Garry's Back!

Former Hendersonville Alderman Garry Forsythe is back at City Hall.  This time, as a special consultant to the Mayor.

Of course, Forsythe sort of ran for Mayor against Scott Foster back in 2012. His campaign was so tepid that many suspected he was running simply to muddy the waters and allow Foster to win re-election in the face of strong challenges from both Alderman Steve Brown and Alderman Tommy Elsten. 

Now, Forsythe will make up to $48,000 a year consulting at the Mayor's direction and reporting exclusively to the Mayor while having a City Hall office and City of Hendersonville email account. 

Aldermen expressed concern about the arrangement noting they didn't even know it had been arranged. 

Some speculated that Forsythe would receive a plum city position in exchange for his willingness to help the Mayor win an otherwise unwinnable campaign. 

Now, that speculation seems to have proven rather accurate. 

So, 2013 has not started well for Mayor Scott Foster.  He's taken heat for buying gifts and meals for his wife with taxpayer funds and now he's hired a friend for a taxpayer-funded position without telling anyone. 

Hendersonville's Hungry Mayor

So it seems Hendersonville Mayor Scott Foster is a hungry guy.  That, or he is being reimbursed from City funds for meals he purchased for his wife on a recent business/personal trip.

What's most telling about this story is the arrogance with which Foster responds to the questions.  Not only does Foster believe he is exempt from the policies that govern every other city employee, he also believes taxpayers won't mind too much if he's spending their money for personal purchases. 

Not once in the piece does he apologize or offer to re-think the policy or reimburse the City of Hendersonville. 

Instead, he responds incredulously to the idea that a reporter might actually obtain publicly available documents and use them to write a story. 

While the receipts don't necessarily indicate that Foster purchased food for two people (he is a bodybuilder, after all, and could be very hungry when he travels) -- he doesn't dispute the claim. 

Foster is right in one sense.  The story is talking about a relatively small sum of money in the grand scheme of the City's budget.  However, readers don't know (yet) if this is the norm for Foster - is he frequently spending City money to purchase meals/entertainment for his wife while she's with him on City business?

Can the Finance Director really not deny his claims? Why doesn't the reimbursement policy for every other City of Hendersonville employee apply to the Mayor - a full-time position funded exclusively with taxpayer dollars? 

Fortunately, Alderman Matt Stamper seems focused on getting to the bottom of this.  Possibly even changing the policy going forward. 

No word (yet) on Foster reimbursing the City for this trip, though.