HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The mayor of Hallandale Beach crudely attacked a city commissioner at a public meeting this week, saying she earned money from "sphincter bleaching."
Hallandale Beach Mayor Keith London made the comments after a tense exchange with Commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub. The officials were arguing after London said a city employee had "a simple mind."
"Was it getting my sphincter bleached? Is that what I earned my income for?" London said to Lima-Taub. "No that would be you and your family business."
He added, "Congratulations, sphincter bleaching is a very up-and-coming business."
Vice Mayor Michele Lazarow interjected to urge London to stop the exchange. "Don't do it. Stop," Lazarow said.
Lima-Taub called the exchange degrading.
"It’s been an extremely difficult 24 hours, one spent without sleep as I know this type of behavior is an epidemic in Hallandale," Lima-Taub said in a statement on Facebook. "Except I had to endure this humiliation tactic in front of a silent room full of at least 60 people."
It appears London is referring to a spa owned by Lima-Taub's mother. The spa sells skin bleaching creams. Lima-Taub told the Miami Herald that she does not work at her mother's spa.
“Even if I was doing that for a living, that’s not appropriate,” Lima-Taub told the Herald. “For the sitting leader of a city to speak this way was completely inappropriate.”
London became mayor in January after his predecessor, Joy Cooper, was arrested and charged with money laundering. London could not be immediately reached for comment.