Embattled Nashville mayor Megan Barry resigned Tuesday morning and pleaded guilty to felony theft.
Revelations of Barry’s affair with former police Sgt. Rob Forrest, her top security official have rocked the city since they emerged five weeks ago. Forrest, who retired the day that Barry admitted the affair, earned more than $170,000 in overtime pay during the affair as he accompanied the mayor on cross-country and overseas trips, as well as to hot yoga classes and events on the mayor’s social calendar.
Three ongoing investigations pushed Barry to resign. In February, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation discovered photos of a nude woman presumed to be Barry on Forrest’s phone, which were dated during official trips, purporting to prove that the affair went on while Forrest was “on the clock,” which Barry had denied vehemently.
Metro City Council’s special investigative committee will decide this evening in a planned meeting whether or not to continue investigating Barry’s use of taxpayer dollars.
As part of a plea deal, both Forrest and Barry will serve three years of probation. Barry will reimburse the city $11,000. Forrest will reimburse the city $45,000 of salary.
In a press conference announcing the resignation Tuesday morning, Barry thanked her staff and department heads and did not take questions.
“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 said. She asked Nashville citizens to support Vice Mayor David Briley, her successor.
Barry, 54, was a rising star in the Democratic party thanks to her mixture of business-friendly and socially progressive policies. Before the affair, she enjoyed an approval rating above 70 percent, according to Vanderbilt University polls. She was the first female mayor of Nashville.
Her resignation will become official at 5:00 PM Tuesday. Vice Mayor Briley will be sworn in immediately.
“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,” Briley wrote in a statement Tuesday. “That work will be transparent and be conducted with every effort to restore public trust, and move our great city forward.”
The grandson of Beverly Briley, the first mayor of Metro Nashville, will hold the mayorship until the regularly scheduled city elections in August.