Megan Barry
Megan Christine Barry[1] (née Mueller; born September 22, 1963) is an American businesswoman and politician[2] who served as the seventh mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County[3] from 2015 until March 6, 2018, when she resigned after pleading guilty to felony theft related to an extramarital affair with a city employee who had served as the head of her security detail.[4] Barry is a member of the Democratic Party.
Megan Barry
Bruce Barry
1
Early life and education[edit]
Barry was born on September 22, 1963, in Santa Ana, California and grew up in Overland Park, Kansas where she graduated from the private all-girls Notre Dame de Sion School in nearby Kansas City, Missouri.[5] She earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas in 1986, where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega.[6] She also earned an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in 1993.[7][8]
Business career[edit]
Barry worked in business ethics and corporate responsibility for the multinational telecommunications firm Nortel Networks.[8] From 2003 to 2012, Barry was vice president of ethics and compliance at Premier, Inc., a health-care group purchasing organization.[8] She also worked as principal of Barry & Associates, an independent consulting organization to multinational corporations on issues dealing with business ethics and corporate social responsibility.[8]
Political career[edit]
Metropolitan Councilwoman-at-Large[edit]
Barry was first elected to one of the five at-large seats on the 40-member Metro Council in September 2007,[9] and won re-election to a second four-year term in August 2011. In winning re-election, she was the top vote-getter among the five incumbents who all successfully sought a second term.[10]
During her first term on the council, Barry chaired the council's Budget and Finance Committee and the Education Committee. In 2009, she led an effort in the council to pass a bill banning discrimination against city employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity.[11] During the 2013–2014 council year, she chaired the Rules Committee and served as a member of the Budget and Finance Committee and the Personnel Committee.
Barry performed the first same-sex wedding in Nashville on June 26, 2015.[12]
2015 mayoral campaign[edit]
Barry started her mayoral campaign in April 2013, filing paperwork with the Davidson County Election Commission naming Nashville attorney Leigh Walton as her campaign's treasurer.[13] She received the largest total of votes for mayor in this election, but did not achieve an absolute majority of votes cast in the race, setting up her runoff race against hedge fund manager David Fox, the second-place finisher. Although major media in Nashville touted apartment landlord Bill Freeman as odds on favorite to win the mayoral election, The Nashvillian newspaper predicted the race would be a runoff between Barry and Fox, then showed Barry taking the early lead in the runoff over Fox. The runoff was noted by many as a particularly dirty campaign, with both candidates launching various personal attacks against the other.[14]
Barry raised US$1.1 million in political contributions during her campaign.[15] She received US$1,500 from Wayne T. Smith, who is the CEO of Community Health Systems; US$1,500 from R. Milton Johnson, who is the CEO of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA); US$5,000 from HCA; US$1,500 from Damon T. Hininger, the CEO of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA); and US$1,500 from CCA's Chairman, John D. Ferguson.[15] Another notable donor was Mike Curb, the founder of Curb Records.[15] She received US$7,600 from the Nashville Business Coalition, a business organization.[15]
Barry defeated Fox in a September 10 runoff election.[4]
Personal life[edit]
Barry is married to Bruce Barry, a professor at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management and a contributor to the Nashville Scene.[39] The couple had one son, Max.[39] On July 30, 2017, the Mayor's office announced that her child had died of an apparent drug overdose in Denver, Colorado, at 22 years old.[40]
Extramarital affair and felony charges[edit]
On January 31, 2018, Barry admitted that she had conducted a two-year long extramarital affair with Nashville Police Sergeant Robert Forrest Jr., the married officer in charge of her security detail, which included extended business trips with just the two of them.[41] Additionally, Forrest and Barry attended various events and activities which included late-night concerts and yoga classes, during which Forrest accrued hundreds of overtime hours.[42] A subsequent report from the Metro Auditor showed that all but 13 overtime hours and all travel expenditures were independently verified as within Metro policies.[43] Barry maintained that Forrest was not her direct subordinate,[44] and said that she did not want to "muddy the #metoo movement."[45]
Forrest, two weeks prior to Barry's announcement, filed for retirement from his post as supervisor of mayoral security effective on January 31, the same day Barry admitted to the affair, thus ending his 31-year career with the Nashville Police Department.[46][47]
In March 2018, Barry entered into a plea agreement that required her resignation.[36] On February 23, 2018, Forrest's wife of nearly 30 years, Penny, filed for divorce on grounds of "inappropriate marital conduct" soon after the extramarital affair came to light.[48] Forrest and Barry, both of whom had no criminal record prior to the affair, pleaded guilty to felony theft.[49][50] As part of the plea deal, they were ordered to pay restitution ($11,000 for Barry and $45,000 for Forrest) to the city and complete three years of probation. Both Forrest and Barry can petition to have their convictions wiped off their record if they successfully complete their probation.[47] As of August 2018, Barry and her husband remain married and have continued to attend events together.[51]