Every year at this time the Fort Myers Beach Town Council has to “reorganize.” That means picking a new Mayor and Vice Mayor. On Monday at 9AM, the new Town Council will choose their new Mayor and Vice Mayor, and both John King and John McLean will say their goodbyes.
Dan Allers has been the Mayor for the last 4 years and is likely to be nominated again on Monday. Whether or not he has three votes to keep the gavel is the big question. Allers said on our last Sunday show that he would like to continue as Mayor with one of his main goals being getting an $11.9 million state bridge loan forgiven. That loan would have to be paid back by 2033. Newly elected council member Anita Cereceda is also expected to be nominated. In all likelihood Tom Brady, also newly elected, will be the deciding vote.
Scott Safford has been the Vice Mayor for the past year and represents Fort Myers Beach on the Tourist Development Council. He’s hoping to stay on as Vice Mayor and will likely nominate Allers.
The new council will also have to decide who represents the beach on the Florda League of Cities, the Southwest Florida League of Cities, both of which require some out-of-town traveling, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization. John King has been representing the beach on all three of those organizations.
The recently elected council members will be sworn in at the Monday meeting. They will also need to start accepting applications for the Local Planning Agency. With Cereceda being elected, her seat on the LPA now needs to be filled. At this week’s LPA meeting, Jane Plummer announced that John McLean is not interested in going back to the LPA. He was on the LPA before being appointed to the Town Council to fill Jim Atterholt’s seat.
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Anita. Hopefully she will join Ed on BTR at least twice a month on Sundays and provide transparent information without the excessively long winded stories.
Jonathan raises the central issue: leadership should be measured by results, accountability, and the willingness to confront serious problems. Recent personnel terminations, the outside investigation, and unresolved concerns involving FEMA, permitting, enforcement, and Town performance give residents legitimate reasons to question whether the existing leadership should continue.
Fort Myers Beach needs leaders who listen to residents, take qualified warnings seriously, demand independent review, and accept responsibility when the Town’s processes fail. Residents who raise documented safety concerns deserve a fair and impartial response.
I hope Robert and his wife receive the assistance and genuinely independent review they have requested to protect their home and family. The Council must apply the same rules to everyone—not grant variances, favors, or special treatment based on personal relationships or whom Town officials want to help.
A fresh start is necessary to restore public confidence.
I support Tom Brady for Mayor.
Well said Jonathon and I whole heartedly agree. A competent professional is who I would choose to lead the island going forward and represent us on the county , state and national level . No doubt Tom Brady is the most qualified .
Phil, relationships with County and State officials are valuable, but experience and knowledge must also be reflected in the decisions made at home.
At the March 4, 2024 hearing, the Council qualified Stephen Brockman as a Florida professional structural and civil engineer with approximately 40 years of experience\. He specifically warned the Council:
“When this goes through flood review, two things that I’ve heard this morning that will be kicked back. If it’s sitting on solid walls—in a VE zone, it cannot be sitting on solid walls. They have to be friable, blowout walls. It can sit on piles, on pile caps, but … the lowest structure for that pile cap has to be a base 13 foot.”
—March 4, 2024 hearing transcript, page 102.
Despite that warning, Mayor Allers and Council Member Safford both voted “Aye” on the variances that allowed the elevated-pool project at 21391 Widgeon Terrace to proceed. The vote was 4–1, with Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt casting the only “Nay” vote.
The Council did not issue the building permit that day, but it heard a direct warning from a qualified engineer about solid walls in the VE Zone and still approved the requested variances. The Town later permitted the elevated pool, and the unresolved floodplain, foundation, and structural questions are why an independent review is necessary.
The Town subsequently participated in the LOMR process that changed the property’s flood-map designation from VE-12 to AE-11, and the Town’s Certificate of Completion referenced that LOMR issued September 8th, 2026. But changing the flood map does not retroactively correct construction that was noncompliant when built. The pool remains within a Coastal A Zone and LiMWA area, where VE-style coastal construction standards still apply.
