Palmetto Bay residents cry for Steve Cody’s resignation, removal or recall

Councilman blasted for Charlie Kirk post on Facebook
The Palmetto Bay lynch mob came out in full force Monday night, and Councilman Steve Cody barely made it out of Village Hall with his seat still intact.
But maybe not for long.
While the mayor, the rest of the council and dozens of residents pleaded with Cody to step down because of a social media post on the Charlie Kirk murder last week, he is doubling down. His face during the public roasting was one of contempt or even boredom. Of course, any reaction would have been vilified. He refused to leave his seat, though. And the council, instead, voted to ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to investigate and remove Cody.
And if that doesn’t work, several residents said he should be recalled.
A standing room only crowd of residents demanded Cody’s resignation after he posted something on social media about Charlie Kirk’s murder that was a bit insensitive — even if it did ring with truth and drip with irony: “Charlie Kirk is a fitting sacrifice to our Lords: Smith & Wesson. Hallowed be their names,” he posted hours after the shocking assassination was caught live at a university campus in Utah. Then he quoted Kirk from something the firebrand said in 2023: “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
And while Cody later deleted the post and apologized, the mea culpa didn’t go very far with Palmetto Bay residents who packed the chambers Monday night as if they were pitchforks and the tiki torches from their back yards.
“He shouldn’t be here at all,” one resident shouted.
“You are unwell,” another man said at the podium, directly to Cody, even though the mayor had told the audience to direct themselves to the council. He also threatened to open a Turning Point USA desk — that’s the organization that Kirk founded — in Cody’s “back yard.”
“You have a choice. Resign and disappear quietly or stay and watch your name and reputation crumble,” the man said.
Over and over again, people took turns at the mic and told Cody to “do the right thing” and step down. Parents said he set a bad example for their kids. People who bragged that they were friends of Kirk’s — and isn’t everybody now? — said his apology was worthless. One man said that Cody brought shame on the name of the village because it’s all that comes up now on Google.
Read related: Palmetto Bay councilman is asked to resign after ‘vile’ Charlie Kirk post
The first to speak was former Councilman David Singer, who lost elections to Cody twice and has been a frequent critic and target. In an ironic twist, Singer lost his job after Cody railed against Singer’s social media post comparing the village’s duck eradication program to the Holocaust. It’s interesting to note that nobody at the meeting seemed to remember Singer’s post, which one could argue is just as insensitive and “vile” as Cody’s. And, also, just as protected speech.
“Where was the mayor and council in the last five years,” Singer asked, laying the blame on everyone there for providing the political climate for Cody to attack opponents and poke fun of residents. “He was their guy, doing their dirty work.”
Madeline Roman also said that the council had been hypocritical, ignoring the disrespect toward residents for six years and then chastising speakers when they call a council member out. “Using your voice now, when it’s finally being recognized outside our municipality, is a voice of convenience and completely self-serving.
“You regularly said you will do what the constituents ask. Well, today, we are asking that you hear us.”
And Cody’s political foes, namely Vice Mayor Mark Merwitzer and Councilwoman Marsha Matson — with the dramatic flair of an American flag planted in her lap — have obviously seized the opportunity to bash Cody, who has a smart mouth that gets him in trouble now and then.
“It’s not about the First Amendment, it’s about accountability,” said Matson, who has asked the mayor to sit her way from Cody’s side for two years. She asked again on Monday.
“Councilman Steve Cody has abused his position. His hateful and malicious comments are not the voice of a private citizen they are the words of an elected official who represents every single one of us in Palmetto Bay,” said Matson, who defended herself in 2023 from an ethics complaint filed by Cody, but said it cost the city $27,000 in legal fees. The Village has also spent upwards of $40K defending Merwitzer from a lawsuit Cody filed to remove him from his seat because he was not sworn in properly.
Even Mayor Karyn Cunningham, a longtime ally of the second-term councilman — who said she didn’t know of Kirk before his assassination — asked Cody to step down. She said the post condoned the killing — although it did not — and introduced the item asking for his resignation and censuring him for the post.
Read related: Palmetto Bay Village Council elections could get interesting this November
Cody didn’t respond to the criticism, and sat pretty much stone-faced, often with his arms crossed or his head resting on his fist. But Cody later told a TV reporter that he posted the Charlie Kirk item on his personal Facebook page, expressing his personal thoughts as an individual, not on an official page where he was talking policy “as a member of this body.”
He may not be a member of that body much longer. The council voted 4-1 Monday to ask Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to give him the boot. Cody, of course, was the lone “no.”
The matter now goes to our “Culture Warrior-in-Chief,” who could see it as gift-wrapped hunk of red meat for his base. Booting a Democrat over a tasteless post about his boy Charlie Kirk? Delicious. Plus it comes with a side dish of shifting the headlines away from, you know, property insurance, teacher shortages, the HOPE Florida scandal everyone conveniently forgot and that little presidential flameout nobody talks about anymore.
But DeSantis would have to find a legitimate reason, and a Facebook post ain’t it, according to state law. Florida Statute 112.51 allows the guv to suspend any appointed or elected official after an arrest for felony or misdemeanor or for “malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, habitual drunkenness, incompetence, or permanent inability to perform official duties.”
The fate of Palmetto Bay’s most infamous keyboard warrior might better rest in the hands of the voters, who could recall him with the signatures of just 10% of the registered voters. They have a good start with everyone at Village Hall Monday and their plus ones.
But since Cody was re-elected last November, and state law requires a waiting period of a year before a recall can be begun, they have to wait until December, a year from his swearing in, to start collecting signatures. Any collected so far must be tossed out.
Read related: Palmetto Bay budget hearing Monday could focus on “The Woods” property
Ladra wants to express, again, that she does not necessarily like what Cody posted. He probably thought it was clever. But, also, he wasn’t wrong. He didn’t condone the killing or celebrate political violence. What he did was point out the irony in the way that Kirk was killed, given what the conservative agitator and podcaster had said about acceptable gun deaths. It is relevant.
But, most importantly, it doesn’t matter one bit what I think of Kirk or his words or the shocking murder caught live on video and streamed publicly for everyone to watch. Whatever happened to the famous quote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it?” Attributed to Voltaire, it was actually written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in her 1906 book The Friends of Voltaire to summarize his views on free speech and religious tolerance. The quote highlights the importance of free expression, even for views one finds objectionable, underscoring the value of open debate in society.
“But there are people who believe you only have the freedom to express what they want you to express,” Cody told Political Cortadito after the meeting. He welcomes any investigation because he says he has done nothing to warrant suspension. In fact, he mused that Merwitzer and Matson could be suspended for dereliction of duty after they walked out of the meeting Monday when it wasn’t adjourned. Merwitzer says he can’t sit on the dais with Cody and has pledged to walk out of every meeting until the councilman is gone — one way or another. There is a meeting and the final budget hearing on Wednesday. If Merwitzer doesn’t vote simply because he doesn’t like Cody, isn’t that a dereliction of duty?
It seems that Kirk himself might roll over in his grave if he would have seen the spectacle on Monday. And Ladra is not going to be afraid to write that because some pearl-clutching people might think it’s insensitive. If Kirk really did stand for freedom of speech — and some might argue that all that was just the gimmick of a really good conman — he would defend Cody’s right to post whatever he wants.
Ladra can’t help but wonder if the outraged people of Palmetto Bay feel better after Monday. Now, you’re not just known for a Facebook post by a goofy jerk that would have been forgotten in a week.
Now, you’re known for trying to censor and silence people who don’t agree with the masses.
The post Palmetto Bay residents cry for Steve Cody’s resignation, removal or recall appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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