City councilman resigns in Klingon

INDIAN TRAIL, N.C., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A North Carolina city councilman tendered his resignation by giving the mayor a short letter written in Klingon, a made-up language from "Star Trek."

David Waddell resigned his post as an Indian Trail city councilman by giving Mayor Michael Alvarez a letter written in the language of the warrior species from the "Star Trek" films and TV shows and accompanied the text with a Bing.com translation, the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported Friday.

"Teach [the] city [the] constitution," the translation read. "I will return next time to [witness] victory. Resignation occurs in 2014 the 31st of January."

"Perhaps today is a good day [to] resign," the letter concluded, paraphrasing the Klingon saying "Perhaps today is a good day to die."

Waddell described the Klingon resignation as an inside joke.

"Folks don't know what to think of me half the time," Waddell said."I might as well have one last laugh."

Waddell detailed the reasons for his resignation in a letter to citizens. He said he was concerned about the development of the city and the way requests for public information were being handled by the city's government.

He said he plans to mount a write-in campaign for the U.S. Senate with the Constitution Party.

Alvarez described Waddell's resignation as unprofessional.

"It's an embarrassment for Indian Trail, and it's an embarrassment for North Carolina," he said.