Megan Barry Hangover for this Nashville election

One day can make quite a difference. But don't plan ahead four years either. And don't make me vote any more often than I have to. The media and the party outside of power already love to start presidential politics way ahead of schedule. By the time the real election season rolls around, the public has had it.

But don't get me started with Megan Barry, who should now be coasting into a second four years as Mayor of the IT city. The one I live in. The one I am typing this blog post in. The one we all love even when it is tough to do so. And the one our former mayor said she loved.

But actions speak louder than words. And I lost count of the times that we folks who call Nashville home had to vote in a year when we should have been focused 100% on the elections for governor and United States Senator, respectively.

By the time November rolled around, we had voted in a special election for mayor, an election for vice mayor, some sort of runoff election, plus the state primary and general election. My voter registration card has never received so much attention.

And you can thank perhaps the worst public official in the history of Nashville (and one of the worst in the country in recent times) for the debacle of voter fatigue.

What began as an upset victory in 2015 and so much promise on so many fronts turned into a nightmare that began in late January of last year and continues to have repercussions now.

A married mother who lost her son tragically while in office. A magnetic persona and strong work ethic (or so we thought). Megan Barry had sizzling mojo and awesome presence as a leader in this city. Why she decided to take frivolous official trips overseas for the purpose of having sex and carrying on an extramarital affair with security guard Robert Forrest compliments of the taxpayers of Metropolitan Nashville is beyond me. 

And I commend law enforcement for pushing her out in March 2018 after the situation dominated local headlines for over a month.

I never heard Barry apologize to us. Maybe I am remembering it wrong. But this was a mayor with a background in business ethics. Ironically, she had no ethics She used a powerful public position to betray us. 

Thankfully, she is gone. The affair is over. As is her career in politics. Wish she would have simply transferred Robert Forrest to doing something else and filed for divorce. Maybe that would have been too complicated in her world. But had she done it, I would have had no issues with it.

So here we are with some very talented folks vying for our attention here in the regularly scheduled Metro Nashville election year of 2019. Some are already serving our city. Some are looking for their first chance to do so. 

But after umpteen trips to the polls in 2018, I am just glad we have seen the last of Megan Barry.