Search Results for: barry forrest

Wife of Sgt. Rob Forrest, the Former Bodyguard and Lover of Mayor Megan Barry, Files for Divorce

Tennessee Star Staff

Penny Forrest, the wife of Sgt. Rob Forrest, the former Metro Nashville Police Department officer who conducted a two-year long extramarital affair with Nashville Megan Mayor Barry, has filed for divorce. WKRN reported: Court documents show the complaint was filed on Feb. 23 and cites irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct. According to the divorce complaint, Penny Forrest would show that her husband “has been guilty of inappropriate marital conduct as to render further cohabitation unsafe and improper.” “Saturday, Rob Forrest’s attorney released the following statement regarding the divorce filing,” NewsChannel 5 reported: Mr. Forrest is aware he will shortly be served with divorce papers. He deeply regrets that his conduct will cost him his marriage. Given the intensely personal nature of a divorce, Mr. Forrest asks for privacy for his family at this difficult time. Mr. Forrest and I will have no further statement. “The divorce complaint also includes a temporary injunction,” WSMV reported: According to the American Bar Association, a temporary injunction is a court order requiring both parties to cease some particular action until a hearing can take place. Failure to do so can result in fines, arrest, or even prison time depending on the circumstances of…

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WSMV on Megan Barry Search Warrant: ‘Authorities Believe That Forrest Took Two Photos of a Nude Woman Who Is Believed to be Barry on His Police Department-Issued Cell Phone’

Tennessee Star Staff

A judge has signed off on search warrants for the electronic equipment of Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and retired Metro Nashville Police Sgt. Rob Forrest. On January 31, Barry admitted that she had conducted a two-year-long extramarital affair with Forrest, who served as her bodyguard. “Authorities believe that Forrest took two photos of a nude woman who is believed to be Barry on his police department-issued cell phone. He allegedly sent the pictures to himself to his MNPD email,” WSMV reported on Thursday. “Police also found there could be deleted phone logs and hundreds of deleted chats between Forrest and Barry on at least one of the devices that were being searched,” WSMV noted, adding: The warrants specifically asked for records from a silver Apple iPhone 6s Plus and two black Apple iPhone 7 Plus devices. The warrants were approved on Feb. 16 by Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier and were returned on Thursday to the Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk’s office. “Within the search warrant, a special agent with the TBI mentions an email sent from Sgt. Forrest’s work email address that included a photo of a nude female lying on the bed with a black purse next to her,”…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Was Scheduled to Travel With Lover Rob Forrest to Attend the Grammy Awards in New York

Christina Botteri

After repeated denials that taxpayer money was used to fund and then cover up the years-long affair between Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and her security chief, Rob Forrest, WMSV reported that newly released documents the show the illicit couple was set to travel to New York together in order to attend the Grammy Awards on January 26. “Within the last two hours, we obtained more records from City Hall,” reporter Allana Autler began: We’ve just learned that there was another trip scheduled for the Mayor and her bodyguard for January 26 – just a few weeks ago. It was for Barry to attend the Grammy Awards in New York. Records show the trip was approved on January 10th. The Mayor’s spokesman says he can’t say when in January it was cancelled. But he did say she changed her plans and came home instead. We now know that’s the weekend before news of the affair broke. This new bombshell revelation appears at the end of the video embedded below, which contains a two-and-a-half minute report of an one-on-one interview by Aulter of Barry regarding a number troubling details surrounding the affair between the Mayor and her security chief, and the potential misuse of taxpayer money.…

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Mayor Megan Barry Repeatedly Refuses to Answer Questions from WSMV Reporter About Taxpayer Resources Used to Send Her and Lover Rob Forrest On Luxury Trips

Christina Botteri

WSMV reporter Alanna Autler caught up with embattled Mayor Megan Barry to ask several questions regarding the possible misappropriation of taxpayer funds and other resources used to support and then cover up Barry’s years-long affair with the head of her security detail, Rob Forrest. Despite several attempts by Autler to get a straight answer regarding records showing overseas travel and luxury accommodations with Forrest, Mayor Barry refused to deliver any kind of answer, and instead hid behind the lawyerly response that, “in cooperation with the TBI investigation we continue to provide them the answers, and I look forward to knowing that were no taxpayer dollars misused in any way.” WSMV edited the video of the interview for the news broadcast into what is essentially a ‘highlights’ reel of the most scintillating parts of the interview. However, in a separate post, the station published the entire transcript of the encounter between Barry and Autler. The video version does a good job of showing Barry’s clearly rehearsed non-answers to the young journalist’s questions. But when the segment is compared to the unedited video and full transcript, the extent of the Mayor’s stonewalling behavior is laid bare. Part One – Travel to Greece and San Francisco…

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Blockbuster Investigative Report by NewsChannel 5 Adds to Mayor Barry Scandal: ‘Chief Anderson Did Not Receive Nor Approve Sgt. Forrest’s Travel Requests’

Tennessee Star Staff

Since first admitting to a two year long extramarital affair with the head of her security detail, Sgt. Rob Forrest, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has maintained that Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson insisted that a security detail travel with her at all times, and that all of Forrest’s travel with her was approved by the Metro Nashville Police Department. But in a blockbuster report that aired on Friday, NewsChannel5’s Phil Williams revealed that documents obtained from the Mayor’s office which purport to show Chief Anderson approved Forrest’s travel with her are factually incorrect. As The Tennessee Star has reported, Mayor Barry and Sgt. Forrest traveled alone together at taxpayer expense on nine occasions in 2017 on trips to Athens, Greece, San Francisco, California, and Washington, D.C., among other places. They also traveled together when accompanied by other Metro Nashville employees to other cities, including one memorable trip from October 20 to 25 of 2017 to Paris, France. “As the city hall scandal unfolded, Police Chief Anderson insisted he never approved Sgt. Rob Forrest’s travel with Nashville Mayor Megan Barry,” NewsChannel 5 anchor Rhori Johnston began the report. “But documents released today by the Mayor’s office say he did. So what’s…

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Travel Documents Show Sharp Increase in Out-of-Town Trips for Mayor Barry and Bodyguard-Lover Forrest

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Travel documents released to WSMV News4 by the Mayor’s Office show that out-of-town travel by Megan Barry with only the head of her security detail, former MNPD Sargent Rob Forrest, spiked after their affair began in 2016. During the first nine months in office spanning September 2015 through June 2016, the Mayor and her bodyguard traveled together only two times, and included additional city staff. However, from June 2016 through October 2017, Barry and Forrest took 26 trips, 10 of which were without any other staff. In her first statements about it, Mayor Barry – a Democrat – said her illicit affair with Forrest began “in the Spring of 2016” and that currently “it’s over,” refusing to state exactly when their relationship ended. Mayor Barry’s Communications Director Sean Braisted told WSMV News4 the addition of a security detail and frequency of trips with Sgt. Forrest came at the recommendation of the Metro Nashville Police Department and Chief Steve Anderson. Braisted said in a statement: You will see a security detail traveled sporadically with Mayor Barry until mid-to-late 2016. This was based on the recommendations of the Police Department that Mayor Barry have police detail on all official business trips, increases in terrorist attacks and…

