After being told by Town Attorney Nancy Stuparich they were not mandated to set qualifying dates for the upcoming recall, Bill Veach and Ray Murphy have filed an emergency motion alleging Karen Woodson and John King violated Florida law by voting against setting the dates.
The motion, which was filed in the 20th Judicial Circuit, and attached to their own lawsuits in the matter, states: “The City of Fort Myers Beach, specifically Commissioners John King and Karen Woodson, are in open and flagrant defiance of Florida law and of the express order issued by Chief Judge Porter.”
Council member John King responded: “It’s one lawyer’s opinion and is moot at this point as the Supervisor of Elections set the qualifying period. I realize I am not a lawyer, but I can read and Judge Porter’s order did NOT require the Town to set a qualifying period.”
The Fort Myers Beach Town Council voted to deny setting qualifying dates for the recall last week on advice from Stuparich that the court did not mandate they had to do so. The Veach/Murphy motion claims there was a clear order from Judge Porter for them to do so. Mayor Dan Allers was the only yes vote to set the dates. Every member of the council supports King and Woodson and believes Murphy and Veach have used the process to spread lies about their colleagues which has convinced residents to support a recall.
From the motion: “On September 11, 2025, the Town of Fort Myers Beach was required to adopt an emergency ordinance setting the qualification dates for replacement candidates. This ordinance was not optional; it was absolutely necessary to comply with Florida law and Judge Porter’s order. Despite their clear statutory and court-ordered duty, Commissioners King and Woodson, acting with blatant conflicts of interest, voted against enacting. In doing so, they deliberately refused to comply with Florida law, knowingly defied a court order, and obstructed the recall process by failing to adopt the legislation required to ensure that the recall election and the special election occur simultaneously.”
The Supervisor of Elections Tommy Doyle set qualifying dates the following day.
More from the emergency motion: “There is no ambiguity: Commissioners King and Woodson, along with the Town of Fort Myers Beach, have a nondiscretionary, ministerial duty to enact the legislation necessary for the recall process to proceed. They possess no legal authority to ignore or nullify a court order by Chief Judge Porter or to refuse to comply with state law. While they may go to Court and challenge Judge Porter’s order, they cannot lawfully choose to break the law. Their conduct not only constitutes a violation of their duties but also exemplifies the very misconduct that led voters to seek their recall.”
Veach and Murphy are asking the court to force the town to set the dates which have already been set by Doyle: “It is requested that this Court order the Plaintiffs and the Town of Fort Myers Beach to comply with Chief Judge Porter’s order and the Florida Statute.”
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Somebody isn’t very well educated. They are not commissioners they are Town council Members or Counselors.
Second point “commissioners King and Woodson, acting with blatant conflict of interest …”.
If they had a conflict of interest then the accusation should be that the should not have voted at all. But instead later on they claim this is a ministerial duty that must be done. That is untrue since elected officials always have discretion.
Whoever wrote up this legal pleading lacks both understanding and coherence in developing alegal theory.