LEWES, Del. - The Lewes Fire Department will allow former fire chief Bill Buckaloo to return as a regular member following a suspension tied to a racial slur, despite past controversies.
Buckaloo was suspended in July after making a racial remark. Fire department president Wally Evans opted not to pursue further disciplinary action, according to fire department members who spoke to CoastTV after a regular department monthly meeting on Sept. 2.
Buckaloo was suspended earlier this year after allegedly being overheard making a racial remark. Fire department president Wally Evans opted not to pursue further disciplinary action, according to members at the department's monthly meeting on Sept. 2.
CoastTV attempted to reach both Buckaloo and Evans for comment by phone and in person, and neither responded. Attempts to contact Buckaloo at his home and what is believed to be Evans' home were also unsuccessful.
Lewes mayor Amy Marasco told CoastTV that even though the fire department does not report to the city, the brand of Lewes is still at stake.
"We should hold ourselves accountable and each other," said Marasco, "and that's my full hope, that the fire department will address this fully and that they will, through this process, learn and come out of it better than where they started."
Marasco says a personnel issue like this makes things challenging.
"You want to be as transparent as you can as a public servant. But the fact is you also have a responsibility to protect the process... not to protect it meaning the press doesn't know, but to actually be respectful of the individuals who are part of the process."
Lewes Mayor Amy Marasco talks public trust.
CoastTV reached out to the NAACP after Marasco said the organization emailed the city with concerns about the situation. In a statement, president Fleur McKendell said the group will not stand by while public institutions in Delaware excuse racism.
"The Lewes Fire Department allowing Buckaloo to return after publicly using the N-word is not just disappointing, it is dangerous. It sends a message that racist language and behavior will be tolerated, even excused, among those in positions of public trust," said McKendell. "Would expulsion have been the right move? Absolutely. If someone shows through their words and actions that they cannot be trusted to lead with respect, integrity and fairness, then they should not be given the privilege to serve."
The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice also weighed in on Wednesday in a similar manner.
"We're very uncomfortable with the notion of someone like that having life or death power over people that they're supposed to serve when they have that kind of attitude about those people," said Joseph Lawson, executive director.
Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice Executive Director Joseph Lawson talks Buckaloo's suspension.
Lawson said when he first heard about the former fire chief's use of the N-word, he was appalled.
"This has no place in the 21st century in America, and especially in this community, which is a great community of loving and kind people. It's totally out of place. Totally wrong."
Even Patty Maloney with Speak Out Against Hate said the decision leads to a loss of public trust.
"I think that we have to have something new reworking the old doesn't seem to be getting us forward," said Maloney. "It just perpetuates a lower slower Delaware and the good old boy's kind of an attitude about how things are done. And they need to be held to a higher standard."
Residents of Lewes have had mixed reactions to the fire department's decision to keep Buckaloo. One Lewes woman, Lisa Hoffman, strongly opposes his return.
"I'd say he's a bad penny. And given his age, I don't know why the fire department would want him back. He serves no legitimate purpose to enhancing the fire department," Hoffman said.
Jim McKay, another Lewes resident, does not think Buckaloo's racial comment should be the end-all be-all.
"I think his suspension was warranted, but I'm not sure he should lose his job because of that comment," McKay said.
In 2018, Buckaloo was arrested by Lewes police for disorderly conduct after urinating off a dock. In 2020, he was suspended for posting a slur aimed at a drag performer after a show in Rehoboth Beach. That post was later deleted, and Buckaloo issued a public apology.
McKendell said that in the coming week, the NAACP will be meeting with the Lewes Fire Department’s leadership and the Mayor of Lewes to address "not only this incident but also the deeper cultural issues that allowed it to happen."
The former fire chief's suspension was announced by the fire department on July 21.
