees or vehicles participated, whether county employees were being paid or what the operation cost.
He also has not said whether event organizers reimbursed the county.
Summers referenced the department’s willingness to cooperate with agencies such as the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Capitol Police. He did not establish that either agency requested the deployment.
Even if EMS coverage was warranted, it didn’t require Summers to promote Frankart’s Republican rally on a government Facebook page.
Did Amy Acton’s campaign receive the same treatment?
Summers has also declined to explain whether Seneca County Emergency Services provides comparable coverage at other political gatherings.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton campaigned in Seneca County in August 2026. Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy held a Tiffin town hall Oct. 1.
Did those appearances receive advance EMS coverage? Has the department provided comparable services at other Democratic or Republican campaign events? Who decides which political gatherings warrant dedicated county emergency resources?
Summers has offered no assignment records demonstrating that Frankart’s rally received the same treatment as other political events.
Nor has he explained whether the department has used its official Facebook account to celebrate gatherings hosted by other candidates.
All three commissioners refuse to answer questions
The county’s official website places Seneca County EMS under the authority of the Board of Commissioners, which consists of Paradiso, Busdeker and Frankart.
Just eight days before the Facebook post, the commissioners’ Oct. 20 meeting agenda included a resolution appointing Summers as chief of emergency services.
All three commissioners have been given multiple opportunities to explain whether the political post was appropriate, whether county policy was followed and whether the board intends to review the incident.
Paradiso and Busdeker have not responded on the record. Neither has Frankart, whose political gathering received the county publicity.
All three commissioners have dealt with this problem before.
County communications promoted and defended Frankart before
This is not the first time taxpayer-funded county communications have been used to promote or defend Frankart.
In May 2024, county media relations contractor Sheri Trusty published an article on the county government’s website celebrating Frankart’s performance during a seven-hour deposition involving the WIN Waste landfill.
The article praised his “typical wisdom and strength” while omitting damaging admissions he made under oath. As TiffinOhio.net subsequently reported, Frankart acknowledged making inaccurate public statements about the landfill and regional solid waste district without correcting them.
Five months later, Trusty used the county’s official website to defend Frankart during a bitter family custody dispute and attack Advertiser-Tribune journalist Kayla Trevino over her reporting.
The custody battle followed the 2022 conviction of Frankart’s son, Zachary Michael Frankart, for attempted rape in Butler County. Zachary was sentenced to prison following the sexual assault of a Miami University student.
After his son’s conviction and imprisonment, Bill Frankart pursued legal custody of his granddaughter, who was then the subject of a dispute between Frankart and the child’s mother. According to Ohio appellate court records, Frankart hired a private investigator to track the mother’s movements during the custody battle.
On Sept. 3, 2024, a Seneca County judge denied Frankart’s request for legal custody and awarded custody to the child’s mother. Frankart appealed, but the Ohio Third District Court of Appeals upheld the decision in June 2025.
It was Trevino’s reporting on that custody dispute and the private investigator that prompted Trusty’s extraordinary response through the county government’s website.
Her article, titled “Fallacies in Advertiser-Tribune Story Exposed,” accused Trevino of conducting a “witch hunt” against Frankart.
Seneca County removed the article following public backlash over the use of government resources to defend Frankart’s personal interests. TiffinOhio.net preserved the original county publication.
The controversy prompted Seneca County Prosecutor Derek DeVine to recuse himself from reviewing the possible misuse of county resources. DeVine asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to evaluate the circumstances and investigate if warranted. The Ohio Ethics Commission was also notified.
Despite the controversy, Frankart subsequently moved to renew Trusty’s county communications contract with a proposed $6,500 increase.
His motion failed when neither fellow commissioner provided a second. The February 2025 meeting exposed disagreements among commissioners over the contract and county communications policies.
Paradiso promised tighter controls. Where are they?
Commissioner Anthony Paradiso addressed the earlier scandal at an October 2024 League of Women Voters forum.
As TiffinOhio.net reported at the time, Paradiso told voters:
The position of the commissioners is that we not use the office for personal use.
He also acknowledged that county communications were not consistently reviewed before publication:
Sometimes we review what goes out, sometimes we don’t.
Paradiso said commissioners intended to strengthen their social media and website policies and improve oversight of official communications.
Two years later, another county department has used its official communications channel to promote Frankart just days before an election.
TiffinOhio.net has asked Paradiso whether those promised safeguards were implemented, whether EMS followed county policy and whether the board intends to investigate the latest incident.
He has not answered.
Ohio law restricts political use of public resources
Ohio Revised Code Section 9.03 prohibits political subdivisions from using public funds to communicate material supporting or opposing candidates for public office. It also restricts compensating public employees for activities intended to influence election outcomes.
Summers says EMS personnel attended because prominent political figures were present. He still hasn’t identified who requested the deployment, who authorized it or what it cost.
The original Facebook caption didn’t discuss emergency response. It celebrated a Republican political gathering hosted by a commissioner seeking reelection. The department added its public safety explanation only after TiffinOhio.net began asking questions.
Two years ago, Seneca County used a taxpayer-funded communications contractor to defend Frankart during a personal controversy. The county removed the article after public backlash, and Paradiso promised tighter controls.
Now another county department has used its official communications channel to promote Frankart’s Republican rally.
The commissioners faced this problem two years ago. Paradiso promised to tighten the rules. Now it’s happened again, and not one of the three commissioners will answer for it.
