Fort Myers Beach Offers Its Two Fired Directors Cash Not to Sue — One Has Signed, the Other Has Until Wednesday
Former Community Development Director Frankie Kropacek has accepted an $11,000 'voluntary resignation' deal from the Town of Fort Myers Beach; former Community Services Director Jeff Hauge has until November 4 to decide on $10,000. Both were fired October 14 after a grants investigation — and because the offers fall under $20,000, the Town Council never had to approve them.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach has put a price on silence from the two department directors it fired last month: $11,000 for former Community Development Director Frankie Kropacek, who has signed, and $10,000 for former Community Services Director Jeff Hauge, who has until November 4 to decide, according to Beach Talk Radio News's review of the offers. The documents are titled 'Voluntary Resignation Agreement & General Release' — in return for the cash, each man agrees not to sue the town for being investigated and fired. Both were placed on paid administrative leave in August and fired by Town Manager Will McKannay on October 14.
The sequence around the deals is its own story. Because each offer is under $20,000, neither needs Town Council approval — several council members told the outlet they knew nothing about them. The council had only recently approved a resolution, urged by the town's HR Director, letting McKannay approve settlements of $20,000 and below on his own; the HR Director had sought a $35,000 ceiling, Mayor Dan Allers voted no, and the next day Kropacek and Hauge were fired and offered the agreements. Kropacek was making $143,185.90 a year and Hauge $130,425.10; between their two months of paid leave ($36,580.24, by the outlet's accounting) and the first forensic-accounting bills, taxpayers are on the hook for $59,039.94 so far, including the accepted Kropacek deal.
Underneath the severance question sits the investigation that started it: irregularities the town says it found during the 2027 budget process in four grants totaling $31.7 million — a $1 million Bay Oaks Campus Redevelopment grant, a $17 million state environmental grant, an $8 million state emergency-management grant and a $5.7 million FEMA reimbursement grant. Outside firm Clifton Larson Allen is conducting a forensic review under a six-month contract, with no cost cap; its findings are not yet final, and no finding against either man has been published. The town's public information officer says McKannay's internal review is complete and that the town anticipates a public meeting or town hall once the outside findings are available.