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Mayor’s Office Confirms Sgt. Forrest Was Only Metro Nashville Security Officer to Travel With Megan Barry to 2016 DNC, Claims Trip Was ‘Appropriate’ City Business, Expenses Paid by Campaign

Tennessee Star Staff

Sean Braisted, Director of Communications for the Mayor’s Office, has confirmed to The Tennessee Star that Mayor Megan Barry’s lover, Sgt. Rob Forrest, was the only Metro Nashville security officer assigned to travel with the mayor when she attended the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July 2016. Mayor Barry has previously claimed that Forrest only accompanied her out of state as a security officer when paid by Metro Nashville when she was traveling on official city business. Barry attended the Democratic National Convention not on city business, but on political and personal business as a delegate committed to Hillary Clinton. Braisted failed to respond directly to The Star’s request that he identify the specific city business Barry conducted at the Democratic National Convention. Instead, he asserted that Barry “met with many other mayors, as well as state and federal officials during the course of this trip.” He also fell back on a previous statement by Metro Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson in explaining why Forrest was assigned to accompany Mayor Barry on this trip, and presumably, was paid by Metro Nashville to do so. “As Chief Anderson has said, the mayor is the mayor wherever she is and…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s Trip to Greece with Sgt. Forrest May Constitute a Misappropriation of Public Funds

Chris Alto

Despite claiming that her adulterous affair with a subordinate Metro employee and head of her security detail, Sgt. Robert Forrest, Jr, was a personal matter, Mayor Megan Barry’ very public admission of the affair has generated intense scrutiny of trips Barry says were for city-related business but were also trips on which she and Sgt. Forrest traveled alone together and which provided opportunities to pursue their affair. In her first admission to the adultery, the Mayor claimed that throughout her two year affair with Forrest, nothing illegal occurred and no policies were violated. Since making those claims, however, at the request of Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has opened an investigation to determine whether during the course of the Mayor’s affair any criminal laws were broken, including “misappropriation of public funds and official misconduct.” If it is determined that public funds were used for personal benefit or other unauthorized purposes, it may constitute a misappropriation of funds. Metro Code of Ordinances dictates specific “Standards of Conduct” for all Metro employees that could apply as well. Mayor Barry insists that her “personal time” with Sgt. Forrest during these trips did not occur while they were “on…

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Megan Barry, Who Had Adulterous Affair With Subordinate on Taxpayers’ Dime, Lands Job Teaching Women About Political Tribulations at Fisk University

Jason M. Reynolds

Proving that politicians are adept at coming out ahead no matter what, disgraced former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has landed a job — teaching women about the trials and tribulations of politics at Fisk University. Barry began teaching a “Women in Politics” class three weeks ago, Fox 17 News reporter Harriet Wallace said. On March 6, 2018, Barry resigned as the first female mayor of Nashville. She entered a conditional plea, or diversion, on felony theft of property over $10,000 with three years’ unsupervised probation and $11,000 in restitution, The Tennessee Star reported at the time. She was not convicted, so if she follows her requirements, she can have her record expunged after three years. The now ex-mayor, who was married, admitted to having an affair with her married bodyguard, Sgt. Rob. Forrest of the Metro Nashville Police Department, including times he was clocked in and was on overtime. Forrest earned $75,462 in overtime during the 2016-17 fiscal year. WSMV reported Fisk’s statement about Barry’s job: Megan Barry is currently teaching a spring semester class at Fisk University. As a University, we believe that Mrs. Barry can provide valuable insight into the role of women in public life. Several students have already expressed their appreciation…

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Nashville Metro Reduces Pension for Cop Who Had Affair with Megan Barry

Chris Butler

The former police sergeant who had an extra-marital affair with former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry will get a reduced pension, according to Nashville Public Radio. Members of the Nashville Metro Benefits Board recalculated the earnings for Robert Forrest, who served on the police force for 31 years. Metro Nashville spokeswoman Tara Stewart told The Tennessee Star Thursday she received our questions seeking comment on the matter. Stewart, however, said she would have not answers before the close of the business day. Nashville Public Radio elaborated and said board members chose not to move to revoke Forrest’s entire pension, based on his five highest-earning years. “From that total amount, members subtracted $10,780 in overtime that Forrest improperly earned guarding the mayor,” according to Nashville Public Radio. “That means a cut of more than $1,000 to Forrest’s annual pension — which will likely end up around $73,000. That’s according to a prior analysis, with slightly different figures, that was run by the Metro Auditor. A final tabulation was not immediately available after the board’s vote.” Board members made the adjustment retroactive, per city code. Forrest has to return any overpayments since he retired this year, Nashville Public Radio reported. Barry resigned as…

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Megan Barry May Still Have More Music to Face Over Affair

Chris Butler

In downtown Nashville two investigations are underway to learn more about former Mayor Megan Barry and how she used taxpayer money to carry on an affair with her security guard. Nashville Public Radio reports that members of the Metro Auditor’s Office plan to make their findings on the matter public soon. Meanwhile, members of the Metro Board of Ethical Conduct are doing a separate probe, the station reported. Members of that board are about to call upon people to testify. Board of Ethical Conduct spokeswoman Elizabeth Waites told The Tennessee Star that the two boards have different objectives. “The Ethics Board is investigating specific allegations contained in a complaint that was filed by a private citizen on record here with this office,” Waites said. “The scope of those two things is not entirely the same.” Waites said she will eventually distribute an internal auditors’ report to the board. “Fourteen days from my distribution of that report, the complainant has to provide a summary of who she would like to see subpoenaed,” Waites said. According to Nashville Public Radio, the private citizen in question is Theeda Murphy, something Waites confirmed to The Star. Murphy told the station that “there are unanswered…

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‘Boondoggle Briley’ Vows Continuity of Disgraced Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s Progressive Policies and Insider Dealings

Tennessee Star Staff
Briley-Barry

Acting Mayor David “Boondoggle Briley” has vowed “continuity” if voters in Nashville/Davidson County elect him to serve the remaining one year and three months of disgraced former Mayor Megan Barry’s term in tomorrow’s special mayoral election. Nothing illustrates Briley’s embrace of his predecessor’s progressive policies better than this pink hat he donned back on January 21, 2017–and proudly featured on his Facebook page– shortly after President Trump was inaugurated to express his support for the women’s march in Washington where far left critics gathered to decry the new president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda. The Tennessee Star has identified the policies that constitute this promised “continuity” in a potential Briley administration, following on the heels of eight years of former Mayor Karl Dean, now a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, and two years and six months of former Mayor Megan Barry. Briley earned his nickname “Boondoggle Briley” for supporting the original Barry boondoggle–the $9 billion transit plan conceived of by Barry and the developers, lobbyists, attorneys, engineers, and architects who stood to benefit from its adoption. Fortunately, the voters of Nashville/Davidson County overwhelmingly rejected that particular set of boondoggles on May 1 by a 64 percent to 36…

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District Attorney Glenn Funk Asks TBI to Shut Down Investigation into Possible Wrongdoing by Megan Barry as Other Investigations Carry On

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Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk informed the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) in a meeting Tuesday that its file on the Megan Barry case “may be closed.”  However, the other investigations – namely the Special Investigative Committee and the Metro Nashville Board of Ethics are continuing to look into possible wrongdoing by Barry. The Nashville DA’s director of communications Steve Hayslip released a statement that included information about the plea deal(s) struck along with disclosing DA Glenn Funk’s request that TBI end its investigation: There have been several questions from media representatives about the charges Megan Barry and Robert Forrest pled guilty to today. In an effort to clarify, we will answer those questions here: Regarding reimbursement amounts: All members of the security detail saw an increase in hours worked under the Barry administration as opposed to previous administrations. Robert Forrest’s hours increased significantly more than other members of the detail. 45,000 dollars represents an acceptable figure for his increase in hours and pay in contrast to other members of the detail. The 11,000 dollars paid by Megan Barry represents Robert Forrest’s travel expenses. The time frame given in court today of March 1, 2016 through January of 2018 represents the…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Resigns In Aftermath of Extramarital Affair With Bodyguard

Tennessee Star Staff

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry announced her resignation at a brief press conference held Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. at Nashville City Hall. The announcement came shortly after she pleaded guilty to felony charges of theft in a Nashville criminal court. “Today is primarily about the smooth transition of power from my administration to that of Vice Mayor David Briley,” Barry said in a statement that lasted less than three minutes:   Nashville, with its boundless energy its infectious optimism . . . will in years ahead continue its steady march to the very top of the list of great American cities. It’s a continued climb that I will watch, but I will watch as a private citizen. Barry’s bodyguard and lover, MNPD Sgt. Rob Forrest, also faces criminal charges, apparently. “Sgt. Forrest is being led into the Court House right now,” NewsChannel 5’s Phil Williams reported at 10:15 a.m.  

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Tennessean Report: ‘Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Is Expected to Announce Her Resignation Tuesday Morning’

Tennessee Star Staff

UPDATE:  At 9:05 a.m., WKRN reported “JUST IN: Davidson County Criminal Court says Mayor Barry is expected to appear in criminal court this morning.” 8:15 a.m. The Tennessean is reporting that “Nashville Mayor Megan Barry is expected to announce her resignation at a press conference Tuesday morning.” The mayor has begun calling close advisers to inform them of it, according to multiple sources. The resignation comes amid an investigation of an affair with her former bodyguard Metro police Sgt. Robert Forrest. The resignation means that Vice Mayor David Briley will become acting mayor. This report comes less than 24 hours after The Tennessee Star reported that “On Monday embattled Nashville Mayor Megan Barry called a report by WTN’s Brian Wilson that sources say the mayor and her bodyguard boyfriend Sgt. Rob. Forrest visited Mt. Olivet Cemetery at sunset on several occasions over a six month period “false and slanderous.” The Star has asked Mayor’s Office spokesperson Sean Braisted for comment, but has not yet received a response. Metro Councilman Steve Glover, however, did respond to an inquiry from The Star. “That is my understanding,” Glover told The Star when asked if he can confirm or deny whether Mayor Barry is…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Calls Report by WTN’s Brian Wilson That Sources Say She Visited Mt. Olivet Cemetery with Bodyguard Boyfriend ‘False and Slanderous’

Tennessee Star Staff

On Monday embattled Nashville Mayor Megan Barry called a report by WTN’s Brian Wilson that sources say the mayor and her bodyguard boyfriend Sgt. Rob. Forrest visited Mt. Olivet Cemetery at sunset on several occasions over a six month period “false and slanderous.” Last week, NewsChannel 5 reported, based on sources as well as security video footage shot by nearby local businesses, that Barry and Forrest’s SUV had repeatedly visited the Nashville City Cemetery on a number of mornings for short periods of time, ranging from 12 minutes to 24 minutes. Wilson’s report, which aired on 99.7 FM WTN’s Nashville’s Morning News at 5:05 am and again at 7:05 am on Monday, relied upon sources he considers credible.   At 9 a.m Monday, Mayor Barry sent out this tweet:   Mr. Wilson, your story is false and slanderous and I would appreciate it if you would stop spreading these lies. — Megan Barry (@MayorMeganBarry) March 5, 2018   Wilson punched back, inviting the mayor on his show for a full hour on Tuesday to discuss these and other allegations.   The Tennessee Star contacted Mayor Barry’s office and asked for responses from the mayor to two questions: 1. Mayor Barry today…

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Metro Nashville Police Make Changes to Mayor Megan Barry’s Security Detail After Affair Debacle

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The Metro Nashville Police Department says it is making changes to Mayor Megan Barry’s security detail as a result of the inappropriate relationship she admitted having with her former security chief and the suspicious amount of overtime it cost the City and taxpayers. An MNPD spokesperson told Fox17 that the Mayor’s daily schedule is both long and complex, so overtime will likely still be a factor. Barry’s new head of security is Chris West, who was assigned the role by MNPD after Forrest’s abrupt departure. Fox17 reports that West has “arranged for one of the full-time detail members to come in later every day on a rotating basis so that individual can cover the afternoon/evening hours with minimal overtime if any at all.” Of the new changes, Political Strategist Steve Gill told the news station, “I think this is a classic closing the barn door after all the horses have all gotten out. This is way to little way too late,” adding: I think the main thing is they want to know who’s serving when so they’re allocating overtime or reducing overtime, and also having some control over whether it’s an event where she needs security. If she’s going to some social…

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Metro Councilman on Tennessean’s Call for Mayor Barry to Resign: ‘This Has Become the Opinion of Nearly Every Person in Nashville’

Chris Alto
Steve Glover

Asked for his reaction to the latest call for Mayor Barry’s resignation coming from her former staunch allies at The Tennessean, Metro Councilman Steve Glover told The Tennessee Star: Given the revelations over the past several days, I feel its safe to say that this has become the opinion of nearly every person in Nashville. Putting the welfare of the city above yourself should always be top of mind for anyone elected to serve. Day by day the Mayor’s version of her two year illicit relationship with her bodyguard, which she said during her public admission, did not violate any laws or policies, is unraveling. Judson Phillips, writing in a Tennessee Star commentary on February 1, the day after Mayor Barry admitted to the affair with Sgt. Forrest, was one of the first to call for Barry’s resignation. Another call to resign from long-time pastor and community activist Enoch Fuzz, followed one week later along with a similar message from The Tennessean’s Clarksville-based liberal columnist and opinion writer Saritha Prabhu. Retired Vanderbilt Law Professor Carol Swain nailed the Mayor as “damaged goods” and said “she needs to go” and repeated that message at the “Resign Now! Megan Barry” rally. Despite the nude photos, apparent misstatements by the…

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Defiant Mayor Megan Barry Refuses to Resign: ‘The Tennesseean Is Welcome to Their Opinion’

