In the defamation lawsuit council member John King has filed against recall committee co-chair, former council member Bill Veach, Veach has refused to answer questions King submitted during the discovery phase of the lawsuit.
During the recall process Veach claimed King violated Florida’s Sunshine Law, accepted gifts from developers, and forced out a town contracted employee. King denied all of the allegations, repeatedly calling them lies. Veach never provided any proof of his allegations, nor did he need to during the recall. King was recalled by the voters, however, a judge ruled the recall petition was flawed because Veach never identified who the contract employee was on the petition. As a result, King was able to keep his seat.
King says all of the allegations Veach made against him are false and the recall was really about his vote on the Seagate/Red Coconut redevelopment. In fact, the recallers were telling voters that’s what it was about. They did not try to hide that. Elected officials are not subject to being recalled on a vote they take which is why these other allegations are often chosen. They do fit into the criteria for a recall and recallers do not have to provide proof. They just need to convince enough of the electorate to vote the elected officials out, which they did on Fort Myers Beach for both King and Karen Woodson…