Supervisor of Elections verifies signatures for recall of Fort Myers Beach councilmembers
The Lee County Supervisor of Elections has verified that the committees to recall Fort Myers Beach councilmembers John King and Karen Woodson have collected enough signatures to force a recall election.
King and Woodson have five days to resign or a recall election will be scheduled.
The office of the Lee County Supervisor or Elections verified 564 signatures to recall Woodson and 561 signatures to recall King. The committees needed 503 signatures from Fort Myers Beach registered voters to force a recall.
King said on Thursday that he will not resign his seat.
“I will not resign because I have done nothing wrong,” King said. “A lie told often enough doesn’t make it the truth. It’s telling that the recall chairs are fighting legally to not have to show proof of any wrongdoing. The chair’s say they didn’t want to punish us with ethics complaints, but if they would have filed it with the Ethics Commission and we were found guilty, the Governor could remove us and it would have cost the taxpayers nothing. There is no proof,” King said.
Woodson said on Friday she would not be resigning either.
“I have no intention of resigning. I trust that the courts will recognize the false allegations rule accordingly,” Woodson said.
Former Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy, who headed the committee to recall Woodson, said the collection of the signatures was “quite an accomplishment. Just think what we could have done in the season.”
Murphy credited those who volunteered to collect the signatures and who he said “hustled their tails off in the hot summer sun to go door to door. It’s not easy.”
The task of the committees faced some hurdles as a large percentage of the town’s registered voters spend their summers up north.
The committees also face an additional challenge in that King and Woodson have filed a lawsuit to stop the recall. Their lawsuits name Murphy, who heads the committee to recall Woodson, and former councilmember Bill Veach, who heads the committee to recall King.
The attorney fees of King and Woodson are being paid for by the Town of Fort Myers Beach. The Town of Force Myers Beach Council voted in June to pay “reasonable attorney fees” for King and Woodson in order to aid them in their defense against the recall. So far, King and Woodson have billed the town a total of more than $12,000 to reimburse them for legal fees.
The lawsuit is being heard in Lee County Circuit Court.
King and Woodson are challenging the allegations in the recall petitions, declaring the accusations false. In the recall petitions, King and Woodson are accused of violating the Sunshine Law and accepting unreported gifts from developers seeking land use approvals from the town. King and Woodson are accused of violating the Sunshine Law and town policies for allegedly working together to seek a replacement for former Town of Fort Myers Beach Attorney John Herin Jr. in 2023. King is separately accused of working to remove town employees. Woodson is separately accused of violating the Sunshine Law by speaking with Fort Myers Beach Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt about the Fort Myers Beach Pier.
In their lawsuit, both declare all charges false and vague without evidence. The attorney for Murphy and Veach has responded that the state recall petition limits the petitions to 200 words and that they are not required to prove the charges in order to force a recall.
In the event King or Woodson were to resign, the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council could appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of their term through November of 2026.
If not, a recall election would be held within 30 to 60 days on whether King or Woodson should be recalled.
According to state statute, in the absence of a resignation, Lee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Frank Porter will assign a date for a recall election.
According to state statute, the ballots for the recall election will ask voters whether to recall King or Woodson.
“If an election is held for the recall of members elected only at-large, candidates to succeed them for the unexpired terms shall be voted upon at the same election and shall be elected in the same manner as provided by the appropriate law for the election of candidates at general elections. Candidates shall not be elected to succeed any particular member. If only one member is removed, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected to fill the vacancy. If more than one member is removed, candidates equal in number to the number of members removed shall be declared elected to fill the vacancies; and, among the successful candidates, those receiving the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected for the longest terms. Cases of ties, and all other matters not herein specially provided for, shall be determined by the rules governing elections generally.”
The statute says, secondly, that “if an election is held for the recall of members elected only from districts, candidates to succeed them for the unexpired terms shall be voted upon at a special election called by the chief judge of the judicial circuit in which the districts are located not less than 30 days or more than 60 days after the expiration of the recall election. The qualifying period, for purposes of this section, shall be established by the chief judge of the judicial circuit after consultation with the clerk. Any candidate seeking election to fill the unexpired term of a recalled district municipal official shall reside in the district represented by the recalled official and qualify for office in the manner required by law. Each candidate receiving the highest number of votes for each office in the special district recall election shall be declared elected to fill the unexpired term of the recalled official.”
According to the statute, “when an election is held for the recall of members of the governing body composed of both members elected at-large and from districts, candidates to succeed them for the unexpired terms shall be voted upon at a special election.”
If only one of the councilmembers is voted to be removed from office, the vacancy created by the recall shall be filled by the town council. Candidates to succeed them for the unexpired terms shall be voted upon at the same election.
If an election is held for the recall of members elected only from districts, candidates to succeed them for the unexpired terms shall be voted upon at a special election between 30 to 60 days after the first recall election. Each candidate receiving the highest number of votes for each office in the special district recall election shall be declared elected to fill the unexpired term of the recalled official.
If King and Woodson are recalled, the candidates who succeed them will serve for the remainder of their term, which expires in November of 2026.
According to the office of the Lee County Supervisor of Elections, this would be the first recall election the office has handled.
Fort Myers Beach resident Steve Johnson, who helped collect signatures, said “the determination of this team to put out such (an) effort during the dog days of summer is nothing less than spectacular. The source of their commitment was grounded in the desire to return our Town Council back in to a representative government of the people. The overwhelming response that petition gatherers received was that the Town Council needs to perform their functions in the sunshine and to represent their electorate.”
Veach said “gathering these petitions during mid-summer when most people are gone was a testament to the unpopularity of these two.”