Special recall election called for Nov. 4 for seats of Town of Fort Myers Beach councilmembers King and Woodson
The Town of Fort Myers Beach was notified today that a special recall election has been set for Tuesday, Nov. 4, for the recall of Fort Myers Beach councilmembers John King and Karen Woodson.
J. Frank Porter, Chief Judge of the 20th Judicial Circuit Court for Lee County, set the date of the recall election as required by state law. King and Woodson had five days to resign or face the recall election after two committees formed to recall their seats gathered more than 560 signatures from Town of Fort Myers Beach residents on each of their recall petitions. The petitions were certified by the Lee County Supervisor of Elections last week.
An Emergency Ordinance to identify the qualifying period for filling of vacancies that may result in the Special Recall Election will be brought to Town Council at the Town Council Meeting tomorrow, Sept. 11.
Town of Fort Myers Beach Communications Director Nicole Berzin made the announcement today after the town was notified by Judge Porter.
King and Woodson’s seats will be up for recall in a special ballot. Interested citizens to fill the seats of King and Woodson must be a resident of the Town of Fort Myers Beach and a registered voter and have resided in the corporate limits of the municipality for a minimum of one year prior to qualifying for election.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council will set the qualifying period at its meeting tomorrow.
Beginning today, interested citizens can contact the Supervisor of Elections Office at 239-533-8683, or visit their website at https://www.lee.vote/.
Two recall committees met the signature requirements on two separate petition filing periods since May in order to force the recall election of King and Woodson.
King and Woodson are accused of violating the Florida Open Meeting Law through an attempt to replace former Town of Fort Myers Beach Attorney John Herin Jr. in 2023, allegedly accepting unreported gifts from entities seeking land use approvals in the town and other alleged violations of the town charter.
King and Woodson have denied all allegations and have filed a lawsuit to stop the recall.
King said on Wednesday after the announcement of the recall election date that “The fight continues in the courts and on the streets to put an end to these lies. The ends don’t justify the means.”
Based on the announcement from the town, the recall election is set to unfold with one ballot for all candidates seeking the council seats of King and Woodson on Nov. 4 at a single election date.
“The recall of the council members and the vote for candidates to fill any potential vacancies will occur in the same election on Nov. 4,” said Gaby Aguirre, communications director for the Lee County Supervisor of Elections. The deadline to be registered in the Town of Fort Myers Beach to vote is on Oct. 6. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot from the Lee County Supervisor of Elections is Oct. 23.
Former Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy, who headed one of the recall committees, credited the work of more than 800 individuals who signed petitions to recall King and Woodson.
More than 560 signatures were certified on the second round of petitions and more than 450 signatures were certified for the first round of petitions. Some individuals signed one petition but not the other, or on the second round but not the first round and vice versa.
Murphy has ruled himself out of the running for any of the seats.
Murphy commented on the completion of the committee’s work to for the recall by saying Wednesday that “this part of the recall effort is completed. We’ve done the work. Now it’s just a matter of getting some candidates to step up and we’re going to have an election.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated