FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK) \u2014 As public comment got started, Fort Myers Councilman Fred Burson finished his night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the second meeting in a row, Burson got up and walked out as people called on Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson to resign, after two young men publicly accused Anderson of unwanted sexual advances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing I can vote on,\u201d Burson told WINK News in the parking lot. \u201cSo why do I want to listen to it? It\u2019s trash.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burson said the accusations are hearsay and that he \u201cabsolutely\u201d supports Anderson. It\u2019s the first time a council member commented on the situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ultimately, voters will decide Anderson\u2019s fate at the ballot box on Monday. Accusations of misconduct have dogged the mayor’s re-election campaign for weeks as he including the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools. However, Anderson has given no indication that he intends to step down as mayor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The saga started during a Sept. 21, City Council meeting, when Dominic Hendricks, an 18-year-old Florida Gulf Coast University student, addressed the council directly, alleging that an interaction with the mayor during a downtown Fourth of July celebration escalated into unsolicited sexual advances.<\/p>\n
“On the Fourth of July, Kevin Anderson sexually harassed me. He tried to solicit sex from me,” Hendricks told the council, describing questions about his sexuality and personal life. “I was uncomfortable and scared throughout the entire conversation. I couldn\u2019t sleep that night or the next.”<\/p>\n
Another accuser, Kagan Vann, alleged that Anderson propositioned him for sex in November 2024 at a local bar. Vann claimed his drink may have been spiked during the encounter. WINK Investigates obtained Fort Myers Police body camera footage from that night, showing Vann clearly intoxicated. He was transported by EMS and reported his claims to police. Due to a potential conflict it was transferred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) which closed the case without any criminal charges.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anderson has denied any wrongdoing, insisting his actions and conversations have been misrepresented.<\/p>\n
“I want to be clear: these allegations being made are completely false and taken out of context,” Anderson said on Sept. 21. “These exchanges are being taken out of context to create a false narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since then, the mayor has been silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the Oct. 19 City Council meeting, three councilmembers walked out in the middle of public comment, abruptly bringing the meeting to an end.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Councilmembers Liston Bochette, Fred Burson, and Darla Bonk walked out of the chamber, stripping the council of its required quorum. Mayor Anderson subsequently ordered an end to the proceeding.<\/p>\n
When approached by Chief WINK Investigates reporter Chorus Nylander, Bochette deflected questions about the allegations, saying he\u2019ll only speak about \u201ccity business.\u201d When Nylander pushed back asking how such claims against the mayor aren\u2019t city business, he said \u201cgoodbye\u201d and walked away.<\/p>\n
It was a different story on Monday. Bochette did not attend the meeting. Even though Burson walked out, public comment continued. Bonk remained seated, along with the rest of the City Council.<\/p>\n
Before the meeting started, Lee County NAACP President James Muwakkil led a protest outside. Muwakkil has repeatedly called for a new investigation, even as he\u2019s faced pushback from other members of the chapter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Oct. 19, the Lee County NAACP Executive Committee that said Muwakkil is acting in a private capacity – not as the chapter\u2019s president.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We recognize the importance of accountability, fairness, and due process in matters involving public officials. Our commitment remains to the mission and principles of the NAACP and to serving the residents of Lee County without partisan affiliation,\u201d the post said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Muwakkil declined to comment on the post Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The reason we’re doing this right here is that we’re making good noise for justice, good noise against injustice,\u201d Muwakkil said, as demonstrators chanted.\u00a0 “Justice is for everyone, regardless of your race, no matter what the race, color, creed, religion, or sexuality may be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anderson declined to comment as he left Monday\u2019s meeting, quickly walking to his pickup truck before driving away. He posted a short message on Facebook.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Fort Myers can\u2019t afford to gamble with neighborhood safety, essential services, or the progress that has been made,” Anderson said. “Changing leadership now could set our city back for years.”<\/p>\n
Hendricks, one of the young men who originally leveled accusations against the mayor, called on Anderson to resign during Monday’s meeting. It’s a message he’s repeatedly delivered from the podium over the last month. WINK News asked Hendricks what he plans to do if Anderson wins re-election.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Well, whatever action we can,” Hendricks said. “But I will say this. If he wins tomorrow and if he wins at the polls, I won’t, and I know a number of people won’t feel safe in the City of Fort Myers.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK) \u2014 As public comment got started, Fort Myers Councilman Fred Burson finished his night.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[73534,91443,209,211,210,5957,18613,162314,28,897,3737,13018,56113,162320,24131,1375,17011,173513,86425,5242,22818,173511,173512],"class_list":["post-445828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-4th-of-july","tag-anderson","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-city-hall","tag-councilman","tag-dominic-hendricks","tag-florida","tag-fort-myers","tag-fort-myers-police","tag-fred-burson","tag-james-muwakkil","tag-kagan-vann","tag-kevin-anderson","tag-mayor","tag-myers","tag-naacp-lee-county","tag-names","tag-president","tag-speaker","tag-surname","tag-surnames"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}