Nashville Mayor Megan Barry resigns from office as part of guilty plea to felony theft charge

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry resigned on Tuesday amid a sex scandal involving her former head of security, a stunning fall from power for a leader who was once among Tennessee's brightest political stars.

Barry, a Democrat and the first female mayor of Nashville, announced her resignation at a packed, hastily arranged morning news conference at the mayor's office.

She had just left court, across the street, where she pleaded guilty a half-hour earlier to a felony theft related to her affair with her former police bodyguard. He also pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony theft.

The resignation, part of the plea agreement, went into effect at 5 p.m. It sent the city into uncharted territory as Vice Mayor David Briley was sworn in as Metro's eighth mayor during a brief ceremony at the Metro Courthouse.

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‘I love you, Nashville,’ Barry says in resignation remarks

Barry, with tearful mayor's office aides looking on, addressed reporters for just three minutes and did not respond to a barrage of questions that were lobbed her way as she walked away from the podium.

"While my time as mayor today concludes, my unwavering love and sincere affection for this wonderful city and its great people will never come to an end," said Barry, who was subdued throughout her short remarks. "No one is as excited about this city and its bright and limitless future as I am.

"It has been my honor and it has been the privilege of my entire professional life to have the blessing and the opportunity to be your mayor," she concluded. "I thank you in advance for the support that I am sure you will give Mayor Briley in the weeks and the months ahead. God bless this wonderful city. I love you, Nashville."

Barry neither apologized nor addressed the criminal charges.

"Today is primarily about the smooth transition from my administration to that of Vice Mayor Briley," she said instead.

Barry reimburses the city $11,000, to serve probation

Barry’s resignation came 34 days after admitting on Jan. 31 to a nearly two-year affair with former police Sgt. Rob Forrest Jr., whose retirement became effective the same day the mayor admitted to the affair. Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk requested the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate the next day.

At Funk's request Tuesday, the TBI closed its investigation, the agency said.

As part of her plea deal, Barry was sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation and agreed to reimburse the city $11,000 in unlawful expenses. She paid the money Tuesday. She also was booked into the jail and had her mug shot taken.

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A charging document did not detail how the restitution was calculated, but the scandal focused on the travel expenses and overtime incurred while Forrest was on duty at the time of their affair.

Forrest also pleaded guilty Tuesday to property theft and was sentenced to three years of probation. As part of his plea agreement, he's required to reimburse the city $45,000 paid to him as salary and/or overtime during times when he was not performing his duties as head of the mayor's security detail. Forrest has not yet paid the money.

A ‘hard day for Nashville’

In a statement, Briley said Tuesday was a "hard day for Nashville,” adding that Barry’s resignation “will enable us to regain focus on the important work of our city."

“My pledge is simple: As mayor, I will begin work immediately with a sole focus on managing the city and making progress on community priorities. That work will be transparent and be conducted with every effort to restore public trust, and move our great city forward.”

During her remarks Tuesday morning, Barry thanked the "thousands of people who have reached out to me, written me, encouraged me, comforted me, worried endlessly about me, grieved with me, and prayed for me during these many difficult and trying months."

She said her administration has made "tremendous strides,” crediting her staff and city employees for addressing issues such as affordable housing, transit, public education, youth opportunity, quality of life and the local economy.

“I sincerely hope and believe that my own actions will not tarnish or otherwise detract from all of the great work that they do," Barry said.

Barry first Nashville mayor to leave before end of term in nearly century

The last Nashville mayor to leave office before his term expired was in 1923 — decades before the formation of Metro government in 1963 — when Mayor Felix Z. Wilson was kicked out of office by the old Nashville City Council.

Bellevue-area Councilwoman Sheri Weiner, the council’s speaker president tempore, was sworn in Tuesday as vice mayor to replace Briley.

An election to replace Barry and Briley as vice mayor will take place during the city’s next general election Aug. 2.

Barry is also the subject of a special investigation launched by the Metro Council on misuse of taxpayer dollars and an ethics complaint filed with the council’s Board of Ethical Conduct.

Councilman: Council has role to fully understand case

Members of the Metro Council said the city must press on but pointed to questions still unanswered about Barry’s misuse of taxpayer funds.

“It’s a sad day for Nashville, but the growth and dynamic nature is stronger than just one person,” said at-large Councilman Bob Mendes, who sits on the committee investigating Barry.

“I am thinking plea bargains are compromises and the fact there has been a plea bargain still leaves the public not knowing what happened,” he said. “Our role is to understand what happened.”

At-large Councilman John Cooper, a Barry critic, called the resignation “sad and shocking.”

