In fiery meeting, Riviera Beach utilities director storms out before being relieved of duties

RIVIERA BEACH — The Riviera Beach City Council voted Wednesday night to relieve Utilities Director Michael Low of his day-to-day responsibilities overseeing the city's water utility, capping an explosive, three-and-a-half hour meeting that laid bare the frustration and fury that has simmered since residents learned in January that well water had tested positive for a fecal contaminant in June 2023.

That positive test, which was not promptly reported to the state Department of Health and was not disclosed either to the public or to City Council members for six months, raised doubts about the safety of city's drinking water and angered council members who said they felt they had been kept in the dark on a matter of public urgency.

The late public disclosure of the positive test prompted a pair of investigations — one from the state DOH and another from Palm Beach County Office of Inspector General.

DOH's investigation resulted in a scathing report highlighting more than a dozen Utility Special District failures, including failing to properly conduct follow-up testing when water tested positive for possible fecal indicators and later disseminating "false and misleading information" in televised comments about the need to issue a public notice.

DOH proposed a consent order that called for Riviera Beach to address water treatment problems and pay a fine of about $81,000. The city has said it addressed the issues noted by DOH.

It was the question of whether to authorize payment of the DOH fine that provided City Council members, serving in their capacity as USD board members, with the springboard to address Low's tenure.

Low, who held various water treatment positions before coming out of retirement to work for Riviera Beach in 2022, went through the DOH report in even, unemotional tones and then turned the proceedings over to council members.

The USD board, frequently straying into sharply critical comments about Low's performance, voted to authorize payment of the DOH fine but later circled back to whether the utilities director should remain in his position and whether ultimate responsibility for the testing incidents rested with City Manager Jonathan Evans, who oversees city employees.

Several Riviera residents held former Utilities Director Michael Low responsible

Many Riviera Beach residents were clear on who was at fault.

"We can continue to ask who's at fault," said one resident, Margaret Shepherd. "It's the head (of utilities). You can put it on Mr. Evans if you want to, but Mr. Low is in charge of the water."

Shepherd then described how she has attempted to deal with questions about the safety of the city's drinking water.

"What I'm really mad about is I had to go out and buy eight cases of water," she said. "My house looks like a warehouse."

Pointing at Low as he sat nearby, Shepherd said: "That man is at fault. That man should have been fired immediately."

Technically, the council doesn't have the authority to terminate Low's employment. Five years ago, it voted to give Evans the authority to hire the utilities director, and the city's charter gives council members the power to fire only the city attorney and the city manager.

But council member Tradrick McCoy — who first alerted the public to the positive test when, during a meeting on development, he angrily read aloud from the USD's belated notice — suggested an alternative to his colleagues: using their authority as the utility's board to end Low's day-to-day oversight of the utility.

That idea initially gave council member Glen Spiritis pause. He noted that the city is in the early design stages of building a desperately needed water treatment plant that could cost at least $300 million.

"I don't know if it makes sense to change horses in the middle of the race right now, especially when we don't have someone to fill the position," Spiritis said. "We're throwing someone out in the middle of a $16 million design project. Are we going to be at a standstill right now and put the water plant off for another two years?"

Spiritis' colleagues shared his concerns about the water treatment facility, but it was clear Low had lost their faith and trust.

"We've been an entire year without any accountability," McCoy said. "I would like someone who's going to be more open and transparent with us."

Former director: 'This utility is a total mess'

Low then attempted to rescue his tenure, speaking with far more forcefulness and passion than is typical for him during meetings.

"I came out of retirement because you needed someone to work on this plant for you, and I have that experience," he said. "I'm happy to go back into retirement."

Low, his voice rising, was just getting started.

"This utility is a total mess," he said. "I came in to try and help you. All you have done since I've been here is made it hard to do the job. And this will continue whether I'm in the position or anybody else. I recognize the statement I'm making now suggests that you're going to just vote me out of office. That's fine. I've got plenty of life to get on with. The issue is you need a water plant. You are not going to get a water plant if you continue to carry on the way you are doing it."

Some residents applauded Low's remarks. Others, however, saw them as self-serving and insulting.

The utilities director then laid out the many problems USD faces, including a need for more engineers, and a water treatment facility so old some parts for it are no longer made. He had earlier said he was out of the country last year when the well water tested positive for E. coli and that his staffers "should have immediately known what they were supposed to do and not do."

After Low spoke, his deputy, Steven Doyle, then addressed council members, sticking up for his boss and saying he could leave with Low.

"The two of us together can't meet the demands of this utility," he said. "We're drowning. I have more 911s on a daily basis than the fire department."

Council member: 'You get paid to do your job … so don't play the victim now.'

Council member Shirley Lanier was as unimpressed by Doyle's comments as she was with those offered by Low.

"I don't want people thinking we owe them something," she said. "You get paid to do your job. That's what you do. So don't play the victim now."

Lanier said she wrote Low an email asking for details on the positive test and USD's response. She said the director's response was disrespectful, nonchalant and arrogant.

Low bristled at that characterization.

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"Your attitude to me was disrespectful," he said, drawing surprised gasps from Lanier and her colleagues on the dais. "You don't want to hear it, do you? That's my last comment. There's no point."

Low then gathered a folder holding some papers and stood up to walk out. His foot got tangled in the cloth covering the table at which he had sat. Rather than replace the cloth, Low angrily kicked it, pulling it fully from the table before stalking out.

His comments and the walkout sealed his fate. With council member KaShamba Miller-Anderson having stepped out of the room, the City Council voted unanimously to end Low's oversight of USD.

McCoy then told Evans he was free to retain Low in some other capacity.

No firm decision was made on who would now run the utility, which still has the monumental task of bringing a new water treatment facility online and restoring the public's trust.

Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Riviera Beach utilities director storms out of meeting, relieved of duties