Tennessee Star Staff

Embattled Nashville Mayor Megan Barry responded defiantly late Wednesday to the call from the Editorial Board of The Tennessean earlier in the day for her to resign. That call comes in the aftermath of her admission to an extramarital affair with her former bodyguard, Metro Nashville Police Sgt. Rob Forrest. “I was elected to serve as mayor by the voters of Davidson County, and I will continue to do so. The Tennessean is welcome to their opinion,” she said in a statement released by Sean Braisted, director of communications for the Mayor’s Office. The Tennessean’s call for her resignation, written by the paper’s very liberal opinion page editor, David Plazas, pulled no punches: A leader must put the interests and the needs of the people she serves above her own. We thought Nashville Mayor Megan Barry was doing just that. However, it has become abundantly clear in recent weeks that this is not the case after the revelation of her affair with her subordinate and former head of security, retired Metro Nashville Police Department Sgt. Rob Forrest. This is a confounding and disappointing situation: – How he could rack up more than $170,000 in overtime pay over three years, which…

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The Tennessean Editorial Board: ‘It Is Time for Mayor Megan Barry to Resign’

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In a crushing blow from one of Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s best allies, The Tennessean’s Editorial Board called for her resignation Wednesday. The detailed commentary was written by Opinion and Engagement Editor David Plazas on behalf of the entire Board, with collaboration by fellow editorial board members Vice President and Editor Michael A. Anastasi and Executive Editor Maria De Varenne. “A leader must put the interests and the needs of the people she serves above her own,” Plazas’ editorial begins, which lays out in painful detail the many reasons Barry’s continued service in office is untenable: We thought Nashville Mayor Megan Barry was doing just that. However, it has become abundantly clear in recent weeks that this is not the case after the revelation of her affair with her subordinate and former head of security, retired Metro Nashville Police Department Sgt. Rob Forrest. This is a confounding and disappointing situation: – How he could rack up more than $170,000 in overtime pay over three years, which included extended domestic and overseas trips with her alone and overtime charges in Nashville for hours after the mayor’s calendar showed official events of the day had ended. – How her Chief Operating Officer Rich Riebeling let the…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Heckled During Public Transit Meeting: ‘You Need to Resign! You’re a Disgrace!’

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During a public meeting about the ambitious $9 billion transit plan at Watkins College in Bordeaux Monday, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry was heckled by a lone protester, who stood up and yelled, “You need to resign!” “You need to leave because we are trying to talk about transit,” Barry retorted. As the man was quickly led out of the sparsely attended meeting, he said, “You need to resign! You’re a disgrace. You’re an embarrassment…. I voted for you – you’re a disgrace.” WKRN cameras were rolling and caught the entire incident on video. Citizens in and around Nashville and across the state have been roiled by a series of tawdry revelations after Barry admitted to a years-long affair with her chief of security, former Sgt. Rob Forrest. Concerns over the possible misuse of public funds to carry on, and then cover up the Mayor’s dalliance has sparked several investigations by different state and city agencies including the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, the Metro Board of Ethical Conduct, and a Metro Council Special Committee. As The Tennessee Star previously reported: It also highlights a growing concern about a lack of checks and balances and the failure to apply standard internal controls to financial…

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Megan Barry Has Increased Size of Mayor’s Office Staff by 60 Percent

Tennessee Star Staff

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has increased the size of the Mayor’s Office staff from 22 in August 2015, the month before she was elected and sworn in to office, to 36 in February 2018. The Tennessee Star asked Sean Braisted, director of communications for the Mayor’s Office, to explain why Mayor Barry increased the size of her office staff by more than 60 percent during her two and a half years in office, but received no response.   News of this massive increase in her personal entourage comes on the heels of revelations of her increased use of security personnel in contrast to her predecessors and the burgeoning scandal over her extramarital affair with Sgt. Rob Forrest, the former Metro Nashville Police Dept officer who headed her security detail until Jan. 31.   It also highlights a growing concern about a lack of checks and balances and the failure to apply standard internal controls to financial and personnel operations within Metro Nashville Davidson County Government during Barry’s tenure. At least five other examples of these failures have come light in the month since Mayor Barry admitted to an extramarital affair with her former bodyguard. The so-called “computer glitch” in which for…

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Newspaper: Tennessee Comptroller Joins Mayor Megan Barry Investigation

Jason M. Reynolds

State auditors are investigating Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s affair with her chief bodyguard, a media outlet reports. The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury is working with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on looking into Barry’s and Sgt. Rob Forrest’s affair, according to a story published by The Tennessean. The newspaper did not disclose its sources. The office investigates potential instances of misconduct by public officials and government bodies. If true, the comptroller’s involvement would make it at least the fourth government agency to investigate the years-long affair, the newspaper reports. One other investigating agency includes a special Metro Council committee, the likes of which has not been seen since 1974 during a land rezoning bribery scandal involving former council members. Comptroller’s office spokesman John Dunn told The Tennessean “alleged or suspected misuse of public dollars is something that the Comptroller’s office has the authority to investigate” but did not give additional comment. Barry’s lawyer, Jerry Martin, has asked that District Attorney Glenn Funk recuse himself from the investigation, citing an alleged conflict of interest. In other news, NewsChannel 5 reported that a white SUV Forrest used to drive Barry around made numerous early morning visits to Nashville City Cemetery. The…

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Attorney for Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Asks District Attorney Glenn Funk to Recuse Himself from Investigation of Her Conduct

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In a hand-delivered letter to District Attorney Glenn Funk, Jerry Martin – Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s lawyer – asked late Thursday that Funk “revisit the issue of whether you and your office may have a conflict of interest” in the criminal investigation into possible wrongdoing surrounding the embattled Mayor’s two-year extramarital affair with her former bodyguard, retired Metro Nashville Police Sgt. Rob Forrest. A copy of the letter was obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, who report: That request came in a letter hand-delivered to Funk on Thursday. Later that night, Barry questioned Funk’s role in the case, including what she called a politically motivated decision to publicly release a damning TBI affidavit that implied investigators may have nude photos of the mayor. Barry’s attorney, Jerry Martin, wrote in the letter that Funk himself had raised the possibility of a conflict of interest back in early February. “I would respectfully ask you to revisit the issue of whether you and your office may have a conflict of interest,” Martin wrote in the letter obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates. “Understand that I raise this issue not only to ensure that my client gets a fair process but also to ensure that the…

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Nashville Mayor’s Attorney: TBI Now Has the Passcode for Megan Barry’s Personal Cellphone

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Friday morning via a detailed statement released by her lawyer, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s attorney said he shared the passcode to Barry’s personal cell phone – at her direction – with the TBI, fulfilling their request in furtherance of the investigation into possible wrongdoing surrounding the Mayor’s years-long affair with her former security chief, Rob Forrest. “This morning I spoke with TBI Director Mark Gwyn to provide the TBI with the passcode for Mayor Barry’s personal cell phone,” attorney Jerry Martin said in a statement, noting, “This is her personal phone, not her Metro issued phone. I have confidence that Director Gwyn will ensure that the TBI limits its search of her personal phone to only items that are relevant to its investigation.” Martin continued, adding context and narrative to the reportage about the Mayor’s alleged ‘stonewalling’ saying that the “reports that the Mayor has been uncooperative during this process are untrue:” We have provided the TBI with thousands of pages of documents at its request. I would like to set the record straight to clear up any confusion related to the Mayor’s cooperation, especially as it relates to her personal cell phone. On February 15, 2018, I met with District…

