King, Woodson file lawsuits over recall petitions
Town of Fort Myers Beach councilmembers John King and Karen Woodson have both filed lawsuits to stop the recall effort against them.
King and Woodson, whom the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council recently voted to approve “reasonable attorney fees” to defend themselves against the recall, have both hired the Sarasota law firm of Bentley Goodrich Kison to file the lawsuit.
King’s lawsuit names former town councilmember Bill Veach, who is chair of the recall committee against him. Woodson’s lawsuit names former Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy, who chairs the committee to recall her.
King and Woodson both face allegations that they violated the Florida Sunshine Law by working together to try and replace former Town Attorney John Herin Jr. with another law firm in 2023. That firm eventually backed out of its offer of legal services when Veach challenged the process.
The recall accuses King and Woodson of misfeasance and malfeasance over other alleged violations of the Sunshine Law and town charter. Both are accused of not reporting gifts from those seeking land use approvals. King is accused of working to remove town contract employees. Woodson is separately accused of violating the Sunshine Law by discussing the Fort Myers Beach Pier with Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt.
Both have denied the allegations.
In their complaints filed last week, King and Woodson attacked the recall petitions as being legally insufficient for not including for specifics about the allegations and for being vague.
In the filing, attorney Morgan Bentley cited case law and wrote that state law was “not intended to allow a petitioner to speak only in vague generality. Were we to uphold a recall petition based on the bare allegations before us, it would be tantamount to declaring ‘open season’ on any elected official who did anything, or failed to do something, which happened to displease ten percent of the electorate.”
The lawsuits, filed in Lee County Circuit Court, asks the court to stop the recall effort.
King said he expects the town to pay his legal fees for filing the suit. “The complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief has been filed by the attorney I retained and expect to be reimbursed by the Town,” King wrote in an email.
“This effort is based on lies known to the organizers. I am looking forward to seeing this matter addressed and putting an end to it so the focus can be back on moving our Island forward,” King said.
Woodson did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Neither Murphy or Veach said they had yet been served with the lawsuits when contacted by the Fort Myers Beach Observer.
Both King and Woodson also have used the same Sarasota law firm to respond to the petitions, which they did last month. In their defense against the petitions filed last month, both councilmembers called the allegations false for lacking “essential facts, including time, location, and amount.” Their responses contend that any allegations should have first been made with the Florida Commission on Ethics.
By state law, the recall petitions are limited to 200 words.
The group seeking to recall King and Woodson has previously collected signatures from 10% of the town’s registered voters for their recall, which in turn King and Woodson to respond. Their responses will now go on the new petitions. The petitioners now have 60 days to collected signatures from 15% of the town’s registered voters. If they are successful, King and Woodson would have five days to resign or face an early election. If they resigned, the town council could appoint their replacements to serve through November, 2026.
Their lawsuit filed last week seeks to end the recall process entirely by invalidating the petitions.
King and Woodson were both elected to four-year terms on the town council in 2022 after Hurricane Ian and their terms aren’t up for election until November, 2026. If the recall effort is successful an early election could be held as early as November of this year.