Councilman John King Files Lawsuit Against Bill Veach

Fort Myers Beach Town Councilman John King is fighting former Town Councilman Bill Veach’s attempt to remove him from office over his Seagate vote. The court battle started today with King filing a lawsuit against Veach who chairs the recall committee.

A vote on a specific resolution before the Town Council is not grounds for a recall so on his petition Veach alleged King violated Florida’s Sunshine Law, accepted unreported gifts of meals from developers who had business coming before the council, and dictated the removal of several town employees. Those allegations, according to Veach, were the “malfeasance” and “misfeasance” King committed. Malfeasance and misfeasance are on the list of acceptable reasons for a recall in the state’s recall statute. King denies the allegations and Veach has never provided any proof that what he’s alleging actually occurred. His committee has been openly telling voters that the recall is about Seagate and other redevelopment projects on the beach when gathering signatures. 

The lawsuit filing states that a petition does not meet the statutory requirements of the Florida recall statute when “the statement in the petition is nothing more than a conclusion or opinion without any tangible basis in fact.”

The filing goes on to say that the Florida statute is “obviously not intended to allow a petitioner to speak only in vague generality. Were we to uphold a recall petition based on the bare allegations before us, it would be tantamount to declaring “open season” on any elected official who did anything, or failed to do something, which happened to displease ten percent of the electorate.” 

King requests a speedy hearing from the court and requests the court “declare the petition to be legally insufficient; award attorneys’ fees and costs as appropriate; and reserve jurisdiction to enter such other relief as may be appropriate.”

Veach has 20 days to respond to the lawsuit when he receives the summons.

This week the second phase of the recall started against King (and Council member Karen Woodson). Veach has 60 days to collect 505 signatures (15% of the voters) to take the recall to the voters.