On Monday, Judge Kyle Cohen gave Fort Myers Beach Town Councilman John King some good news when he basically ruled King could remain in his seat, even if he lost the recall vote, while an appeal the recallers filed is being heard.
Voters will decide Tuesday whether or not John King and Karen Woodson should be recalled. They will then vote for three candidates in case the recall is successful: Tom Brady, Rebecca Link, and Ed Rood.
Woodson has appealed her court case. Cohen dismissed her appeal. Former Council member Bill Veach, the recall committee co-chair, has appealed Cohen’s ruling on John King, which was that the petition to recall King was “legally insufficient.”
Cohen ruled Monday that while the election will go forward as planned, and the results will be released to the public when the polls close, King can retain his seat until the Appeals Court rules on the Veach appeal. It’s unknown how long it will take the Appeals Court to rule on the case. Could take days, could take months.
In a previous ruling Cohen deemed one of the three accusations against King was too vague and did not meet the criteria set forth by the state legislature in their recall law. Veach and the recallers alleged that King used his power to fire contracted employees. Cohen ruled the statement wasn’t specific enough being that council members do have the power (by council vote) to remove the Town Manager and Town Attorney.
Cohen ruled that the petition to recall Karen Woodson did meet the criteria set forth in the state statute and dismissed her case, which she has appealed. Woodson and King have denied all the accusations against them which include violating the Sunshine Law and accepting gifts from developers. They have also filed defamation lawsuits against Veach and former Mayor Ray Murphy. While town taxpayers must foot the legal bills for Woodson and King in the recall, they have to pay legal fees for the defamation lawsuits out of their own pockets.
The recall election is Tuesday from 7AM to 7PM at Bay Oaks. As of Monday, 645 people have voted by mail. There are about 3,400 registered voters on Fort Myers Beach. Woodson would not say whether she should step down if she loses the recall vote Tuesday or try to stay in her seat until the appeal is heard.
Both the Woodson and King seats are up for election in November of 2026.
Thank you, FMB voters for supporting the recalls. The people spoke and both were rejected by their constituents in clearly a blowout fashion.
Even if King wins in court, he needs to resign. Nearly 2/3 of his constituents want him gone. As a result he should not be allowed to vote on anything that comes up in front of city council. The majority of FMB does not want/need him voting for or against anything at this point. King (just like Woodson) ignored previous comments from the majority of his constituents (yes, Seagate). A direct neglection of duties in my opinion.
Good riddance and don’t let the door or your constituent’s boots hit you in the rear on your way out.
A LANDSLIDE – a loud and complete Referendum in favor of the Towns Comp plan .
63-37 % .
Questions of the day…
.how many voters said NO to recall on both candidate but then filled out 2 replacement candidates? Did you just null your vote?
OR said NO to one candidate but picked 2 replacement candidates? Again, did you knock out your ballot?
OR
Said NO to recall but didn’t choose any candidates, thereby, not voting for your favorite replacement candidates, therefore, not getting to choose your candidates that would be on TC.
These questions were asked while voting but they couldn’t answer and said “vote which way you think is the correct way”. Several others had the same questions I did. Not straight forward at all. It will be interesting the result for both sides.
Why would anyone pick replacement candidates if they were voting to keep the same council members? Voting to keep the same ARE the candidates you’re picking.