Veach says he will drop appeal on King recall if Brady appointed to replace Atterholt
Former Fort Myers Beach Councilmember Bill Veach told the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council on Monday ahead of discussions by the council regarding the replacement of Councilmember Jim Atterholt, that he would drop his appeal of a judge’s ruling invalidating the recall petitions for Councilmember John King, in the event the town council appointed Tom Brady. Brady was the second-leading vote getter in the recall election to replace King and former Councilmember Karen Woodson.
Lee County Circuit Judge Kyle Cohen invalidated the recall petition against King over concerns that the language in one of the three allegations against King, was too vague. More than 60% of Fort Myers Beach voters elected to recall King though the results of that election have been stayed pending the appeal by Veach. If Veach loses the appeal, King will remain on the council until an election this November.
Rebecca Link earned the most voters to fill the seats of Woodson and King, while Brady finished narrowly behind Link. Link took office in November after the election and will also have to run again in November to retain her seat.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council began the process on Monday of finding a replacement for Atterholt, who resigned his seat on Dec. 31.
King responded to the statement by Veach at the end of Monday’s council meeting by stating “I find it very disingenuous that he threatens to drop an appeal if we vote a certain way. It sounds almost like blackmail. He can drop the appeal at any time.”
Fort Myers Beach Councilman John King. File photo
Veach said after the meeting that the issue was not one of blackmail but uncertainty about the process regarding the recall.
“It’s really not the case at all. It’s just that that things get complicated. If Tom gets appointed and we win the appeal, I’m not sure what happens when he has the appointed seat that he is holding and the elected seat that he’s won,” Veach said.
If Veach were to win on appeal and Brady were already seated, it’s unclear to Veach what would happen in filling King’s seat since the two top vote-getters from the recall election (Brady and Link) would have been seated on the council. The state’s recall language stipulates that for each person recalled in a recall election, the top vote getters on the ballot earns their seats. Brady and Link were the top vote getters on the ballot, far outdistancing the third candidate Ed Rood.
A judge could also potentially schedule another special election in the event Brady were chosen to fill Atterholt’s seat.
“I would certainly be satisfied if Tom were seated,” Veach said. “I didn’t mean this as ‘vote for Tom or I will continue the recall thing.'”
Brady and Fort Myers Beach Local Planning Agency (LPA) member Jim Dunlap spoke at Monday’s council meeting to express interest in filling the vacant council seat.
“Tom has the mandate of the ballot box. I don’t think the appointment should be used as an excuse to seat somebody who is unelectable or who has policies that are unacceptable to the electorate,” Veach said.
Dunlap, whio also chairs the town’s Charter Review Commission, was one of a minority of members of the Local Planning Agency (LPA) who voted to approve the controversial Seagate Development Group project. The LPA voted to recommended denial of the Seagate project. The vote by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council to approve the Seagate project was considered to be a motivating factor in the election of Brady and Link.
Brady heads Protect FMB, a group backing a writ of certiorari to stop the Seagate project and reverse the town council’s 2023 vote to approve the project.
Tom Brady, who heads Protect FMB, was the second top vote-getter in November’s election to replace councilmembers John King and Karen Woodson. He has announced his interest in being appointed to the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council seat vacated by Jim Atterholt. File photo
Next election for appointed councilmember will be in November
During Monday’s Town Council meeting, town attorney Nancy Stuparich reversed an earlier statement issued by the town following the resignation of Atterholt on how the procedures will work on replacing Atterholt.
Stuparich said that contrary to an initial decision she had issued to town officials who sought guidance on the succession of Atterholt, the person appointed to fill the seat of Atterholt will serve until the next town election in November. Initially, Stuparich had told town officials that the appointment would run through the remainder of Atterholt’s term, which was to end in November of 2028.
Instead, Stuparich said that the person chosen by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council to replace Atterholt will serve until November of this year at which time they will have to run for a new four-year term to maintain the seat, rather than fill out the remainder of Atterholt’s term. Atterholt was re-elected to a four-year term in 2024, after having initially been elected in 2020.
“I apologize for any confusion that might have caused,” Stuparich said.
Stuparich clarified that she misinterpreted the town charter, which states that any appointments to replace a vacancy on the town council will last until the next regularly scheduled town council election.
The application window for those looking to fill Atterholt’s seat will close on Feb. 2.
Town of Fort Myers Beach Councilmember Jim Atterholt (left) and Councilmember Bill Veach (right). Photo by Nathan Mayberg
Town of Fort Myers Beach Manager Will McKannay initially recommended a three-week application window for those seeking to fill Atterholt’s seat, to Jan. 25, to allow Town of Fort Myers Beach Clerk Amy Baker to assemble applications and put them into the agenda for the town council’s Feb. 2 meeting.
“I want to avoid a prolonged vacancy for good governance and management. The sooner we can fill that with the best applicant the better,” McKannay said.
Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers asked for an extra week, leading to the council extending the application period to Feb. 2. The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council will vote on appointing Atterholt’s replacement at their Feb. 17 meeting.
Stuparich also said she had been asked to address residency requirements for those seeking the office. Stuparich said the individual appointed to the seat needs to have been a resident of the town for at least one year and must be a registered voter in the town. She suggested there should be a certification from the applicants that they are qualified to serve on the council.
Councilmember Scott Safford suggested the Charter Review Commission, which is chaired by Dunlap, consider whether an appointment of a candidate to fill a seat should be through the remainder of a term, instead of just until the next regular election as the language currently reads.
Safford, who is the council’s liaison to the Charter Review Commission, said he would be bringing the issue up with the commission.
Safford said that while he believes the town attorney is correctly interpreting the town’s charter, he said that if he were to resign this year there would be four seats up for election in November.
Safford also questioned whether the person appointed to the seat in February would be able to take the seat immediately or would have to wait a meeting to go through human resources orientation. Mayor Dan Allers expressed a similar inquiry.
“I don’t think you can just take the seat,” Allers said.
“I took the seat right away,” Link said regarding her election to replace Woodson on the council.
Fort Myers Beach Human Resources Director Talissa Oliveira said the person appointed by the town council could be seated right away.
Applications for the vacant council seat can be found at: https://www.fortmyersbeachfl.gov/1322/Appointment-to-Vacant-Seat-4.
Recall appeal
The appeal by Veach on the invalidation of the King recall petition is currently sitting in a state appeals court awaiting a judge’s ruling. The Town of Fort Myers Beach has been funding the legal expenses for King and Woodson to defend themselves against the recall.
Only the recall of Woodson was upheld by Cohen after King and Woodson filed suit to stop the recall.
The ongoing appeal by Veach regarding the recall of King revolves one of the three allegations in the recall petition, which alleged that King worked to dictate the removal of town contract employees. Cohen ruled the allegation was too vague by not naming the appeals, and thus struck down the validity of the recall petition against King. King was also accused of accepting unreported gifts and violating the Sunshine Law by allegedly working with Woodson to bring on a new town attorney. King denied all of the allegations and filed a defamation suit against Veach. Woodson filed a defamation suit against former Mayor Ray Murphy, who headed the recall committee to recall her.