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Mayor Barry Promised Cooperation with All Investigatons But Now Stonewalls, Says Release of Affidavit by TBI ‘Designed to Humiliate Me and Politically Embarrass Me’

Tennessee Star Staff

The scandal surrounding Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and her admission of a two-year-long extramarital affair with her bodyguard, now-retired Metro Nashville Police Sgt. Rob Forrest, intensified on Thursday when the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) released an affidavit presented to a judge in support of a search warrant for the city-issued cell phone of Forrest and the personal cell phone of Barry. “Authorities believe that Forrest took two photos of a nude woman who is believed to be Barry on his police department-issued cell phone. He allegedly sent the pictures to himself to his MNPD email,” WSMV reported on Thursday. As if those details were not bizarre enough, a defiant Mayor Barry told WSMV later on Thursday in an on-camera interview, “I am furious as you might imagine today when I learned there might be photos of me. If they exist, they were taken without my knowledge and without my consent. It didn’t show that I have done anything wrong or criminal and, in fact, if anything was wrongly done, it was done to me personally.” Barry then attacked the TBI for the manner in which they were conducting their investigation of her, barely three weeks after the January 31 press conference…

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Refreshing Candor From a Metro Councilman About Mayor Megan Barry’s Adultery with Subordinate

Chris Alto

When asked his opinion about whether the Mayor’s leadership credibility has been damaged by the Mayor’s two year extramarital affair and details like pictures of the Mayor interacting with her lover’s family while the affair was on-going, Metro Councilman Steve Glover responded with his trademark candor: I am not qualified to speak about the city’s view of her credibility; I will simply say that if it were me dealing with this issue, I would question if I could continue to lead with this cloud hanging over my head. On-going investigations may show that the “cloud” of the Mayor’s affair implicates members of her staff who arranged publicly financed travel for the Mayor and Sgt. Forrest, facilitating the adultery and providing opportunities for them to be alone together. The Mayor has expressed confidence that an investigation into the expenditure of public funds will find that all trips were related to city business and that police department policy mandating her security detail means that those funds would have been spent regardless of whether or not it was Sgt. Forrest providing her security coverage. The Star has asked Sean Braisted, the Mayor’s Director of Communications, Police Chief Anderson and Don Aaron, Public Affairs Manager for…

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Carol Swain on Nashville Mayor Megan Barry: ‘She’s Damaged Goods. She Needs to Go’

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While sitting in for Dan Mandis on WTN 99.7 FM Monday afternoon, guest host and Tennessee Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the recently retired Vanderbilt professor and conservative legend Carol Swain. Part One “We’re delighted to have you here, Carol,” Michael Patrick Leahy began. “You just wrote a great op-ed for us at The Tennessee Star called, ‘The Seven Reasons to beware of the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is, by the way, the second-most read commentary we’ve had in almost a year – so congratulations on that excellent piece.” “Now, we asked you in today, Carol, because we wanted you to talk a little bit about what is going on with Mayor Megan Barry.” Carol Swain responded, “Well first of all, I have to confess that I didn’t vote for Megan Barry, and I could never have imagined myself doing so because she was so liberal. After having said that, I wanted her to succeed.” “I love Nashville,” Swain continued. “And I wanted her to be able to do some of the things that she promised – especially for the working class and the poor. “And I’m disappointed with her as a woman; I’m disappointed with the lack of moral leadership around…

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‘Resign Now! Megan Barry’ Rally Set for Tomorrow at Metro Nashville Courthouse

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A rally calling on embattled Mayor Megan Barry to resign “effective immediately” will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, February 20, at 5 p.m., on the south side steps of the Metro Nashville Davidson Courthouse, organizer Rick Williams told FOX 17. Late last month Mayor Barry admitted to having a two-year-long extramarital affair with her Metro Nashville police officer bodyguard, Sgt. Rob Forrest. The two took nine trips alone together out-of-state at taxpayer expense over the two years. One of these trips was to Athens, Greece, another was to San Francisco, California, and yet another was to Washington, D.C. “Having sex with a subordinate is an ethics violation for sure at a minimum,” Williams explained to the Fox affiliate, adding: They feel like she was busy with a romance for two years and didn’t tend to the things she promised. Corporate leaders, they question whether they should work with someone with a recent tainted past. I personally like Megan Barry. I felt very sorry when her son passed away, I attended both the visitation and funeral. It’s not anything personal at all, I just think she’s lost the trust of the citizens. Long-time pastor and Nashville community activist Enoch Fuzz is expected…

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Two Metro Nashville Council Members Appointed to Special Committee Investigating Mayor Barry Voted Against Telling Voters Actual Cost of Transit Plan

Chris Alto

Burkley Allen and Russ Pulley, appointed along with five other Metro Council members by Vice-Mayor David Briley, will form a Special Committee to investigate the use of public money by Nashville Mayor Megan Barry during her two year extramarital affair with Metro police officer and head of her security detail, Sgt. Robert Forrest. The Metro Nashville Council resolution establishing the Special Committee restricts the investigation to the expenditure of public funds: A Special Committee to investigate the circumstances involving travel and other expenses, including overtime expenses, potentially related to the Mayor’s admitted improprieties involving an employee of the Metropolitan Government to determine if there was any improper use of public money. While the Special Committee is not charged with looking into the Mayor’s potential ethics violations, Briley did suggest that the Committee coordinate their inquiry with the Board of Ethical Conduct and the Metro Audit Committee which is also investigating the Mayor’s affair. With regard to selecting members for the Special Committee, Vice-Mayor David Briley stated that he was looking at “people who have demonstrated neutrality in terms of the politics and people who are open-minded in terms of looking at the facts fairly.” Last week, Special Committee members Burkley…

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OFF THE RECORD: Mayor Megan Barry – Incapable of Shame Until She Got Caught…

Chris Alto

According to a Tennessee Star commenter earlier this week, while Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and her bodyguard, Sgt. Rob Forrest, were still taking luxury trips abroad and quickie overnights stateside, not only did the thoughtful Mayor make a surprise visit to Sgt. Forrest’s father-in-law in the hospital, but she also attended his funeral nine days later, and get this, hugged Sgt. Forrest’s grieving wife. And being one of the family in a twisted sort of way, the Mayor attended Sgt. Forrest’s daughter’s wedding: Not only did she visit him in the hospital, but she also attended the man’s funeral and was seen hugging her lover’s grieving wife, and family. It’s also no secret that she was a guest at her lover’s daughter’s wedding as well. During her public confession, the Mayor let slip that the two-year long affair with Sgt. Forrest that she had worked so hard to conceal, became known somehow to their respective spouses – “Barry said the relationship was discovered during conversations between their spouses and private discussions.” Between getting caught by the jilted spouses and getting counseled by reporter Phil Williams who disclosed that he had an “incredible” source, the Mayor was left with no option…

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Mayor Barry Insists ‘Police Department Policy’ Determined Her Security Detail, But Fails to Produce Evidence Written Policy Exists

Chris Alto

Since Mayor Megan Barry admitted to her two year adulterous relationship with Sgt. Robert Forrest, head of her security detail and an active duty Metro police officer more details are known about the opportunities city-funded travel provided to facilitate their affair. From her first statement admitting to the affair, the Mayor has insisted that “how much and how often” she was covered by security, including her travel with Sgt. Forrest, was dictated and authorized by police department policy even though it has been documented that prior to her affair, the Mayor “routinely traveled without security.” The Star has asked Sean Braisted, the Mayor’s Director of Communications, Police Chief Anderson and Don Aaron, Public Affairs Manager for the Police Department, for a copy of the policy that the Mayor has insisted is operational. There has been no response from either the Mayor’s office or the police department and no written policy has been provided. During an extended interview, Police Chief Anderson has stated a preference that the mayor have security at all times because“you are always the mayor and you should be secured appropriately” but has also admitted that “at this time that’s not something that is feasible.” What’s not clear from the…

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OFF THE RECORD: Mayor Barry to Lover’s Father-in-Law – Can You Guess My Secret?

