<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Courtesy of the Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina) at:</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/02/4582880/indian-trail-councilman-resigns.html#.UscIsH-9KSO">http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/02/4582880/indian-trail-councilman-resigns.html#.UscIsH-9KSO</a></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">----------------------------------</div><div><h1 class="entry-title" style="margin-top: 0px; font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 24px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: rgb(19, 106, 168);">Indian Trail councilman tenders resignation – in Klingon<div style="margin-top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 10pt; font-family: sans-serif; overflow: hidden;"><br style="margin-top: 0px;">Read more here: <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/02/4582880/indian-trail-councilman-resigns.html#.UsbG0fRDt8F#storylink=cpy">http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/02/4582880/indian-trail-councilman-resigns.html#.UsbG0fRDt8F#storylink=cpy</a></div></h1><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">An Indian Trail councilman decided to boldly go where no politician has gone before – and tendered his resignation this week in the Klingon language.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Apparently David Waddell no longer wanted to live long and prosper on the board.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In an interview Thursday, Waddell said his resignation letter to Mayor Michael Alvarez was written in Klingon, the language of a proud warrior race in the “Star Trek” TV shows and movies, as an inside joke. But in case the mayor wasn’t up to speed with his Klingon, Waddell included a translation using <a href="http://Bing.com">Bing.com</a>.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Folks don’t know what to think of me half the time,” said Waddell, so “I might as well have one last laugh” on the board.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Alvarez called the letter childish and unprofessional. “It’s an embarrassment for Indian Trail, and it’s an embarrassment for North Carolina,” he said.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Waddell said he is resigning as of Jan. 31. He is in his first term on the board, and the four-year seat expires in December 2015.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a letter to the community that was written in English, Waddell elaborated on his reasons for leaving.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He expressed frustration with what he saw as runaway development in the town as well as concerns with how requests for public information were being handled. In November, the council <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/11/12/4460141/indian-trail-considers-plan-to.html#.UsW3FvRDvjs" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;">tabled a plan</a> to establish more fees for some public records and add more restrictions on how records could be viewed.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Waddell, a plumber, said he thought he would be more effective by coming to board meetings as a citizen and speaking out on issues. He said he also needed to devote time to mount a write-in campaign on the Constitution Party’s platform for Kay Hagan’s U.S. Senate seat.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Town Manager Joe Fivas said the council will determine the replacement process for Waddell later this month or in early February. The fast-growing town in western Union County has a population of about 35,000.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 30px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Waddell ended his four-sentence resignation letter by paraphrasing a Klingon proverb: “Perhaps today is a good day (to) resign.”</span></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-family: sans-serif; text-align: left; text-transform: none; overflow: hidden;">Read more here: <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/02/4582880/indian-trail-councilman-resigns.html#.UsbG0fRDt8F#storylink=cpy">http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/02/4582880/indian-trail-councilman-resigns.html#.UsbG0fRDt8F#storylink=cpy</a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="margin-top: 0px;">Read more here: <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/02/4582880/indian-trail-councilman-resigns.html#.UsbG0fRDt8F#storylink">http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/02/4582880/indian-trail-councilman-resigns.html#.UsbG0fRDt8F#storylink</a></span></div></div><div><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Indian Trail Councilman David Waddell</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="cid:C3E47452-714B-4F83-B9C8-A195949D9921" alt="sBJ8u.Em.138.jpeg" id="C3E47452-714B-4F83-B9C8-A195949D9921" width="316" height="406"></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Councilman David Waddell's resignation.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="cid:967575F1-876D-48F2-AFA4-89791EEEA43F" alt="image.jpeg" id="967575F1-876D-48F2-AFA4-89791EEEA43F" width="635" height="465"></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">----------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There's room at the top they are telling you still.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But first you must learn to smile as you kill,</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- John Lennon</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>