My wife and I are trying to protect our home and the safety of our family. We have a POOL BOMB next to our home next time we have a major flooding event. We need a mayor who listens to residents, takes qualified warnings seriously, and acts before people and property are placed at risk.
That concern is heightened by a December 15, 2025 email in which the Town’s senior planner stated that staff was relying on “direction from Frankie” when reviewing the screen enclosure using the pool’s reduced setbacks. The POOL BOMB is now 35 feet high 40 feet long and less than 8 feet from our property.
The question is not whether Dan worked hard or developed useful relationships. The question is why these documented warnings were not addressed—and why staff later relied on Frankie’s direction when making permitting decisions concerning this project.
The Frankie and Jeff investigation make it crystal clear that Town decision-making justify a change in leadership and a genuinely independent review.
The newly elected Council members have an opportunity to demonstrate that accountability and transparency take priority over preserving the existing leadership structure. Fort Myers Beach deserves that fresh start.
Our Town is at a crossroads. I believe Anita has the experience and independence needed to restore confidence in our local government and bring accountability and meaningful reform.
Anita Cereceda is the only candidate that has LPA experience and also being the previous first FMB Town Mayor, and also again the Mayor of FMB for the second time. She is a proven honest, trustworthy candidate that has the reputation for being the “voice of the people of Fort Myers Beach. Vote Anita.
Actually, Vice Mayor Scott Safford has more than several years under his belt as a member of the LPA prior to his tenure on the Council, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the LDC and Comp Plan. Anita’s history on this island is well-documented, and deservedly so. But Dan has worked tirelessly in the past several years to establish solid relationships with officials on both the County and State levels. When it comes to appearing before State officials seeking forgiveness for the Town’s outstanding loans, gun to my head, I’d have to say in all honesty I’d want Dan on that dais speaking for us.
Dan may have worked tirelessly but not effectively. He does not have the relationships needed, he’s isolated the town from national agencies such as FEMA, he’s supported bad leadership that has cost the town and he’s simply doesn’t have the competencies or leadership skills we need to get us out of the mess he and Scott helped create. FMB NEEDS A FRESH START AND WE NEED IT NOW!!!
That is not correct. Dan also served on the LPA prior to being elected to Council.
What’s swon in??
If spending millions of government funds for food and healthcare to needy children is socialism so to is forgiving millions in government loans to a needy town.
You cannot excuse one from the other.
What are you talking bout? The article is about who should lead the town as Mayor
This is one of the most important decisions the new Town Council will make. Fort Myers Beach needs a fresh start.
Former Community Development Director Frankie Kropacek worked closely with Mayor Dan Allers and the Town’s existing leadership on matters that now require independent review. After four years under the same mayor—and following recent personnel terminations, an outside investigation, and unresolved concerns involving Town administration, permitting, enforcement, and transparency—I believe new leadership is necessary.
I support Anita Cereceda for mayor. She received the most votes in the election, has prior experience as mayor, and has promised direct and transparent leadership. Tom Brady and Rebecca Link should carefully consider whether continuing the present leadership reflects what voters expected when they elected a new Council majority.
It is about restoring public confidence, ensuring independent oversight, and giving residents and business owners confidence that Town decisions will be made openly, consistently, and fairly.
Thank you!!!
Exactly what island residents are thinking or need to say, too.
Well said! Time for a change!! Look at the results of this leadership. That’s all you need to know to realize objectively we desperately need a change in leadership! Both the Mayor and Town Manager if we’re being honest. Many may like them, but they do not have the competencies to lead our town and this has been demonstrated. We need effective leadership. When you look at competencies and leadership skills, it’s hard to beat Tom Brady. Yes he’s new but we need the competencies and leadership skills he’s possesses right now or this ship could go down. I don’t think people realize the mess we’re in at many levels, because of the current leadership. There’s no disputing that.