Riviera Beach City Council member says she was told a colleague offered to barter his vote

Riviera Beach City Councilwoman Julia Botel said representatives of marina owner Safe Harbor told her last year that one of her colleagues, Douglas Lawson, tried to barter his vote on a development project.

Botel's complaint to the state Commission on Ethics, filed in October, was forwarded to The Palm Beach Post on Wednesday.

"At a recent (August 2023) Riviera Beach City Council meeting, the yacht manufacturing company Safe Harbor Marinas petitioned the City of Riviera Beach for formal land use and rezoning, abandonment of certain Right-of-Way segments and other items related to the development of their property," Botel wrote to the commission.

"Representatives from Safe Harbor told me that Councilperson Douglas Lawson offered the Safe Harbor Company to vote in favor of the proposed ordinances if Safe Harbor were willing to provide financial support for the candidacy for (Palm Beach) County Commision of Richard Ryles and if they were to hire Dale Holness as their attorney."

Botel noted that "this constitutes and abuse of public position. It is an attempt by Councilperson Lawson to use his official position to obtain a special privilege or benefit for himself or certain colleagues and friends (Richard Ryles and Dale Holness)."

The state Commission on Ethics does not confirm or deny the existence of a complaint until some disposition of it has been made.

Lawson was among three council members who voted down Safe Harbor's requests in September for zoning changes to facilitate expanded operations at the city waterfront. Botel and council member Shirley Lanier voted in favor of the requests.

Asked about the ethics complaint, a spokeswoman for Lawson said: "This is an ongoing investigation, and Mr. Lawson will comply with state law and will not comment until he is exonerated, which he intends to be. His focus has been, always will be his work for the residents of Riviera Beach."

Ryles, an attorney and former West Palm Beach City Commission member, is running for a seat on the Palm Beach County Commission. Holness, a real estate agent and mortgage broker, is a former Broward County Commission member who ran an unsuccessful race to succeed the late Congressman Alcee Hastings, a Democrat who represented portions of Palm Beach and Broward counties in the U.S. House.

Botel did not say who, specifically, told her Lawson tried to barter his vote.

"I suggest you check with the Ethics Commission," she texted Wednesday, March 13 when asked for comment.

Efforts to reach Holness and Safe Harbor were unsuccessful.

Ryles said he is "anxiously awaiting the conclusion of the investigation so that the community will know I had no hand in any wrongdoing."

News of the ethics complaint against Lawson is only the latest drama connected to Riviera Beach's City Council, rife with acrimony and subterranean grievances.

Lawson and another council member, Tradrick McCoy, were involved in a physical altercation after a meeting in January. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office found enough probable cause to seek battery charges against both men but did not pursue charges when both officials agreed not to move forward with the case.

The fight prompted McCoy's colleagues to ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to suspend or remove him.

Botel may be in her final days as a council member.

An appellate court found that she did not follow state law in qualifying as a candidate for re-election. She has said she plans to appeal that decision to the state Supreme Court, but a swearing-in date of March 20 has already been set for her opponent, Glen Spiritis.

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: Riviera Beach Councilwoman: Safe Harbor said colleague to barter vote