Town council appoints Rood to Marine and Environmental Resources Task Force, Johnson resigns
Ed Rood, who built the controversial private lagoon walkover (which collapsed after Hurricane Milton) behind his property after years of lawsuits against the Town of Fort Myers Beach, has been appointed unanimously by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council to the Marine and Environmental Resources Task Force. Chairman Steve Johnson resigned ahead of the vote today over what he called the town council’s “politicization” of the Marine and Environmental Resources Task Force and for Town of Fort Myers Beach Councilmember John King (the council’s liaison) having shared a private email sent by a member of the task force with a social media outlet which was published online without the knowledge of the task force member who had sent the email. Johnson’s resignation follows the resignation of longtime member and former vice chair Mary Rose Spalletta this summer over similar concerns with outside influences and politicization of the committee. The town council also voted to replace task force member Rose Larkin, who had been seeking re-appointment. The council voted to appoint Sharon Hegstrom and Leo Sand to join Rood as the new members of the task force. Board members Rob Howell and Jennifer Rusk were reappointed.
The appointment of Hegstrom, Rood and Sand to the advisory board effectively replaced Larkin, a local master gardener and retired educator who had sought reappointment to the board. None of the councilmembers voted to re-appoint Larkin. After Rood, Hegstrom and Sand received the most votes by the council with four each. Hegstrom is a former Castle Beach Condo Board president and Sand is the owner of a construction company based in Minnesota.
In his resignation, Johnson cited what he said is a year-long “politicization” of the advisory board by the town council.
He also cited Councilmember John King’s sharing of an email sent by a MERTF member to council asking for support from online attacks by a social media outlet with which some on council choose to share their views. The outlet has several times called for disbanding MERTF.
The outlet published the email, which, by law, is a public record.
Johnson said it was not intended as such.
“It was a discreet email with a private concern,” Johnson said. “Who does this?”
In withdrawing his bid for re-appointment, Johnson said he refused to serve with King, who is the town council’s liaison to the committee.
“John King uses really despicable tactics against advisory board volunteers,” Johnson said. “His actions defy any moral code or ethical requirement of a councilor,” Johnson said.
King declined to address the matter when contacted Monday, or address his vote for Rood.
Rood’s quest to build a private 298-feet boardwalk across state lagoons behind his home along with neighbor Kurt Kroemer ensnared the town in years of litigation as the town council sought to uphold its zoning, which prohibits the construction of the boardwalk in the environmentally critical zone without a special exception permit.
Rood filed multiple lawsuits against the town and state, challenging the state’s ownership of the Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area next to the boardwalk and accusing the town of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act for denying the boardwalk (a federal judge tossed that suit).
A newly-elected town council approved Rood and Kroemer’s boardwalk in a split vote last year with Mayor Dan Allers joining King and Karen Woodson in approving the structure, which MERTF objected to. MERTF then voted to call upon the town council not to issue a building permit for the boardwalk until a lawsuit filed by Florida Audubon was settled. The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council voted to issue the building permit anyway, despite objections that included the boardwalk’s potential vulnerability to hurricanes. That turned out to be true when the bridge collapsed after Hurricane Milton.
After issuing the building permit last year, the council then replaced two members of MERTF — Dr. Gregory Fossum and Wendy DeGaetano with two condo board presidents – one of whom would side with Rood’s movement to organize neighbors to issue no trespassing signs to Florida Audubon due to the lawsuit.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council split over the appointment of Rood to MERTF last year, with King and Woodson voting to appoint Rood, while councilmembers Jim Atterholt and Bill Veach voted to support Mary Rose Spalletta. Allers voted for Ed Schoonover until ultimately switching his vote to Spalletta.
Spalletta, an eight-year member of MERTF, resigned her seat over the summer due to concerns similar to those expressed by Johnson regarding the alleged “politicization” of the task force. The task force has been the target of sharp criticism via the social media outlet cited by Johnson which Mayor Dan Allers hold a weekly show with.
Johnson also criticized the town’s relationship with the social media outlet behind posting the email online – which he called a “propaganda narrative” and a “cancer.”
Veach resigned from the town council earlier this year and was replaced by Scott Safford who joined the council in unanimously approving Rood’s appointment on Monday. Allers, Atterholt and Safford had approved Rood’s boardwalk while on the Local Planning Agency though Atterholt voted against the boardwalk on town council.
The boardwalk collapsed due to Hurricane Milton.
Town council also voted to appoint former Castle Beach Condo Board President Sharon Hegstrom and Sand Construction owner Leo Sand to join Rood as the new members of the task force. Board members Rob Howell and Jennifer Rusk were reappointed.
Sand’s application lists his home address as the Caper Beach Club on Fort Myers Beach while he lists his work address as Sand Companies in Waite Park, Minnesota. Sand made a $1,000 donation to the campaign of Safford earlier this year.
Public kept in dark on how councilmembers voted
A complete breakdown of how each councilmember voted was not immediately available as the council once again engaged in a written ballot vote whereby the votes were only tallied aloud by Town of Fort Myers Beach Clerk Amy Baker and not read aloud to the public to confirm how each candidate voted.
The Florida Sunshine Law requires that all of the votes by each councilmember be read aloud at the meeting so as not to violate the state prohibitions on secret ballots. As of early Tuesday afternoon, the votes by each councilmember still had not been released.
