Mayors in a Mess: 11 Accused of Behaving Badly

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(HLNtv.com) — Some golf announcers have used “the mayor’s office” to describe where a perfectly positioned shot comes to rest. But for plenty of actual mayors, the office has turned out to be anything but restful.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s admission this week of crack cocaine use is only the latest in a spate of alleged instances of bad behavior among Canadian mayors. And in suburban Miami, three mayors were arrested on corruption charges in August.

Here are some mayors who ran into difficulty while leading their cities.

Rob Ford

After being dogged for months by media reports that he smoked crack cocaine (on video, no less), Toronto’s mayor finally admitted Tuesday to trying the drug. But he says he’s not an addict. He’s called on police to release the video and has refused to resign.

Michael Applebaum

Elsewhere in Canada, Montreal’s interim mayor resigned after he was arrested in June on 14 charges, including fraud, conspiracy and corruption. He denies the charges. Applebaum had replaced Montreal’s previous mayor, Gerald Tremblay, who resigned last year amid corruption allegations.

Bob Filner

San Diego’s mayor resigned in August after 18 women accused him of inappropriate behavior. He later pleaded guilty to charges of felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and prohibited from ever seeking or holding public office again.

Kwame Kilpatrick

The former mayor of Detroit was sentenced in October to 28 years in prison after being convicted of two dozen charges, including racketeering, extortion and filing false tax returns.

Tony Mack

The mayor of Trenton, New Jersey, is expected to face trial early next year on federal corruption charges. Mack was arrested in September 2012 in an alleged kickback scheme involving city-owned land. He pleaded not guilty and has declined to resign.

Buddy Cianci

The former mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, was sentenced to prison in 2002 for a racketeering conspiracy. He served four years and told The New York Times he read almost 500 books behind bars.

Brent Warr

The former mayor of Gulfport, Mississippi, pleaded guilty in 2009 to one count of making a fraudulent claim after Hurricane Katrina, according to court documents. Prosecutors dropped 19 other charges. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and paid a fine.

Antonio Villaraigosa

The former Los Angeles mayor admitted having an affair with a TV news reporter in 2007, a month after announcing he and his wife were separating.

Sheila Dixon

Baltimore’s first female mayor resigned in 2010 as part of a plea deal in a perjury case, The Baltimore Sun reported. She was convicted of embezzlement. Dixon received probation and community service.

Michael Estes

The voters of Traverse City, Michigan, are quite forgiving, apparently. Local media reports Estes was re-elected on November 5, one day after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving while impaired, according to court documents. He faces up to 93 days in jail when he’s sentenced next month.

Marion Barry

The former mayor of Washington, D.C., was busted for possessing crack cocaine in 1990 and spent six months in prison. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges involving failure to file and pay taxes, and was sentenced to three years’ probation, The Washington Post reports. After all that, he got elected to the D.C. City Council, which recently censured him for taking cash payments from contractors doing business with the city.

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