A verbal exchange at a local coffee shop between a Liberty Township trustee and a township firefighter culminated in heated words during a trustees meeting June 18, just before the trustees approved placing a fire levy on the November ballot in a split vote.

Firefigher Kelly Imler addressed trustees, asking trustee Melanie Leneghan to apologize for a comment made at the Starbucks inside a Kroger store in Powell on March 2.

Meeting Imler for the first time, Leneghan congratulated her on joining the department as its only female firefighter and casually referred to her as a “token woman,” prompting Imler to file a complaint with township officials, Imler said.

The term “token” is sometimes used to refer to someone who was selected to fill a race or gender quota, rather than on his or her merits.

Leneghan said she meant only to praise Imler for standing out as a female firerfighter.

At the June 18 meeting the trustees voted 2-1 to approve a five-year, 6.6-mill levy to fund the fire department for the Nov. 6 ballot. Leneghan cast the sole dissenting vote.

Read the full story in the June 21 edition of ThisWeek.