We, like many Americans, are concerned with increased alarming behavior of elected officials.

Yes, this concern applies to cases like last week’s arrest of U.S. Rep. George Santos, R-New York, infamous for fabricating his life story and now facing federal fraud indictment, but refusing to step down. However, we aren’t referring to D.C. issues specifically.

Rather, this has to do with the behavior of some local elected officials that sets not only a poor example, but it also raises serious questions about their thought process and the existence of sound reasoning in making important decisions.

Court documents were filed this month outlining unrelated, yet equally concerning, incidents in Trumbull and Mahoning counties. One incident is said to have occurred during a legal proceeding involving Trumbull Commissioner Niki Frenchko; the other involves allegations made by Struthers Mayor Catherine Cercone Miller about Struthers Municipal Court Judge Dominic Leone.

If these court filings are to be believed, Frenchko uttered a nasty feminine slur when arguing with a female attorney, and Leone instructed his staff to wear T-shirts stating a nasty word about the mayor.

In Struthers, a civil protection order now bans the municipal court judge from coming within 500 feet of the Struthers mayor and her family after the mayor alleges the judge has used derogatory and threatening language that causes her to fear for her safety.

Cercone Miller questioned Leone’s mental stability and said his behavior was increasingly more erratic.

Cercone Miller also claims in the court document the harassment has been ongoing for months, including the judge allegedly telling his staff to wear T-shirts reading, “f– the mayor.”

Cercone Miller backed Leone’s political opponent, James Melone, in the May 2 primary; Melone defeated Leone, whose term now will end in January.

Leone did not return our calls seeking his comments. A hearing is scheduled this week on the protection order.

In the Trumbull County incident, Frenchko was giving a sworn deposition in a federal lawsuit filed by former county 911 director Ernest Cook, who’s suing commissioners claiming his 2021 firing came because of his age. The county denies that.

Cook was fired about a week after he was convicted in a traffic crash in which a teen was struck, and Cook left the scene, according to a police report.

Cook’s attorney, Caryn M. Groedel, now is asking U.S. District Court Judge Benita Pearson to sanction Frenchko. If the judge agrees, that could include a fine and censure.

In her motion, Groedel claimed Frenchko called her a derogatory feminine slur when Frenchko’s deposition May 1 ran late and had to be halted.

When Groedel said she had to stop the deposition, Frenchko began arguing, according to the filing.

Because she didn’t want the court reporter to record the argument, Groedel stated, “We are off the record.”

That’s when Frenchko responded angrily with the derogatory word.

The court document also states the attorney believes Frenchko was drinking wine during her testimony, which was being taken via Zoom, and that Frenchko was argumentative and did not understand commonly used words.

When our reporter asked, Frenchko did not deny using the slur and offered no apology.

“I said out loud and off the record what most people think when they’re met with a ‘Karen’ who disrespects them, their time and makes implausible accusations against them,” Frenchko said. “After 10 hours of depositions, Karen refused to finish, with only one question left, and made a wild accusation of me drinking alcohol while defending the county in a videotaped deposition. Her unprofessionalism should be sanctioned by the Ohio Supreme Court Disciplinary Action Council. I’m looking into that.”

Frenchko denies drinking alcohol during the Zoom deposition.

Frenchko admitted to making the comment out loud, but attempted to minimize its impact because it came after going off the record.

It’s appalling that Frenchko seemed concerned only with when the comment was made, rather than what was said, and that she offered no apology, other than noting she should have chosen “a more polite word.”

The fact that an elected official thinks it is ever acceptable to call anyone such an inflammatory word is disgraceful.

We’ve said it many times before, but it bears repeating. Sadly, this is how far our society and elected leadership has fallen.

We must never accept such behavior and verbiage as “normal.” Instead, we must expect of ourselves and of our elected officials the ability to respond to frustrating situations firmly but respectfully.

We must raise the bar on our actions and those whom we elect to represent us. We are hopeful that message is sent loud and clear by the jurists who will consider these cases.

Additionally, in every case when elected officials fail to hold themselves to a high standard, the voting public must.