To the editor:

On July 5, 2016, I attended the (Liberty Township) trustees’ meeting because newly elected fiscal officer Nancy Denutte was challenging an insurance opt-out program that has saved the township more than $400,000 in the last four years and more since the program started in 2010.

Denutte contends this program is improper under Ohio law and demands that the trustees immediately end it. Since I was fiscal officer when this program started, I wanted to make sure the board was aware that this matter was reviewed by legal counsel before it was implemented.

At the conclusion of my remarks, I was rudely disrespected and slandered by Trustee Melanie Leneghan when she said on the record: “I don’t believe a word he said. He’s a master manipulator. He’s a liar.”

This is appalling conduct for a trustee!

Therefore, I demand a public apology from the board of trustees and, separately, an apology from Leneghan.

Mark S. Gerber

Powell

Editor’s note: Mark Gerber was Liberty Township’s fiscal officer from April 2008 through March 2016.