WILMINGTON — Wilmington 2nd Ward City Council Member Michael Allbright has resigned that position.

In a letter emailed Monday to Council President Mark McKay, Allbright wrote, “It is with a heavy heart that I offer my formal resignation letter for my position on City Council for the 2nd Ward. The effective date is December 7th, 2018. I would like time at the end of the meeting on Thursday (Dec. 20) to speak to the City Council. I will be issuing a formal statement as to the series of events that led to this decision. I wish this was a more formal letter, but this decision was finalized while my wife and I are on vacation.”

Allbright posted on his Facebook page Monday evening, “I’ll have a more formal statement later. I want to thank the citizens of the 2nd Ward, the City of Wilmington administration and employees and my fellow council members. This is due to a move to another ward during my term. I will be filing to run for City Council at large when I return from vacation.”

Allbright has posts on Facebook going back nearly two months regarding having moved to a new home, making it appear he was representing 2nd Ward despite moving to 1st Ward.

The News Journal emailed him for comment Monday evening regarding questions including why the resignation wasn’t submitted until Dec. 17, the significance of the Dec. 7 effective date of resignation, and the status of any action taken by city council during any time he may have served/voted on council representing the 2nd Ward while residing in the 1st Ward.

Allbright, who said he was preparing to soon board a plane, told the News Journal he was trying to follow protocols and “My intent was to try to do things as legally and ethically as possible, while still trying to serve the 2nd Ward. As I understood it, I was still viable as a councilperson until any legal filing” including “the automatic filing to the BOE (Board of Elections)” and other change of address filings.