Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hallandale mayor regrets ‘sphincter bleaching’ dig
HALLANDALE BEACH — Mayor Keith London wishes the words “sphincter bleaching” never left his lips.
But they did — and now he says he wants to apologize to Commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub for a snide remark he made Monday about her earning a living off “sphincter bleaching.”
It’s too little, too late for Lima-Taub.
“It’s not a real apology,” she said. “He’s not sorry. He’s sorry because the story is getting out.”
On Thursday, London told the South Florida Sun Sentinel he needed to review the meeting. An hour later, he sent an email saying he’d watched the recording and now feels “embarrassed and deeply disappointed” in himself.
“I said something stupid, personal and inappropriate in a moment of anger,” he said in the email. “My conduct was entirely inappropriate, and there is no excuse for it.”
London also tried to apologize during a meeting Wednesday night, but LimaTaub was leaving City Hall and said she didn’t hear it.
London, a friend turned foe, helped Lima-Taub run for office two years ago.
Their recent feud erupted during a budget workshop Monday after London referred to the fire union president as “simple-minded.”
Lima-Taub fired back, telling London he had no room to talk when he lacks a
college education.
“He works for a living,” she told London. “You don’t.”
London mocked LimaTaub, asking how she knows where he makes his money.
“Was it getting my sphincter bleached?” he said. “Is that where I earn my income from? No, that would be you and your family business.”
Lima-Taub, a real estate agent whose commission term is up in 2020, said her mother owns a med spa that offers anal bleaching products. London was doing his best to publicly humiliate her and deflect from the debate about whether to hire more firefighters or merge with another agency, she says.
“I feel humiliated and empowered at the same time” because the story is making headlines, Lima-Taub said.
She has another theory on why London wants to apologize.
“He’s got an election in November,” she said.