LAKE DALLAS — Alan Fletcher folded his latest hand when he resigned his council seat, but his resignation letter shows the political poker game may have just begun.

Alan Fletcher

Penned on July 4 and made official when the City Council accepted it Thursday, Fletcher’s letter — more than 325 words — said he plans to hold the group “accountable from the outside until I am able to once again hold it accountable from the inside.”

In the letter, Fletcher said he planned to continue serving the community, including a possible run for mayor.

Tony Marino became mayor in December after winning a runoff election with fellow council member Karl Hammond.

Marino’s term will expire in May.

Fletcher said he had flirted with the idea of running for mayor after Marjory Johnson resigned in early 2008 and moved to Sanger. But her resignation came too soon after his failed attempt to have the council change its regular meeting time from Thursdays to Tuesdays to accommodate his job demands.

Fletcher works from Wednesday through Saturday as a trader coach with the Online Trading Academy. The staff is small, he said, making it tough to juggle the demands of the company’s four locations, including Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas.

“I am on the road, stuck in a hotel room 12-14 nights a month,” Fletcher wrote in an e-mail. “This is the price you pay to provide for your family in tough economic times.”

Prior to his company’s expansion, he said, he had near-perfect attendance. And during his current term, he had followed the procedures that he believed excused his absences.

However, when Thursday’s agenda showed that the council would discuss the criteria for excusing absences and whether Fletcher, under the charter, had already forfeited his seat, Fletcher resigned, saying he had no choice.

With the resignation letter added to the agenda, the council set aside the agenda items and did not discuss what would be considered an excused absence.

After the meeting, Marino said the discussion wasn’t necessary because Fletcher had resigned.

“We understand you have to work and make a living,” he said.

The vote to accept the resignation was not unanimous, with Hammond voting no.

After the meeting, Hammond said he’d hoped the council could come to some kind of meeting of the minds.

“Something to keep a valuable, long-term council member,” Hammond said, adding that accommodations have not been unprecedented.

“We let another council member have a ‘family leave’ for nine months and he came back, no problems, no questions asked,” Hammond said, referring to Richard Martin’s extended absence following a heart attack and stroke.

Hammond defeated Martin’s re-election bid in May.

The council learned from its city attorney Thursday that, under the charter, the election or appointment to fill Fletcher’s seat was not optional.

The council is expected to call, at its next meeting, a special election in November to replace Fletcher.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.