opinion

Opinion | Nashville's reputation survived Bill Boner and it will outlast Megan Barry

It is a sign of how much things have changed in this city, that in the wake of the scandal that enveloped Mayor Megan Barry, hardly a word was spoken of Bill Boner.

The Metro Nashville Davidson County mayor from 1987 to 1991, Boner is primarily known for dragging Nashville’s reputation through the mud on national television.

The man who once barged into the TGI Fridays on Elliston Place, something else that no longer exists, to confront a Nashville Banner reporter by shouting for all to hear, “She interrupted me while I was having sex tonight,” became the butt of national jokes after an appearance on the Phil Donahue Show.

► More: Analysis: Can Mayor Megan Barry survive? Frustration from Nashville leaders builds over scandal

He appeared there with his girlfriend, country singer Traci Peel, whom he skillfully had gotten engaged to while still married to another woman.

On the show, the two performed their version of “Rocky Top,” bringing the national stereotypes and city embarrassment to an odd convergence.

Boner was rendered politically totaled, and did not run for reelection, but he did not resign.

He was, until now, the only mayor of Metro government to serve less than two terms since Beverly Briley was elected the first mayor of the consolidated government in 1963.

► Read More: Mayor Megan Barry announces resignation

► More: Nashville Mayor Megan Barry pleads guilty to felony theft

In an odd twist of history and fate, Briley’s grandson David takes over from Barry, now the second mayor to fall short.

Boner’s legacy today is the stuff of ripe stories told around the table at gatherings of old journalists, usually with sly smiles and much laughter, as if it is all but a humorous footnote in a chapter long ago put to bed.

That is true. Mayors Phil Bredesen, Bill Purcell and Karl Dean took Nashville far beyond the redneck backwater Boner had caricatured.

Barry, poised to carry on Nashville’s heavyweight posture, was in the midst of trying to bring Amazon’s second headquarters here as well as modernize the city’s inadequate transit system.

► Read More: Rob Forrest, bodyguard who had affair with Mayor Megan Barry, pleads guilty to theft

On a sunny Tuesday morning, before anyone much knew what was happening, Barry more than totaled her career: she pretty well destroyed it, simultaneously pleading guilty to felony theft and resigning her office. (Note: Bill Boner was never charged with any crime).

Strange things happen in politics today, but this is as close to political death as you can get. The stakes were much higher for the city now than they were more than 25 years ago.

Yet Barry’s legacy may live on.

Her transit referendum, which lately has languished under massive inattention, is on the May 1 ballot.

Briley has previously signaled his support for the measure, and if he hopes to save it, should get out front quickly.

Amazon may yet decide that the turbulent times this city has recently witnessed is no deterrent from taking advantage of the dynamic business climate this region has to offer.

Like Nixon going to China, Barry has a chance to cement a legacy almost by accident, driving the city beyond the way she recklessly ended her career.

Time will tell. For now, a couple of things are certain. No one will look back at this time in benign amusement. It is a city tragedy, a piercing and unforgettable disgrace.

It is also, as prominent Nashville personality Adam Dread put it in a Facebook post, a heavy-hearted piece of history that stands as “a very sad day for Music City regardless of your position on this.”

Alex Hubbard is a USA TODAY NETWORK Tennessee columnist, editor and reporter. Email him at dhubbard@tennessean.com.



