As everyone waits to see how many recall petition signatures are validated by the Lee County Elections Office, the Fort Myers Beach Town Council approved a resolution to cover reasonable legal expenses Karen Woodson and John King rack up to fight the recall.
Town Attorney Nancy Stuparich advised the Town Council that Florida law requires them to cover the legal fees. She’s also researching whether or not insurance will cover the legal fees but said she’s leaning toward insurance not covering them. Both King and Woodson plan to fight the recall in court. It’s unclear at what point in the process they might do that.
If the Lee County Elections Office verifies that the recall committee did get signatures from 10% of the voters the process would continue with King and Woodson getting 5 days to issue a statement of defense (or they could resign). Once that statement is sent in, the recall committee then has 60 days to go back out and canvass again. In round two of the process they would need to get 15% of the voters a new recall petition. Then, the Lee County Elections Office would have to verify those as well. Lee County Election Supervisor Tommy Doyle’s office has until July 2nd to verify the first batch of signatures.
The Town Council resolution passed 3-0 with both King and Woodson recusing themselves from the vote. In support of the resolution, Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt said the recall process “encourages slander, defamation and innuendo and those being recalled are guilty until proven innocent.”
The recall committee, led by former Town Council member Bill Veach and former Mayor Ray Murphy, have accused King and Woodson of violating Florida’s Sunshine Law and claim they accepted gifts from developers. They have provided no proof of those accusations nor does the recall process require them to. As the recall committee gathers signatures they are telling voters the recall is about the Seagate vote and the direction the town is going with other big developments.
Regarding the Town Council resolution, Bill Veach posted to his Facebook page the following: “These legal fees could be used to try to bankrupt the recall committees and circumvent the will of the voters. If they really believe them and their positions are so popular, they should be happy to put this in front of the voters.” Beach Talk Radio reached out to Veach by e-mail seeking comment about the approved resolution. He never responded. Taxpayers must also foot the bill for a special election of the recall gets that far. The estimated cost for that is $25,000.
In defense of the resolution, the town attorney said the Town Council really didn’t have a choice. She also quoted a specific Florida case, in Fort Walton Beach, where the Florida Supreme Court ruled that those being recalled for making decisions as elected officials have a right to be reimbursed: “Florida Supreme Court in Thornber v. Town of Fort Walton Beach, a municipality has a common law duty to pay for the defense of a recall petition if the litigation meets the following criteria: it must “(1) arise out of or in connection with the performance of their official duties; and (2) serve a public purpose”; and in Thornber, the Court held that “[t]he purpose of this common law rule is to avoid the chilling effect that a denial of representation might have on public officials in performing their duties properly and diligently”.
The two seats now occupied by King and Woodson are up for election in November of 2026.
So much for a town moving forward. All I read in the comments is condescending attitudes towards each other. MOVE FORWARD, PEOPLE…NOT BACKWARDS. This is for the town, not your egos.
If Ray Murphy had done a better job in the wake of Hurricane Ian he might still be mayor. If Bill Veach had shown a little patience before resigning he too may still have a vote in Town Council. The future is not bright for those who allow themselves to be led by failures.
Ray Murphy was at town hall the morning after Ian! Coordinating rescue and relief efforts! If the council member would have stuck to the LDC Seagate wouldn’t have 17 story building’s going up! Council members who approved it are at fault for a lot of this!
That’s quite improbable as Town Hall was completely wrecked by Ian. There was nothing there that would have allowed for any coordinating rescue or relief. As I remember there were two Councilors on the Island the next day, as the rode out the storm there, Dan Allers and Jim Atterholt. Dan did Yeoman’s work and coordinated with State Representative Adam Botana. Jim was work closely with the County Commissioner Ray Sandelli. As for my vote causing this, A Florida District Court has declared legitimate and authorized actions, no matter how unpopular cannot be sufficient grounds for recall.
Bingo! But I’m sure you understand the liberals commenting here and behind the sham recall just to regain their power love to revise history and stretch the truth so we can expect nothing less. Many of the followers don’t consider themselves to be liberals but they are actually worse than people like Veach and Ray who wear it on their sleeves.
John, how do you “recollect” there were two counselors on the island the day after the storm? You were not a councilman at the time but I definitely recall you at the first public meeting held at snookbight after Ian. You were vocally loud and condescending of the lack of progress from the town council. I saw you then jockeying for position on the board. Your complaints then, are on your plate now. Keep a fork nearby.
Total BS. The only time Murphy was anywhere near the Island was when Biden was here.
This is a very sad situation which wastes valuable time to get our town back on track and tax payer money. It’s a time for cooperation and not confrontation. It’s a time to work together and not push people further apart.
I couldn’t agree more.
Anyone with half a brain HAD to know that there would be a legal requirement to pay any legal fees associated with any elected official while working in thier public service capacity.. I mean come on. Some of the online BS, Asking the council to vote in opposition state law? Duh… your ignorance has no bounds.
Congrats Team Veach. Take that stupid legal fund and use it to beautify the island instead of a sham election. Some FMB folks just want to keep the island a dump. They need to focus on their own homes….fact!
You just spoke the unthinkable truth out loud. There is a group of selfish, entitled people on the Beach who would prefer the owners of those properties not to rebuild so they can have their view of the beach. They are being led by liberals like Veach, Murphy, Johnson, and Anita who are behind this recall and don’t value the democratic process which elected these members. These people and the people who signed that ridiculous petition can be thanked making the residents pay legal expenses to fight people they actually voted to elect. Hard to be more dumb than that.
Spot on James. Shameful even from the states standpoint that the 10% is enough to garner a recall. That means 2700 or so beach residents don’t want this to happen. This is list once available will create great animosity between neighbors. A great way to create that “small town feel” they always speak of. Shameful use of town resources and time.
You need to proofread, your sentences are junk.
Great rebuttal. Spell check threw some extra words in like idiot and liberal and scam and grow up. Spell check did it again. It just won’t stop it fills in what it believes is the proper term needed.