“But I do think that the courthouse will benefit from a new atmosphere with actual transparency and collaboration, and I think the council believes David Briley will provide that,” Cooper said.

Scandal had been viewed as a black eye

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, the brother of John Cooper, said Briley has his full support: “I have always supported our great city’s elected leadership. It’s time for Nashville to turn the page and keep on making progress for everyone.”

Barry’s scandal took a more severe turn late last month after an affidavit detailed nude photos that appeared to be of Barry that TBI investigators said were taken on Forrest’s city-owned cellphone during city trips. They also highlighted hundreds of deleted phone chats on Forrest's phone.

In a search warrant seeking possession of Barry's phone, agents said they had evidence that two state crimes were committed: misconduct for public officials and employees and theft of property. Barry initially refused to turn over her cellphone pass code to investigators, then relented.

Increasingly, Nashville's political leaders had expressed frustration about the scandal, calling it a black eye on a city that has raised its national profile. As her administration navigated the scandal's fallout, it became more difficult to focus on daily government business, observers said.

Those sentiments hardened after a report by USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee showed Forrest racked up hundreds of hours of overtime in Nashville, escorting the mayor to hot yoga classes and hockey games, late-night concerts and trendy restaurants. The review found, in some instances, there were no events on Barry’s calendar during hours Forrest earned overtime pay.

Although no major public officials or council members publicly demanded Barry’s resignation, The Tennessean's editorial board called for her resignation in a stinging editorial published on Feb. 28.

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Barry left with high approval ratings

A former two-term at-large councilwoman elected in September 2015, Barry was a favorite among liberals whose popularity only expanded after taking office.

Even after Barry admitted to the affair, a Vanderbilt University poll found her with job approval from 61 percent of Nashvillians, although that poll concluded before the explosive revelations detailed in the TBI affidavit.

Barry, 54, oversaw a business-friendly, socially progressive agenda and was known for her accessibility — an exceedingly social mayor who was regularly seen at sporting events, ribbon cuttings, parties and other events.

But Barry's political career was abruptly upended with her affair admission. Both Barry and Forrest are married, but Forrest's wife has filed for divorce.

Early on, mayor denied any legal wrongdoing

While the mayor had denied violating any laws or policies, documents released by the city in the days after Barry’s admission detailed multiple potential problems.

Forrest was the only city employee on 10 taxpayer-funded trips with the mayor from the middle of 2016 through 2017 — a period in which they were having an affair.

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On trips to San Francisco, Kansas City and Athens, Barry admitted to staying extra days, accompanied by Forrest, beyond the time she needed to attend conferences, tours or other official reasons for the travel.

Barry routinely traveled without security before June 2016, records show. Her office gave various and at times conflicting answers to explain why she didn’t need security on earlier trips but did on others.

Briley now chief salesman on transit plan

As new mayor, Briley will earn the office’s $180,000 salary.

Tops on his to-do list will be taking the torch on Barry’s proposed mass transit plan. A public referendum on the $5.4 billion project is set for May 1. Briley has been an outspoken supporter of the referendum.

If no candidate garners at least 50 percent of the vote in the August election to replace Barry full time, a runoff election between the first and second finishers will occur in September.

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Briley, elected as vice mayor in 2015 and the grandson of Metro’s first mayor, Beverly Briley, ran unsuccessfully for Nashville mayor in 2007. A Democrat who like Barry is known for his progressive politics, Briley is a strong bet to run for the office full time in August.

Barry is married to Bruce Barry, a Vanderbilt University professor and columnist for the Nashville Scene. In July, the couple’s only son, Max, died due to a drug overdose, catapulting the mayor to become a national voice in the fight against opioids.

Her policy agenda hit roadblocks recently with the collapse of the Cloud Hill project to redevelop Greer Stadium and the mayor’s unexpected proposal to end inpatient services at Nashville General Hospital.

After her stint on the council, Barry overcame a sizable fundraising disadvantage against six opponents to make the mayoral runoff in September 2015, where she defeated David Fox.

During the campaign for mayor, Barry embraced the pro-business politics of her predecessor, Karl Dean, adopting a campaign of "Keep Nashville moving forward" — a nod to the unprecedented economic growth of the city.

Barry, who moved to Nashville in the early 1990s to attend graduate school at Vanderbilt, worked in corporate ethics before becoming mayor, most recently at the Charlotte, N.C.-based health care company Premier.

It is unclear what Barry’s plans are now.

Natalie Neysa Alund and Adam Tamburin contributed to this story. Reach Joey Garrison at jgarrison@tennessean.com or 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison. Reach Nate Rau at nrrau@tennessean.com or 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau.