Do Any Other Council Members Plan to Quit?

After the big announcement that Fort Myers Beach Town Councilman Bill Veach plans to resign before January 1st to avoid having to fill out a new state mandated financial disclosure form, we polled the rest of the Town Council to see if they were staying or going.

Mayor Dan Allers, Vive Mayor Jim Atterholt and Council members John King and Karen Woodson have all confirmed they would not be leaving over the new financial disclosure form.

Councilman Bill Veach announced on Monday that he was most likely attending his final meeting. Veach said the new form is an intrusive invasion of privacy.

Back in May, Florida state lawmakers passed a law requiring all municipal elected officials to fill out Form 6 by the end of the year or face a $25,000 fine if they don’t.

Before the new law, elected officials had to fill out a different form (Form 1), which asks for sources of income, property, assets and liabilities and businesses of which they own a share. It did not ask for specific dollar amounts. Form 6 requires elected officials to list assets and liabilities of more than $1,000 and specific dollar amounts and it asks for net income and salary.

The bill passed both the House and The Senate nearly unanimously. The governor and his cabinet, all state senators and representatives, judges, county commissioners, school board members and sheriffs in Florida have to fill out Form 6. Smaller town elected officials seem to have the biggest problem with the new form with several quitting their posts across the state. You can check out the controversial Form 6 HERE.

Veach’s term expires at the end of 2024 and he has been telling friends on the beach, including at least one current town council member, that he did not plan to run for re-election. If Veach does submit his resignation next week the Town Council could fill the seat by appointment at a future meeting. They could also leave it open until the 2024 election. When something like this happens in other municipalities, sometimes the elected body chooses to appoint someone they know will not run for the seat to avoid giving that person an advantage in an upcoming election.

If you’re thinking about running you must be a resident of the town and a registered voter and shall have resided within the corporate limits of Fort Myers Beach for a minimum of 1 year prior to qualifying for election.

2024 candidate qualifying dates are:
NOON, June 10, 2024 through NOON, June 14, 2024
Candidates may pre-qualify beginning on May 27, 2024