Chris Alto

Hubris alert! No shame! Too big to fall! If it isn’t bad enough that Mayor Moonbeam Barry is using our money to travel out-of-town and overseas to consummate her trysts with bodyguard Sgt. Robert Forrest, she visited, hugged and smiled with Sgt. Forrest’s father-in-law–at least according to what one Tennessee Star reader says is a now deleted October 2017 Facebook post–while he was sick in the hospital during the time she was having her affair with the husband of the guy’s daughter!!!! The mayor might have been motivated by concern and kindness, but, considering the circumstances, the brazenness of the mayor in her visit does seem a tad on the tacky side. But perhaps her visit is only a reflection of how Barry perceives her job and power as mayor. She has a sign in her office that says, “Power is about waking up every day and making a difference in someone else’s life.” Or “lives” perhaps in light of the mayor’s recent two years of committing adultery. A reader sent us the NOW DELETED pictures from Sgt. Forrest’s mother-in-law’s Facebook page of the mayor’s hospital visit with Sgt. Forrest’s father-in-law. The pictures with the mayor, “a special visitor,” were posted on October 14,…

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Mayor Barry’s Alleged ‘Off the Clock’ Adultery Has Public Implications for City Government Operations

Chris Alto

Since publicly admitting to concealing her two year adulterous relationship with Sgt. Robert Forrest while he was an active duty Metro police officer and head of her security detail, Mayor Megan Barry has tried to convince the public that what she claims was an “off the clock” private affair, has no negative implications for the city’s government operations. During the time her extramarital affair was active and she was traveling on publicly-paid for business trips alone with Sgt. Forrest, at home Mayor Barry was officiating at public events including the December 2017 graduation ceremony for 49 new Nashville police officers. Standing before the new officers, the Mayor offered her congratulations and then administered the oath of office asking them to swear to uphold the Charter and Code of Laws of the Metro Nashville government and to: serve the Metro Government of Nashville/Davidson County, Tennessee honestly and faithfully and I will obey the orders of the officials placed over me according to the law. Earlier in December 2017, Mayor Barry administered the same oath to the Nashville Fire Department graduates. Both the Mayor’s 2016 Executive Order 005 and Metro’s Code of Laws Section 2.222 govern “Standards of Conduct” for all Metro employees including the…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry a ‘Broken Record’ with Non-Answers about Lover’s Daughter’s Job as City Attorney

Christina Botteri

WSMV reporter Alanna Autler caught up with embattled Mayor Megan Barry to ask several questions regarding the creation of a single job in the Metro Nashville Legal Department that was summarily filled by Macy Amos Forrest, the adult daughter of Mayor Barry’s paramour and erstwhile security chief, Rob Forrest. Autler asks Barry a straightforward question about the unusual hire, and instead of a direct response, the Mayor replied with a non-answer that Forrest’s daughter, “was qualified,” for the job, and that there were “lots of people who stepped forward and said she should have this job, and I was happy to lend my voice.” WSMV edited the video of the interview for the news broadcast into what is essentially a ‘highlights’ reel of the most scintillating parts of the interview. However, in a separate post, the station published the entire transcript of the encounter between Barry and Autler. The video version does a good job of showing Barry’s clearly rehearsed non-answers to the young journalist’s questions. But when the segment is compared to the unedited video and full transcript, the extent of the Mayor’s stonewalling behavior is laid bare. Part Two – The Hiring of Rob Forrest’s Daughter, Macy Amos Forrest FULL TRANSCRIPT (‘highlight’ quotes…

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Mayor Barry’s Office Attempts to Explain ‘Computer Glitch’ Authorized by COO That Allowed Chief of Staff to Approve Bodyguard Lover’s Travel Under Police Chief’s Name

Tennessee Star Staff

Three members of Mayor Barry’s staff and the department head of Information Technology Services are scrambling to explain just exactly how it came to be that travel by her security chief and lover, Sgt. Rob Forrest, was not authorized by Police Chief Steve Anderson, as documents the Mayor’s office gave to NewsChannel 5 and Fox17 on Friday purported, but was instead authorized by her Chief of Staff, Debby Mason (pictured above). “Months after Mayor Megan Barry began an extramarital affair with her bodyguard [which Mayor Barry told WSMV on Friday began in spring of 2016], one of the mayor’s top aides, [Chief Operating Officer] Rich Riebeling, made an ‘unusual’ change to security protocol,” The Tennessean reported late Monday. “Instead of following a longstanding policy that the police department pay for the travel expenses incurred by officers on Barry’s security detail, the mayor’s office began approving and paying for those expenses out of its own budget,” The Tennessean reported. “The mayor’s chief of staff Debby Dale Mason assumed the authority to approve travel expenses on October 11, 2016, for all of the mayor’s bodyguards, including Forrest,” The Tennessean added. Apparently no one in the Mayor’s office, however, informed the official who…

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Mayor Megan Barry: I Don’t Plan on Resigning

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Embattled Mayor Megan Barry sat down with WKRN’s Bob Mueller to discuss the ongoing firestorm of revelations about how City resources may have been used to support, and then cover up, her years-long extramarital affair with the head of her security detail, Rob Forrest. WKRN aired a 60-second preview of the full interview, which viewers can watch Sunday, February 11, during the 6pm news broadcast. In the video, Barry, a Democrat and fierce critic of conservatives and the Trump agenda, told Mueller flatly, “I don’t plan on resigning,” and that, “At the moment, I fully believe that the TBI investigation will conclude that there were no taxpayer dollars that were misused.” Mueller asked, “Do you hope for a fast conclusion to this? Do you want the informations out there? And will the results of all these investigtions be made public?” Barry answered, “As far as I know – I don’t know how that all works; this is all new territory – but I will tell you clearly for me, the faster this gets resolved the better for my family and the citizens of Nashville.” Meanwhile, a new report exposing a potential career-ending conspiracy for at least a handful of additional staffers to manipulate the…

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Support for Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Begins to Crumble as Calls for Her Resignation Grow

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The Tennessean’s Clarksville-based liberal columnist and opinion writer Saritha Prabhu penned a passionate call on Mayor Megan Barry to resign from office Friday afternoon after a new wave of revelations surrounding Barry’s affair and cover-up with top staffer Rob Forrest came to light. “Disappointed on many levels describes how I feel about the Megan Barry situation,” she begins, in a surprisingly candid and heartfelt indictment of Nashville’s first woman to hold its top elected office: Mayor Barry shocked and saddened our Middle Tennessee community when she revealed recently that she had had a nearly two-year extramarital affair with her top security officer. I live in Clarksville, but I was proud when Nashville elected its first female mayor in late 2015. But now, each new revelation about the affair has been damning to her and to her continued political survival. To cut to the chase: She should do Nashville and herself a favor and resign. To continue as mayor would be to prolong the ugliness, and drip-drip nature of the revelations, and to further undercut her authority to lead. If this had been an affair with a private citizen on her own dime, it’d probably be none of our business. But this is different,…

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After Returning Home From Travel With Lover Whose Expenses Were Paid by City, Mayor Barry Lectured Belmont Students on Ethics

Chris Alto

Shortly after traveling alone with Sgt. Robert Forrest, head of her security detail during the period of time Mayor Megan Barry admitted to their on-going adulterous relationship, she lectured students at Belmont University about the role of ethics in government. Less than two weeks after her trip to D.C. with Sgt. Forest, on March 22, 2017, Mayor Barry spoke to Belmont University’s Student Center for the Public Trust (Student CPT) telling students that “people have to have faith that their government is ethical.” The Student CPT is “a national network of college students who demonstrate a commitment to ethical leadership.” There are a total of 6 Student CPT chapters at Tennessee schools, all supported by the national Center for the Public Trust whose stated mission is “to champion the public trust by advancing ethical leadership in business, institutions and organizations.” According to a news release from Belmont’s Office of Communications, the Mayor talked about the role and importance of ethical leadership even while admitting that it’s not always a simple matter to capture “what an ethical situation looks like.” She also told the students that, “people have to have faith that their government is ethical.Without this faith rooted in the community, everything…

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Mayor Megan Barry Says Her $9 Billion Transit Plan ‘Is About Connecting People’

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, who ten days ago admitted to carrying on a two year long extramarital affair with her Metro Nashville police officer bodyguard, Sgt. Rob Forrest, showed on Thursday that she wants every voter in Nashville/Davidson County to know that she continues to support her much maligned $9 billion transit plan. With no apparent sense of irony, Mayor Barry promoted her appearance at a Donelson-Hermitage Chamber of Commerce event Thursday in a tweet later in the day in which she said, in part, that her transit plan “is about connecting people.” “Today I spoke at the Donelson-Hermitage Chamber of Commerce about your transit plan, which will be on the ballot May 1 (early voting starts April 11), and all the benefits it will create,” she wrote, adding, “Transit is about connecting people to what they need jobs, schools, health care and much more.” Today I spoke to the Donelson-Hermitage Chamber of Commerce about our transit plan, which will be on the ballot May 1 (early voting starts April 11), and all the benefits it will create. Transit is about connecting people to what they need jobs, schools, health care and much more pic.twitter.com/Wcn93KYxmx — Megan Barry for Congress (TN-7) (@MeganCBarry)…

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Metro Council To Investigate Mayor Megan Barry’s Affair With Chief Bodyguard

Jason M. Reynolds

Nashville Metro Council voted Tuesday to create a committee to investigate Mayor Megan Barry’s affair with her bodyguard Sgt. Rob Forrest, WSMV reported. Councilwoman Tanaka Vercher proposed the resolution. The council has not taken such action since 1974 during a land rezoning bribery scandal involving former council members Morris Haddox and Jack Clariday, The Tennessean reported. The 30-7 vote will create a committee of three to seven council members to oversee the probe, focusing on travel and overtime expenses of Barry and Forrest, the newspaper said. Barry does not have the power to veto the action. The council is turning to an authority under the Metro Charter to hold investigations and hearings, The Tennessean said. The power includes the ability to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers and records pertinent to the investigation. Testimony will be under oath. Barry admitted to the affair on Jan. 31. District Attorney Glenn Funk asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look into the matter to determine if there was any criminal wrongdoing in the form of overseas trips and overtime payments to Forrest.

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Ethical Violations Continue to Mount for Nashville Mayor Megan Barry: City Hired Daughter of Security Chief Lover She Recommended

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Shortly after taking office in 2015, Mayor Megan Barry recommended Macy Amos – the adult daughter of her security detail Rob Forrest, with whom she would later admit to having an extensive affair – for a lucrative job withing the Nashville’s legal department. The City’s legal department had not added any positions for a period of two years nor did they budget for such and expansion, The Tennessean reports. But after a new, entry-level job was created, Barry swiftly approved the move and recommended Amos. No other applicant was considered, and she was hired in January 2016. The Tennessean reports that Metro Law Department Director Jon Cooper insists the the decision to hire Amos was his and no one else’s, and notes that Amos was a highly qualified candidate with a law degree from Belmont University and previous interning experience with Mayors Bill Purcell and Karl Dean. “The mayor did recommend Macy during a meeting I had with her at some point, as did a number of people in the legal community,” Cooper said in an email to The Tennessean, adding that she was the “logical choice” for the job. To date, Mayor Barry has given answers that are vague and sometimes…

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The Left Turns on Megan Barry

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Community Oversight Nashville (CON), a coalition of leftist and left-leaning groups came together to issue an open letter Monday raising serious questions as to Mayor Megan Barry fitness to hold office, in light of the bombshell revelations into possible legal and ethical wrongdoing stemming from her elicit extra-marital affair with the head of her security detail, Rob Forrest. The letter begins: We, undersigned members of the Community Oversight Now Coalition, are writing this letter to ensure that our concerns regarding the ramifications and repercussions of Mayor Barry’s admission of an improper relationship with MNPD Sergeant Robert Forrest, Jr. are adequately considered and fully addressed. We have also filed an ethics complaint with the Metro Board of Ethical Conduct as we are convinced that Mayor Barry has acted unethically. We feel that Mayor Barry may have been improperly influenced against the community oversight board due to her relationship with Sgt. Forrest. Community Oversight Nashville’s members come from a broad spectrum of left-of-center groups, including Black Lives Matter, Justice for Jocques, Democracy Nashville, Gideon’s Army, The Harriet Tubman House, and No Exceptions Prison Collective. The coalition’s aim is to form community oversight committees to which law enforcement would answer in cases of…

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NewsChannel5 Report: Mayor’s Office Releases More Details of Megan Barry’s Travels with Security Chief Lover

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New questions surrounding the need for Mayor Megan Barry to have such extensive, around-the-clock security led by her lover, Sgt. Rob Forrest, were asked by NewsChannel 5 in a segment that aired Monday evening. Phil Williams, the investigative reporter the embattled Barry sat down with to initially admit her affair with Forrest, reported the Mayor’s office released “new details about the Mayor’s travel and the use of security, in hopes of convincing the public that she did not abuse taxpayer money.” Mayor Barry spent Sunday morning at two African-American churches praying on stage for the communities’ forgiveness. Meanwhile, Barry’s staff gathered evidence to document her travel, and her time spent with her Security Chief and paramour, Rob Forrest in the course of their two year affair. The documents released by the Mayor’s Office say that Barry traveled out-of-state alone in 2015-2016 to Boston, New York City, Washington, DC, Oklahoma City and Phoenix. Other trips to Los Angeles, Williams reported, were with staff members and no security. Her first trip that included Forrest with additional staff was to Minneapolis in April of 2016. Starting in 2017, Barry and Forrest began traveling alone, and the couple took a total of nine trips together outside of…

