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He's not quitting after all--again

A Yankeetown council member rescinds his resignation for a second time to assure a quorum for the embattled body.

By ELENA LESLEY
Published June 23, 2006

YANKEETOWN - In what is becoming another part of the saga of this embattled town, council member Roger Myrick has rescinded his resignation for the second time.

Myrick turned in a letter to Town Hall dated Monday.

"I feel it would be best for me to continue on the council so town government can function while Mary Pate takes time off to help her husband through his illness," Myrick wrote.

The council has been forced to cancel two recent meetings because of a lack of quorum. Only Pate, Glen Spetz and Dan Bowman remained on the council after Myrick and council member Diane Blomgren resigned May 11.

But Myrick rescinded his resignation a few days later, so the council could make quorum for a regular meeting May 16 because Pate was absent.

At the meeting, the three council members present voted to enter into negotiations with developers who want to build a controversial resort hotel on the Withlacoochee River.

Some residents questioned whether the vote was valid, since Myrick had written "effective immediately" on his original letter of resignation.

But Myrick and other town officials said the resignation was not effective unless accepted by the council.

"At this time, it is my understanding that no council action has been taken to accept the resignation submitted," Myrick wrote in his second letter to rescind the resignation.

A council meeting is scheduled for today at 7:30 p.m.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement began officially investigating allegations of wrongdoing in Yankeetown Tuesday.

Elena Lesley can be reached at 564-3627 or elesley@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 23, 2006, 07:06:10]