Two Riviera Beach City Council members exchange words during and after contentious meeting

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is investigating an alleged altercation between Riviera Beach City Council members Tradrick McCoy and Douglas Lawson.

Riviera Beach Police Chief Michael Coleman confirmed that his department responded to an incident between the council members that took place after a special meeting Wednesday, Jan. 24, to discuss development projects. Coleman said he decided to ask PBSO to review the matter to eliminate any appearance of favoritism or bias.

The dispute is the latest in a long line of outbursts and controversies that have characterized Riviera Beach politics even as the city attempts to move forward on a range of infrastructure and development projects.

What prompted the confrontation between the two Riviera council members?

Wednesday's meeting grew contentious when McCoy, who has sued the city multiple times and frequently spars with colleagues on the dais, sought to discuss a belated notification from the city's utility that a fecal contaminant had been found in a city well.

McCoy raised the issue as a way of underscoring his view that the city should be focusing on providing basic necessities such as clean drinking water before trying to solicit ideas for huge development projects.

Lawson, who presided over the meeting as chairman, attempted to interrupt McCoy when he noticed that Council member Shirley Lanier had left, depriving the dais of a quorum. Lawson had sought to ask the city attorney if, without the required number of members needed to hold a public meeting, he should move to adjourn.

McCoy, however, had already begun speaking and objected to the interruption, telling Lawson the meeting did not need to be adjourned.

"I'm afraid you're wrong," McCoy said. "That only applies to official business. Now we're done taking care of official business. If you choose to walk out, that's on you, but I would really insist that I be allowed to continue my comments."

Lawson said: "I do want to let you continue your comments. That was actually why I wanted to get clarity."

"OK, I'm going to go ahead and finish and you can go over there and talk, because that's not going to happen," McCoy said of the prospect of him suspending his remarks while Lawson asked the city attorney about a possible adjournment.

McCoy then began reading from a city notice to residents that it had failed to notify the state of the contaminant as Lawson repeatedly attempted to interrupt him. The two men talked at the same time for a while before Lawson said he was going to allow McCoy to finish his remarks.

McCoy then finished reading the notice, saying again that he objected to the city pursuing large-scale development projects without first addressing water safety.

"If you think that I'm being irrational, well, damn, I'm mad," McCoy said. "I've got a 9-year old. And that's not OK for anybody, no matter what age it is."

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McCoy criticized resident praise of City Manager Jonathan Evans as the city moves forward with development projects.

"Praise him on how great we're doing, but, at the same time … people are dying," he said, "but we get up here and talk about all of this foolishness. We talk about foolishness that don't even matter."

The city said it treated the contamination before it reached the drinking water supply but was telling residents it had failed to notify state and federal regulators in a timely manner.

What happened after the council meeting adjourned?

As he concluded his remarks, McCoy said: "I wouldn't even say thank you, Mr. Chair, for trying to stop me."

Lawson then said: "Councilman, I respectfully let you go on your soapbox to address the concerns because you're speaking for the people. My concern was only to make sure that legal opined on if we could continue the meeting because I do have similar comments and concerns to address in a public setting. Respectfully, for future reference, I did give you that same courtesy and respect to continue and not adjourn the meeting as I do have the right to do as the chair. Can you please respectfully allow for me to ask the question as the chairman? Because I think that was completely disrespectful. I allowed for you to go on because it's definitely important to address the issues that you've been hearing in the community that you speak about. But can I please serve as the chairman? All I want to do is have our city attorney opine on if we can continue to keep this meeting going. If we, as a council, decide to continue, we still have that right. But do not interrupt me when I'm trying to lead as the chairman."

Lawson then asked City Attorney Dawn Wynn if, with Lanier gone and council members KaShamba Miller-Anderson and Julia Botel not attending, the normally five-person council could continue with two members and Mayor Ronnie Felder, who does not vote.

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Wynn recommended that the meeting be adjourned, and Lawson gaveled it to a close.

McCoy and Lawson then left the meeting.

What happened next is unclear.

Coleman would not say what, if anything, he knew about the incident, citing the open investigation into it. PBSO said no public document about the information is available at this point.

Neither Lawson nor McCoy responded to requests for comment.

A source who spoke to one of the council members said the two got into an altercation that spilled into the parking lot of the Marina Event Center, where the city holds its public meetings.

Both Lawson and McCoy have generated unflattering headlines tied to altercations

It is not the first time the two council members have made headlines.

In 2021, Lawson was arrested and released after getting into an altercation with his then-fiance, Jade Calloway, whom he has since married.

Security camera footage showed Lawson restraining Calloway in an elevator, picking her up and blocking her movement in the elevator with his body. He pulls her arm at one point, and she tries to get away from him.

Lawson said he was trying to prevent Calloway from driving under the influence of alcohol, an account she confirmed.

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After receiving a call from Calloway, then-police chief Nathan Osgood ordered a captain not to arrest Lawson, telling him he did not believe there was probable cause for the arrest. The captain was then fired when he refused.

Soon, though, the captain was reinstated and, after a pair of investigations found Osgood did not follow proper protocol during the incident, the chief resigned. He subsequently filed suit against the city, alleging that it failed to turn over documents that would show he followed protocol.

In 2020, Riviera Beach body camera footage captured McCoy in an angry, profane altercation with a former city employee.

McCoy said the former employee summoned him in the fleet maintenance area of the city's public works building and threatened to "drop" him if he didn't respond. The former employee gave a different account, saying McCoy attempted to harass and intimidate him in a bid to get him to support McCoy politically.

In another, more recent incident, Botel alleged in court documents that McCoy sought to block her from filing re-election paperwork before the November deadline. Botel, the only white member of the council, said McCoy, who is Black, hurled racial epithets at her and yelled at the city clerk's staff.

McCoy called the allegations "defamatory" but would not discuss the issue in detail, arguing that it would be premature to do because the incident is now being litigated.

Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations at 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: PBSO investigating alleged altercation between Riviera council members