Former Fort Myers Beach Town Council member Bill Veach (pictured) and Former Mayor Ray Murphy who, for the last 6 months, have been waging a recall campaign against current council members Karen Woodson and John King have asked the court for more time to respond to the lawsuits Woodson and King have filed against them.
Veach and Murphy have alleged Woodson and King violated Florida’s Sunshine Law and accepted gifts from developers. They have provided no proof of their allegations and are telling residents the recall is about Seagate and other approved developments. Votes council members have taken, such as the Seagate vote, are not subject to recall. And that is why Woodson and King have filed lawsuits. They deny all the allegations and are asking a court to spike the recall.
In their request for an additional 15 days, both Veach and Murphy admit they have not hired legal counsel yet. Woodson and King have hired Sarasota based attorney Morgan Bentley.
Woodson has filed a lawsuit against Ray Murphy. King has filed a lawsuit against Bill Veach. Murphy and Veach are co-chairs of the recall committee. Bentley has filed a motion with the court to have both lawsuits consolidated into one and heard before the same judge. As of today, the Veach/King case has been assigned to Circuit Court Judge Michael McHugh and the Woodson/Murphy case has been assigned to Circuit Court Judge Kyle Cohen.
On July 25th Councilman King filed a request for discovery from Veach. The request was for any communications Veach has in his possession that have anything to do with his allegations against King.
Fort Myers Beach taxpayers are required by state law to cover legal fees for King and Woodson. They are also required to pay for a special election if the recall makes it that far.
The estimated cost for a recall election is $25,000.
The recall committee has until around August 20th to collect 505 signatures of Fort Myers Beach voters. They collected more than enough in the first round. That list must then be verified by the Lee County Board of Elections. If it is, a special election will be called.
The seats Woodson and King now occupy on the council are up for election in 2026 and that will not cost the taxpayers an extra dime.
This Council is corrupt …. and makes it crystal clear they want to hang on to that power for dear life, at all costs.
You are an elected official –
act like one !
I prefer the term “elected servant”.
Now only if we didn’t have a clique group in Coucil. It started when King and Woodson got in in 2022. Both northerners trying to reshape FMB to look like their run of the mill tourist destinations theyre used to (tasteless).
Then find out King is threatening others jobs if you dont want to comply with others or the ways of the new council threatening to fire employees that didnt do as they said, not as they do (ironic right?) King was the wanna be high school bully, probably bullied himself in high school and is bringing it back now that hes grabbing for power. But threatening others jobs is a big no no. He then would argue all over facebook with me, and not say Im an employee when I was pre and post covid, yeah he doesnt read either.
Its sad because people dont fit the Clique Mr. King thinks hes such a big ol man threatening others jobs. Many good long time employees left because of this council, ones thats helped the island grow before, during, and after that storm.
Never would I want to work with 2 wanna-be past-peak high school popular kids like King and Woodson. And if Mr. King wants to get nasty we can leak some of the juicy drama the town hid up after the hurricane 😏 involves looting and the employees of the island.
Also Edward Ryan 🤏 keep it up lil man. You can keep dreaming about being an FMB resident. Freedom of media my ass when you block people who hurt your overcompensated feelings. Maybe your yellow army can make you feel better. 🥹
Huh?! And who are you?
What on earth are you talking about, you are quite the wordsmith.
And who are you? At least have the courage to use your real name.
Well this little fellow is really mad. Seems as though mommy has taken away his gaming time. I believe someone needs to take a vacation.
If Bill Veach is behind an effort, count me out. I don’t trust him.
Agree 100%.
Does the guy ever step back, look at himself in the mirror and consider how he looks to others?
I haven’t signed the recall, but have to ask……why are folks making a big deal about $25k??? That’s nothing when you consider the way this TC spends money. How many “assistants” and other new roles have they added to the payroll? How much are they paying lobbyists and their legal counsel each month?? No wonder they want more taxes!!
Read on , Mid Island. The article on Lee County property tax might provide a clue as to what may be driving the Town expenses. And it’s not lobbyists and assistants.
G,
I read on and all that I could glean was that we have to repay the bridge loan. It would take a much deeper dive to find out how the money was spent.