Frankos' continued presence on school board demeaning

Earlier this month, Nick Frankos was nabbed in a raid by FBI agents and Warren police on a barbut game in Warren, and just as he did five years ago when he was caught in another raid on illegal gambling, Frankos reacted with brazen nonchalance.
Indeed, Frankos' explanation this week for his willingness to break the law topped his "no big deal" statement in 1997.
In an interview with a Vindicator reporter, the 78-year-old owner of Buena Vista Caf & eacute; not only admitted that he was present in the room above the Greyhound Bus Station, but said that playing the Las Vegas-style dice game is his only vice.
"It is like therapy to me," he said.
That comment might be cute but for the fact that it comes from someone who isn't John Q. Public.
Frankos is a member of the Warren Board of Education and as such is in a position to influence the thinking of young people. That is why his cavalier attitude toward illegal gambling -- only the Ohio lottery, state-sanctioned bingo and horse racing are permitted -- is so disconcerting.
It was the same attitude he displayed in 1997 when he said of gambling, "sure it's illegal" but it's "no big deal." At the time, we were hoping that the community would be up in arms over one of its leading officeholders breaking the law with such nonchalance.
Deafening silence
But not only wasn't there an uprising in the school district, the silence from Frankos' colleagues on the board was deafening. One member said that what he did on his own time was his own business. Another refused to pass judgment on him.
And yet, these are the people who pass judgment every day on everything having to do with the education of Warren's children and the behavior of the superintendent, principals and teachers.
In the Dec. 14 raid, the FBI and Warren police seized dice, betting chips and gambling records going back to 1983. They also found an unloaded sawed-off shotgun.
Not only is Frankos unapologetic, he seems to wear his participation in the barbut games as some sort of badge of honor. He told The Vindicator that the game above the Greyhound Bus Station was one of the few left in the city and that he had been playing for 40 years. He bemoaned the fact that the weekly event has been dying because few people still know how to play.
It's obvious that Frankos' priority at this stage of his life is not to serve as a role model for the student body, nor is it to help guide the school district through its academic recovery.
We are certainly not inclined to deprive the 78-year-old of his "therapy," so we offer him this friendly suggestion: Go and find comfort wherever you please, but spare the community the pain of your presence on the Warren Board of Education.