Council puts Charter changes in front of voters on salary, terms of office

The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council voted on Monday to approve a second reading of proposed changes to the town’s Charter on Monday, which will give voters in November the choice on whether they want to extend the terms of office for appointed councilmembers and create a salary compensation committee appointed by council which would have the duty of determining recommendations for salary adjustments every four years, along with three other proposed changes.

The changes were proposed by the Charter Review Commission, whose members Town Council appointed last year. Town Council had previously voted last month to move the changes to a required second reading despite concerns from two councilmembers regarding some of the changes.

Fort Myers Beach Councilmember Rebecca Link had raised objections last month to a proposed Charter change which would mandate the Council appoint a salary compensation committee for councilmembers to recommend salary changes for councilmembers. Link also opposed extending the terms of office for councilmembers who are appointed to the Council, for the remainder of the term rather than the current practice of appointed councilmembers serving until the next election.

Mayor Dan Allers said he has heard from constituents also concerned about the proposed Charter change in terms of office for appointed councilmembers, which could potentially result in the council appointing replacement councilmembers who could serve for almost the entire term of office for an elected councilmember depending on the date of a resignation under the proposal.

Allers has supported the establishment of the salary commission.

Councilmembers receive a cost of living adjustment increase annually.

Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers currently earns $20,053 for his part-time job, while all other councilmembers receive $17,546 annually for their part-time work. Under the town’s charter, the mayor is appointed by the town’s councilmembers.

The Town Council would still have to vote to approve increases to their salary if the proposed salary commission makes such a recommendation.

The proposed changes to the Town of Fort Myers Beach Charter are set to go in front of voters this November for a referendum, along with three other questions. Among the other changes is a provision that would make the Vice Mayor the automatic Mayor for the rest of the Mayor’s term in the event the Mayor resigns their seat. Currently, Town Council votes to appoint the Mayor each year. Mayor Dan Allers has served in that capacity since 2022. Other Charter changes involve

Another change would set in the Charter that the Lee County Supervisor of Elections sets the qualifying period for town elections. This issue became a matter of conflict most recently during the recall election when the Town Council voted against setting qualifying dates for the recall election. The Supervisor of Elections ultimately set the qualifying dates after identifying an interlocal agreement that allowed the Supervisor of Elections to set the dates.

The fifth proposed change would explicitly prohibit the acceptance of unlawful gifts, and requiring disclosure of ex parte communications in quasi-judicial proceedings.

Voters will be able to vote on each individual proposed change.

On Monday, Link said she continued to hold objections she raised to the Charter changes last month and sought support from other councilmembers for her positions.

Councilmember John McLain, who was appointed to his seat in February by Town Council, said “I don’t disagree with you.” However, he didn’t act to change any of the proposals. “The voters will decide,” McLain said.

Link said she would support letting voters decide, after asking if any other councilmembers wanted to make any changes to the Charter Review Commission’s recommendations. “I am OK moving this onto the voters to vote. I made my thoughts known,” Link said.

Link said last month that the proposal to extend the terms of appointed councilmembers would take away the power of the voters. She also cited the “intense development” issues at stake in the elections.

Councilmembers John King and Scott Safford both supported putting the proposed changes in front of voters.

Safford was Town Council’s liaison to the Charter Review Commission and defended the salary commission last month. He said the salary committee’s recommendation would insulate Town Council from any political backlash, and would offer an opportunity for an objective analysis of the salaries of the councilmembers.

Link argued that councilmembers should only receive cost of living adjustments, and that by setting salaries through comparing the town to other municipalities, would move the Council away from a public service model.

Safford thanked Charter Review Commission Chair Jim Dunlap for his work. “Now it’s up to the voters to decide,” Safford said.

Allers said he spoke to some people uncomfortable with term extensions for appointed councilmembers which could potentially put them in office for nearly four years. “More people are uncomfortable than comfortable. I can go either way. I see their point,” Allers said.

“I am a proponent of letting the voters decide. I am comfortable with keeping it the way it is and letting the voters decide,” Allers said.