Seneca County Emergency Services used its official Facebook page Wednesday to promote a Republican political event hosted by County Commissioner Bill Frankart, who is seeking reelection Nov. 3. The department subsequently edited its enthusiastic caption after TiffinOhio.net began questioning the use of a government account to publicize the gathering.
The department’s chief, Nicholas Summers, acknowledged personally sharing the post and denied that Frankart or his campaign requested it. Summers said emergency personnel were present at the event for an official public-safety assignment.
But the department’s original Facebook caption said nothing about emergency operations. It celebrated the political gathering and thanked someone for an invitation.
The agency added an explanation about its emergency-response capabilities only after questions were raised.
County account celebrates Republican event
The original post came from Frankart, who described hosting Tuesday’s “Rise and Rally” event in Clyde.
The gathering featured prominent Republicans, including 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.
Frankart’s post included photographs of political figures walking through the venue, addressing attendees and interacting with participants.
At 10:39 a.m. Wednesday, Seneca County Emergency Services shared the post on its official Facebook page, adding:
We were excited to be apart of this special visit! Thanks for the invite 🫶
The message contained no reference to medical standby, emergency planning, ambulance deployment or any other public-safety function.
Frankart is president of the Seneca County Board of Commissioners and the Republican nominee for another term in the Nov. 3 general election. His position is confirmed by the county’s official website, while his campaign website confirms his reelection bid.
Post changes after questions
TiffinOhio.net contacted county emergency-services officials Wednesday morning to ask why the department had shared the political post, whether public resources had been used and whether Frankart or campaign officials had requested the publicity.
At 11:42 a.m., the department edited its caption.
Facebook’s publicly accessible edit history shows the original post was published at 10:39 a.m. and revised 63 minutes later.
The department retained its original message expressing excitement about the visit but added:
This truly highlights our emergency response capability working with Federal, State and Local Public Service Agencies.
The edit followed TiffinOhio.net’s initial inquiry. The timing is documented, although the department has not explained why the revision was made.
The added sentence introduced an emergency-response justification that had been absent from the original caption.
Chief admits sharing post, denies campaign involvement
At 4:05 p.m. Wednesday, Summers responded to the news outlet’s initial questions by email, ahead of a 5 p.m. reporting deadline.
He confirmed that he managed the department’s Facebook feed and personally shared Frankart’s post.
I managed the department’s Facebook feed and shared the post.
Summers said the department’s presence at the gathering was an official emergency-response assignment because of the prominent political figures in attendance.
Seneca County Emergency Services was present in an official emergency response role because high-value political targets were present.
According to Summers, department personnel participated in emergency planning and staged along the roadway to provide assistance if needed. He said additional emergency resources remained available throughout the department’s service area.
He also acknowledged that department personnel and operational resources were committed to the assignment.
However, Summers did not identify the employees who attended, specify how many personnel or vehicles were assigned, or directly answer whether those employees were receiving county compensation.
He also did not provide a cost estimate or say whether event organizers reimbursed the county.
When asked whether Frankart, his campaign, event organizers or other elected officials requested or encouraged the Facebook post, Summers said no.
He said the decision was his and that the intent was to demonstrate the department’s emergency-response capabilities and raise awareness of rural EMS, not support a political campaign.
That explanation addresses the department’s presence at the event. It does not fully explain its separate decision to share a politician’s celebratory account of the gathering through an official government communications channel.
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.
The Ohio Auditor of State’s Office has warned that public resources and official government communication channels must not be used for election advocacy.
Whether the EMS Facebook post constitutes prohibited political activity has not been established. Providing emergency medical coverage at a political event is not, by itself, evidence of improper campaign activity.
Summers cited the Seneca County Board of Commissioners Personnel Policy Manual, which contains provisions governing political activity and social media.
The manual imposes restrictions on certain partisan activities by classified employees. Its social media policy also states that the county has an overriding interest in determining what is communicated on its behalf.
Summers said he could not identify a provision specifically addressing partisan content published through an official government social media account. He did not establish whether the commissioners’ manual had been adopted as the governing policy for his department.
Department publishes reporter’s questions on Facebook
The department later used the original rally post to publicly respond to TiffinOhio.net’s reporting.
In a comment beneath Frankart’s post, the official emergency-services account identified TiffinOhio.net before reproducing questions submitted to county officials and the department’s responses.
The comment began:
Here was some questions posed by Dylan from Tiffinohio.net
The department’s public explanation repeated Summers’ position that emergency personnel had attended in an official readiness capacity because prominent political figures were present.
The comment appeared while TiffinOhio.net was continuing to seek answers about the original Facebook post, its subsequent revision and the resources assigned to the political gathering.
Staffing, costs and Facebook edit remain unexplained
Following Summers’ initial response, TiffinOhio.net submitted additional questions about why the department shared Frankart’s political post instead of publishing a neutral account of its emergency assignment.
The news outlet also asked who revised the caption at 11:42 a.m. and why, whether the department provides comparable publicity for events featuring Democratic candidates and who requested the emergency standby.
Further questions sought the number of personnel and vehicles assigned, whether employees were receiving county compensation and whether the operation generated additional costs.
Summers had not provided further substantive answers as of 5:53 p.m. Wednesday.
Frankart was separately contacted for comment but had not responded as of that time.
Summers says the department’s presence at Tuesday’s event was an emergency-readiness assignment. But the original Facebook post said nothing about emergency readiness. It celebrated a Republican political gathering hosted by a commissioner facing voters six days later.
The department added its public-safety explanation only after TiffinOhio.net began asking questions. Who made that revision and why remain unanswered.
