Dem. Nashville Mayor admits affair and may have misused taxpayer funds

Democratic Mayor of Nashville, Megan Barry, admitted to having an extramarital affair with former head of her security team and admitted she hoped to repair "the damage I have done."

It's unclear if the damage she was referring to was to her husband, Bruce or to the taxpayers whose funds she may have misused.

The Barrys had a son, Max, who, on July 30, 2017 died of an apparent drug overdose in Denver, Colorado at the age of 22.

Some of Ms. Barry's accomplishments since she has been mayor of Nashville:

Gun violence has increased significantly, rising up to 21 shootings from January to October 2017. The Tennessean noted that 2017 was "the bloodiest year for teens and children in more than a decade," many of whom were black children who lived in city-run [aka Democratic run] housing projects such as the James A. Cayce Homes. Barry promised to "get illegal guns off of our streets and out of the hands of kids and dangerous criminals" and she offered more job training for local kids. She did not explain how she planned to accomplish the goal of getting illegal guns out of the hands of kids.

In December 2017, Barry dedicated the first historical marker in Tennessee to honor an LGBT activist, Penny Campbell, in East Nashville. It is unclear as to which, if any, gender Penny Campbell identifies with, but whichever one or two she or he or whatever does, you can bet Barry is on board.

On January 31, 2018, Mayor Barry admitted she had an extramarital affair with Sgt. Robert Forrest Jr., the cop in charge of her security detail.

The Nashville city council's budget chairwoman, Tanaka Vercher, is reviewing her options to investigate if Barry possibly misused taxpayer funds during her extramarital affair. Vercher heads the budget and finance committee and has asked the council's lawyer to determine her authority to investigate the mayor's expenses during her tryst with her former security chief.

Barry accrued over $33,000 in travel expenses combined between her and Forrest, from January to late October 2017. She claims all the trips were just business related, not 'monkey business' related.

The Tennessean reviewed the case finding over $7,000 in overtime working on trips attended by Barry et al. In 2017, Barry and Forrest went on nine trips together--including one excursion to Greece--which they claim were "business related."

Forrest said on January 17th that he would retire Wednesday after over 31 years with Metro Nashville Police, 14 years of which he spent supervising the mayor's security detail over three administrations, and only this last one did he have a sexual relationship with the person he was securing.

"Right now the perception is--whether it's true or not--that this affair occurred on taxpayer's dime," Vercher said.

Trips to Greece are often taken by mayors of Nashville to ensure that Nashville souvlaki shops are getting pure ingredients.

Barry vowed during a Wednesday news conference to cooperate with any investigators in her conduct review, as if she had much of a choice.

"There were no policies that were violated," [if you don't count divine policy] she said. "Nothing illegal happened. The records will absolutely show that the expenses matched what the overtime expected."

Barry was elected in 2015 and said she plans to continue in office.

The affair began soon after she took office.

"I accept full responsibility for the pain I have caused my family and his," Barry blathered in a statement. "I am so sorry to my husband Bruce, who has stood by me in my darkest moments and remains committed to our marriage, just as I am committed to repairing the damage I have done."

Poor Mayor Barry--she is definitely the victim here, it seems.

Taking a page out of the POTUS communication handbook she tweeted:

"God will forgive me, but the people of Nashville don't have to. In the weeks and months to come, I will work hard to earn your forgiveness and earn back your trust. nashville.gov/News-Media/New..."

It's nice to know that even a mayor of a major US city can know what God will do. She even admitted knowing her behavior was destructive and said she "did it anyway."

But the best part was her pontificating while apologizing. "I must hold myself to the highest standard of which the voters deserve to expect. Please know that I'm disappointed in myself but also understand that I'm a human and that I made a mistake."

In a statement carefully reviewed by his attorney, Forrest said he regretted allowing his "professional relationship" with Ms. Barry turn "into a personal one."

The poor guy asked for privacy as he works "to rebuild the trust of the ones I love most."

Good luck with that trust, dude.


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