A bit of a brouhaha between a Riviera Beach councilman and a retired Riviera Beach fire chief broke out yesterday.
Nasty words were exchanged, particularly from councilman Shelby Lowe, who allegedly called Retired Riviera Beach Fire Chief Richard Wester that word that appears a lot in the latest Quentin Tarantino movie.
According to Wester, who is black, Lowe, who is also black, called the retired fire chief "nigger" during a heated exchange that spilled out into the parking lot of City Hall.
The argument stemmed from a debate about spending $15 million on a new police and fire building.
Lowe, who is currently in his third term and is up for reelection in March, allegedly charged at Lowe and exclaimed, "Niggers like you are the reason why we don't have nothing in this city now -- just a bunch of nigger bullshit."
On Friday morning, Wester sent out an ALL CAPS email to Lowe and sent copies of the email to city officials:
Subject: COUNCILMAN SHELBY LOWE
CITY COUNCILMAN SHELBY LOWE,
I AM RESPONDING TO YOUR VERBAL ATTACK AGAINST ME. I WAS IN THE PARKING LOT OF CITY HALL. I SPOKE TO YOU AS YOU WERE LEAVING THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING. I WAS IN THE PRESENCE OF MAYOR THOMAS MASTERS AND ANOTHER RESIDENT MS. ELIZABETH ROBINSON. YOU CHARGED AT ME AND I YELLED TO YOU, "DON'T COME UP ON ME".YOUR COMMENT WAS " NIGGERS LIKE YOU ARE THE REASON WHY WE DON'T HAVE NOTHING IN THIS CITY NOW, JUST A BUNCH OF NIGGER BULLSHIT."
WELL FOR YOUR INFORMATION DON'T GROUP ME INTO THAT GROUP OF TAXPAYERS THAT YOU REFER TO AS NIGGERS.
I HAVE CONTACTED LEGAL REPRESENTATION TO DEAL WITH YOU!
YOU AND NO ONE ELSE THAT SITS ON THAT DAIS WILL KEEP ME FROM SPEAKING AS A TAXPAYER.
IT IS NOT MY FAULT THAT YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING. I STATED YOU DON'T HAVE A HOT DOG STAND AND I ALSO STATED YOU WERE NOT A PROPERTY OWNER IN RIVIERA BEACH.
HERE YOU ARE VOTING ON A FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLAR EXPENDITURE OF TAXPAYERS MONIES. I AM PUTTING YOU ON NOTICE, PLEASE DON'T GET UP IN MY FACE AGAIN.
YOU CALLING TAXPAYING CITIZEN NIGGERS. I WONDER WHAT YOU ARE CALLING THE SINGER ISLAND CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS MEMBERS.
AND YOU WANT TO BE OUR CITY'S MAYOR, PLEASE! JUST REMEMBER YOU ATTACKED ME FROM THAT DIAS.
RICHARD C WESTER, RETIRED FIRE CHIEF 1969-1995
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