Nashville’s Council Considers Reprimands For Two Prominent Leaders

Two prominent Nashville leaders could be publicly reprimanded at Tuesday’s meeting of the Metro Council. Separate resolutions will be considered for school board member Jill Speering and for former Mayor Megan Barry.

It has been more than a year since Barry disclosed an extramarital affair. She then resigned and pleaded guilty to theft, leaving few options for further punishment. But it took until December for an ethics violation to be finalized.

That sent the matter to the council, which must decide whether to formally censure Barry, an action that would be mostly symbolic, but that could trigger sensitive debate on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the council is deciding whether to ask Speering to apologize to Metro Schools Director Shawn Joseph.

Speering called for parents and teachers to protest him in January, and she went on to suggest participants could wear masks if they wanted anonymity.

While that type of protest did not occur, some officials compared the tactic to the Ku Klux Klan. Councilwoman Erica Gilmore has filed a nonbinding resolution to request a retraction and apology from Speering.