Those in attendance at the meeting or watching on YouTube were left without any idea as to how each councilmember vote.
Baker announced the vote tallies on Monday — which showed that Rood was the lone MERTF candidate to receive five votes. Hegstrom and Sand received four votes while Rusk received three. Howell, known as “Ranger Rob,” won a runoff to keep the final seat. Howell, who works at the Pink Shell Beach Resort as a naturalist, was involved in an attempted rescue of a manatee earlier this year. Rusk is an International Osprey Foundation monitor and organizes the town’s educational pop-up booths on the island’s nature. She was instrumental in producing a children’s educational coloring book this year.
By late Tuesday afternoon, the town clerk’s office released the ballots of the councilmembers though the runoff showed that Howell and Margaritaville Beach Resort developer Tom Torgerson had each received two votes. Baker had announced that Howell won.
On the first ballot, Howell, Torgerson and David Patton each received two votes. On the runoff, Howell received a vote from Safford and Woodson. Torgerson received votes from Allers and Atterholt. King voted for Maureen Kocisko.
MERTF loses longtime Beach resident, educator
The decision by the town council not to reappoint Larkin means the town was losing a longtime resident and volunteer who dedicated her time to the town and MERTF educational pop-up booths despite losing her home in Hurricane Ian.
Larkin owned a home on Fort Myers Beach for more than 35 years until Hurricane Ian destroyed it. She still owns the property but doesn’t intent to rebuild.
A master gardener and retired educator, Larkin took an active interest in discussions on the board about encouraging native plantings on the island and working to update the town’s code to encourage more native plantings and discourage non-native plants. Larkin opposed the town’s decision to install royal palm trees at Times Square — which she said posed a safety hazard. She also was recently critical of town staff for having damaged a garden planted at Times Square with community donations.
Larkin joined MERTF in opposing the lagoon walkover as well as the lighting plan for Bayside Veterans Park. Larkin also opposed the use of artificial turf at the park — which she said posed risks to the environment by installing plastic at the park.
Councilmembers comment on appointments
Fort Myers Beach Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt was the lone councilmember to address questions regarding the council declining to name Larkin back to the board.
“I would like to thank both Steve Johnson and Rose Larkin for their service to the Town of Fort Myers Beach,” Atterholt said. “I believe public service is a calling and I thank them for answering the call. With respect to Ed Rood, although we may have disagreed in the past, we have always stayed cordial and continued talking. I welcome a wide diversity of viewpoints on an advisory committee so they can both guide and challenge the Town Council.”
Councilmember Scott Safford said he was “saddened by the resignation of Mary Rose and Steve Johnson. I see them quite often on the beach and they are environmental warriors. I did feel much better after speaking to Mary Rose. She said that she would continue to be a steward of the environment and continue her work with Turtle Time. Knowing Steve, he will likely do the same. The sheer number of applicants to MERTF made it difficult to decide who to choose. I based my votes on who reached out to me and showed a passion. I feel that the appointments this week gave the committee a good balance of different views and backgrounds. Everyone wants what is best for our environment and our sea life, but sometimes things get out of control. I think a prime example is what Margaritaville is going through with their televisions. It is absurd that they need to be turned off during the day to protect the turtles. There needs to be a balance of protection and common sense.”
Mayor Dan Allers did not address his votes on Larkin or Rood specifically in a request for comment, though he said in an email “We are fortunate to have a wide variety of individuals with different skill sets stepping up to serve on our various committees. When an abundance of people apply for a limited number of seats, it can be challenging to select those who will serve. Institutional knowledge of the committee’s inner workings is invaluable, but so is the fresh perspective that new members can bring.”
There were 11 applications for the five open seats — following Johnson’s withdrawal.
Following the votes, Johnson said the council reaffirmed his opinion that they have politicized the advisory board by “promoting people who have self-interests to defend” rather than those on boards such as MERTF who had the qualifications to “serve the community.”
Larkin, who brings free plants from the Florida Native Plant Society and gives literature from the Lee County Extension Service on gardening to the MERTF pop-up booths, said she would continue to volunteer.
“I’m disappointed,” she said.
Councilmember Karen Woodson did not respond to a request for comment on Rood’s appointment and the vote to replace Larkin.
Rood also sued the state to challenge the state’s ownership of the critical wildlife area and advocated for a name change so that the Little Estero island Critical Wildlife Area would no longer be known as a critical wildlife area. Rood further organized neighbors to issue trespass warning letters to Florida Audubon – a conservation organization dedicated to protecting birds and which has worked closely with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and property owners for years to protect the nests of the local shorebird population. Rood and others blocked Florida Audubon from their properties to observe the nesting – which includes four threatened birds on the island. Rood eventually lifted the restrictions after Florida Audubon dropped a lawsuit challenging the town council’s approval last year of Rood’s controversial boardwalk. As part of the settlement, Rood was supposed to encourage neighbors to lift the trespassing letters against Audubon. Many of the property owners did though not all have.
Fort Myers Beach Councilmember John King declined to comment on his vote for Rood or on the letter that was sent by a member of MERTF to the entire town council seeking support from attacks by a social media outlet, which was then shared with the same social media outlet that has been echoing attacks by those seeking to upend the committee’s work.
This story will be updated.
Fort Myers Beach Observer Editor Nathan Mayberg can be reached at NMayberg@breezenewspapers.com