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Nashville Mayor’s Office Inadvertently Admits to Another Likely Ethics Problem Linked to Greece Trip for Embattled Megan Barry

Chris Alto

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s admission to adultery with Sgt. Robert Forrest, head of her security detail, has already raised questions about whether public funds provided opportunities facilitating the affair when the two traveled alone together in furtherance of city business. According to Police Chief Anderson, Sgt. Forrest’s schedule and hours were dictated by the Mayor’s office. If it is determined that public funds were used for personal benefit or other unauthorized purposes, it may constitute a misappropriation of funds. Confirmation by the Mayor’s office that she accepted payment by 100 Resilient Cities (100RC), a project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, for travel and lodging expenses for her trip to Greece may cause an ethical violation for the Mayor separate and apart from the fact that Sgt. Forrest’s costs for the Greece trip were paid for with public funds while their affair was ongoing. “Mayor Barry’s travel and lodging expenses were paid for by 100RC, any other costs she paid for out of pocket,” the Mayor’s Director of Communications Sean Braisted told The Tennessee Star in a story published on Monday morning. In 2016, Mayor Barry issued Executive Order 005, Financial and other disclosures by certain Metropolitan Government employees and officials; ethics, conflict of…

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Truth, Trust Are ‘Kryptonite’ To Barry, Metro Council In Promoting $9 Billion Transit Plan

Jason M. Reynolds

In popular media, Superman fights for “truth, justice and the American way.” The superhero who is “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive” is vulnerable to a substance known as Kryptonite. Those who back Nashville’s $9 billion transit system are facing their own version of Kryptonite: Trust. Even one prominent supporter now says he has some doubts. The uncertainty comes nearly a week following news that Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, the face of the Let’s Move Nashville Transit Improvement Plan, had an adulterous, years-long affair with veteran police Sgt. Rob Forrest who was in charge of her security. Barry dodged her responsibilities as an elected official having an affair with an employee who resigned, while she kept her job, and it was revealed her affair violated her office’s mission statement of transparency and her own executive order that employees should be ethical and avoid conflicts of interest. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been asked to investigate any potential breaking of the law, including “misappropriation of public funds and official misconduct,” District Attorney Glenn Funk spokesman Steve Hayslip told The Tennessean. The Metro Council voted Jan. 23 on a second reading of the plan to hide the…

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Mayor Megan Barry’s Two Year Active Concealment of Extramarital Affair with Bodyguard Violates Her Office’s Mission Statement and Her Own Executive Order

Chris Alto

The 2017 Guide to the Mayor’s Office, posted on the Metro Nashville government website starts with the Mission Statement for the Mayor’s Office: To serve the citizens of Davidson County by directing the executive and administrative functions of the Metropolitan Government through enhanced collaboration while ensuring the local government operates in an efficient, transparent and fiscally responsible manner. On February 24, 2016, Mayor Megan Barry signed Executive Order 005, Financial and other disclosures by certain Metropolitan Government employees and officials; ethics, conflict of interest, and acceptance of gifts on the part of employees of Metropolitan Government. The Mission Statement of the Mayor’s office and her Executive Order are both implicated by Barry’s two year affair with a subordinate Metro Nashville employee while both of them were on the Metro payroll and using public funds to travel together on city business. “Fiscal responsibility” has emerged as a dominant issue as details of the affair have emerged, some of which are opaque at best. While the Mayor has been deliberately vague on the precise starting and ending dates of her affair with Sgt. Robert Forrest, head of her security detail, she has insisted that every trip on which they traveled alone together, was…

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What Happens if Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Resigns?

Tennessee Star Staff

The scandal that has enveloped Nashville Mayor Megan Barry in the wake of her admission that she had a two year affair with the head of her security detail has many wondering how she can weather the storm. As more details emerge regarding the use of taxpayer funds for her travels with Sgt. Rob Forrest, including 9 trips where the two of them traveled alone, speculation increases that she may ultimately be forced to resign. If that happens, what happens next? A Barry resignation during the next six months would immediately elevate the current Vice Mayor to serving as acting Mayor pending a special election to fill the vacancy in the Mayor’s office. (If Mayor Barry doesn’t resign until a date within 12 months of the next election for Mayor, then there would NOT be a special election and the Vice Mayor would simply fill the role until the scheduled election occurs.) The Nashville Metro Charter specifics in Section 15.03 that: “There shall be held a special metropolitan election to fill a vacancy for the unexpired term in the office of mayor and in the office of district council member whenever such vacancy shall exist more than twelve (12) months…

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Davidson County Residents Post Petition Calling on ‘Megan Barry to Resign Immediately from the Office of Mayor’

Christina Botteri

Less than 36 hours after Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry admitted to a years-long affair with top staffer Rob Forrest, some Davidson County citizens have had enough and are calling on Barry to step down. Backers are careful to note that while the Mayor’s infidelity in her marriage belies a systemic, ethical shortcoming, it is not chief among their concerns. What is, is the fiscal impact her relationship with Forrest had in terms of overtime payments, travel arrangements, and other costs associated with his many cross-country and overseas trips with her – all paid by Metro Nashville taxpayers. At least one observer noted that since these additional payments occurred over an extended period of time, Forrest’s retirement pension could be further enriched due to how the City calculates the benefit. A petition, hosted at ipetition.com has been posted calling for Mayor Megan Barry’s resignation. It reads: A PETITION FROM THE RESIDENTS OF DAVIDSON COUNTY We, the undersigned residents of Davidson County, Tennessee, state that, based on evident facts which have recently come to light, it is wholly appropriate under the rights accorded to free people under a free government that we protest the fact that: 1. A relationship of a sexual nature has existed…

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Megan Barry First Nashville Mayor To Take Police Guard Outside of Mid-South and Travel Alone With Security Chief Lover

Jason M. Reynolds

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry took her lover/police guard on far more trips, and on longer journeys, than her previous two predecessors, multiple media outlets report. NewsChannel 5 broke the story Wednesday of Barry’s years-long affair with the former head of her security detail, Metro Police Sgt. Rob Forrest, who abruptly announced his retirement after 31 years with the department. Forrest traveled with Barry across the U.S. as well as Greece and Paris. District Attorney Glenn Funk asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look for any potential criminal wrongdoing by Barry. NewsChannel 5 on Thursday interviewed former Mayor Bill Purcell. He said Forrest joined another officer on the mayoral security detail after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. One officer would drive with him to events “in the city of Nashville, primarily,” while the other would drive separately. Purcell was asked if Forrest traveled with him outside the city. Purcell said one or both would travel with him around the region, but he does not recall them accompanying him out of the state. Former Mayor Karl Dean told The Tennessean Thursday his security detail joined him when he drove to a location like Louisville or Little Rock, but not when he flew…

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