The Public’s Radio — Controversial Westerly town councilor is center stage in latest skirmish over shoreline access

Robert Lombardo is pictured at the speaker’s podium during a Westerly Town Council meeting July 24, 2023. Screen grab from a Westerly video archive

Oct 31, 2023

By Alex Nunes — The Westerly Town Council could soon consider a proposal to enter into settlement discussions over a lawsuit challenging the public’s right to access a popular beach and conservation area in Watch Hill. But shoreline access advocates are raising conflict of interest questions about the new town councilor who proposed the idea.

Since joining the Westerly Town Council in August, Robert Lombardo has made his positions on shoreline access cases involving the town abundantly clear. Anyone who wants proof doesn’t need to look any further than his exchanges in council meetings with proponents of shoreline access, when he responds to speakers with dismissive replies like “You have no idea what you’re talking about”, “You don’t understand anything”, and “Put up or shut up.”

At one point during a meeting on Sept. 11, he referred to shoreline access proponents as “just a group of zealots that get up here all the time and complain about the rights-of-way [to the shore].”

“They’re zealots and they're uneducated,” Lombardo said. “Okay?”

Before last year’s election, Lombardo went on a coastal access Facebook page and called the forum where advocates talk and share research a “sewer of ignorance.” He challenged one access advocate to debate him “anytime, anywhere.”

As Lombardo has found himself in the middle of legal discussions on critical and closely-watched shoreline access cases in recent weeks, questions about his actions and motives on the issue have become more relevant.

Lombardo was sworn in after the former town council president resigned, because Lombardo was the top unelected vote-getter in last year’s election, coming in eighth place in the race with 8.5% of the total votes.

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