Bruce Colella admits he let his anger get the best of him when he abruptly resigned from the Wildwood City Council during a contentious council meeting Monday night.
In fact, it only took him about an hour and a half to realize his mistake and take back his resignation.
But now, it's uncertain what effect that momentary lapse will have on Colella's ability to remain in office.
Mayor Tim Woerther says he doesn't know if in fact Colella is still a council member.
Just after he informed the audience he was stepping down, Colella followed it up with a message confirming the resignation sent from his Blackberry at 10:05 p.m Monday. It said he was resigning for personal reasons.
Then at 11:32 p.m., Colella changed his mind.
"I may have acted hastily in my previous missive," he wrote in another email. "Please rescind my resignation."
Woerther declined to do so. Instead at 12:28 a.m. on Tuesday, Woerther replied to Colella's initial e-mail, saying that he was accepting Colella's resignation.
The timing is critical.
Colella maintains he made an offer to resign. The resignation wasn't accepted. Then he withdrew the offer. Therefore, according to contract law, he never resigned and is still on the council. The mayor, Colella argues, had no authority to accept his resignation.
Woerther says he's not so sure.
I'd love to see this make it to court. I really would.
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