Kevin Anderson has been mayor of Fort Myers since 2020, when former mayor Randy Henderson left office to run for Congress. Anderson was re-elected in 2022 with nearly 80 percent of the vote. He's running to retain that office amid some controversial accusations of misconduct.

He moved to Fort Myers in the late 1970s after his Army service and joined the Fort Myers Police Department, where he worked for more than 24 years, and then went to work in the private sector for Chico's.

In an interview, Anderson recently outlined reasons why he believes he should be re-elected.

"I think because things have gone well in the past six years," he said. "We're getting roads repaved, infrastructure is being upgraded, we've addressed the water issue, development is happening. We've got housing programs to help people with affordable housing. We've reduced the tax rate. We've improved the quality of life. Crime is down. Good things are happening here in Fort Myers."

Asked what he considers his most important accomplishment as mayor, Anderson there were many different things, and "just getting things moving and into planning sessions sometimes are accomplishments, let alone getting them completed."

But as an example, he mentioned the City of Fort Myers Affordable Home Ownership Construction program in which houses are built on city-owned vacant residential lots and sold to lower income residents at cost. "We have built five houses and we have two under construction and our goal is to do 50 over the next five years," he said.

He said he's also proud of "getting the homeless encampment cleaned out of Lions Park" and moved into transitional housing.

Priorities for a second term would include continuing to focus on keeping this community safe, he said. "At one point, we were the 17the most dangerous city of our size, and now we're the third safest."

"We're going to continue to improve the infrastructure, working on building economic development, as well as our affordable housing program, and continue to make sure we're good stewards of the tax dollars."

Although the city just raised the property tax millage rate from 6.5 mills in 2026 to 6.9 in 2027, "it's still quite far lower than it was when I was elected in 2020," Anderson said. In fact, the rate then was 7.96 mills.

Regarding Amendment 3, which would significantly raise the homestead exemption and lower property tax, "I think Fort Myers is positioned to handle this should it pass," he said, although he believes the measure will fail.

Asked about capital improvement projects such as the new police station and McCollum Hall improvements, Anderson said both of those and more are progressing, pointing to a recent groundbreaking on the police headquarters and the city's commitment of $4 million to complete McCollum Hall.

While those projects have moved more slowly, another had to be addressed right away. Soon after taking office, Anderson said, "we discovered that we had a water issue," one that went back multiple years. "The city manager and I addressed these issues as quickly as well could. We had well over a dozen new wells drilled. We expanded the water treatment plant. We have plans for an additional wastewater treatment plant," he said.

"It's a matter of recognizing that the growth is coming and not waiting for the infrastructure to catch up with the growth, but to have the growth catch up with the infrastructure."

Regarding the allegations of two young men who have said Anderson made unwanted sexual advances, he said, "They are false. It's a great coincidence that this has surfaced just weeks before the campaign. I think it's politically motivated. It's very well coordinated. And most of the people speaking out about this don't even live in the city of Fort Myers."

Anderson did resign from four nonprofit boards of directors amid these allegations. "I voluntarily worked with the boards to step down to make sure they weren't dragged into this," he said. Asked if that wouldn't apply to the mayor's office as well, Anderson replied, "Oh no, I've done nothing wrong."

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