City Planner Resigns; Called Lufkin an “Armpit” on Twitter
Posted/updated on: April 29, 2011 at 12:58 pm
LUFKIN — A Lufkin city planner who had used his public Twitter feed to express derogatory feelings about the city and region resigned Wednesday morning after being confronted by city officials about the comments, City Manager Paul Parker said Thursday. That’s according to KETK and the Lufkin Daily News. Attempts to reach City Planner Trent Cantrell for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful. Cantrell in late March posted the message “Lufkin is an armpit. I know (…) I have to live here temporarily.” Months earlier he posted, “Hello there. Just waiting for the heat to leave for good. Of course, Deep East Texas will still be a (expletive) hole.”
Cantrell, who had been an employee with the city since April 2009, apparently removed the posts from the online social networking site Wednesday morning, after The Lufkin Daily News sought comment from city officials about the posts. Cantrell did not return a request for comment left in his office. His Lufkin home phone number is unlisted.
Assistant City Manager Keith Wright said Wednesday that the issue had been addressed but that he could not comment further. “We don’t condone this, and we regret that one of our employees feels that way,” Wright said. “We think our city is a great place to live, a great environment and a great place to have a family.”
