By Carl Fish
The ongoing effort to recall Fort Meade City Commissioner Matthew Taylor has moved from the political arena into a Polk County courtroom.
Taylor filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to halt the recall process and have the petition against him declared legally invalid. He is also asking for an expedited hearing because the recall process will continue unless a judge intervenes.
The recall petition accuses Taylor of malfeasance, misfeasance and neglect of duty, primarily involving the City Commission’s selection of a law firm. Recall organizers allege Taylor bypassed procurement requirements and that the firm’s higher fees resulted in mismanagement of public money.
Taylor’s attorneys strongly dispute those allegations. They argue the Fort Meade City Charter specifically gives the City Commission authority to hire the city attorney and that neither the charter nor state law requires the city attorney to be selected through a competitive bidding process.
The lawsuit also challenges the legal wording of the recall petition. Taylor’s attorneys contend the petition improperly treats malfeasance, misfeasance and neglect of duty as interchangeable grounds and argue that if any one of the stated grounds is legally insufficient, the entire petition must be thrown out.
Taylor’s lawsuit goes further, alleging the recall committee has failed to comply with Florida campaign finance requirements. The complaint also argues the stated reasons for the recall are a pretext and that the effort is actually retaliation for Taylor’s support of the controversial data center project approved in Fort Meade.
“This recall campaign is a gross abuse of the process and an effort to intimidate not just me, but other commissioners,” Taylor said in a statement released by his attorney. “Such tactics undermine the integrity of the democratic process and of good municipal government.”
The recall effort had already cleared its first signature hurdle before the lawsuit was filed. According to the complaint, the Polk County Supervisor of Elections certified the required number of valid signatures Aug. 14, and Taylor was served with the petition Aug. 26.
The lawsuit names Michael Bennett, chairman of the recall committee, along with Fort Meade City Clerk Troy Bell, Interim Deputy Clerk Olivia Martin and Polk County Supervisor of Elections Melony Bell as defendants.
Taylor is asking the court to declare the recall petition invalid and permanently stop any further recall proceedings, including a potential recall election.
For now, the recall has not been stopped. Taylor has asked the court to intervene, but a judge has not yet ruled on his request or the merits of his allegations.
