David Briley Sworn in as Nashville Mayor

Vice Mayor David Briley was sworn in as the mayor of Nashville at the Metro Courthouse Tuesday evening. The surprise inauguration came just hours after Megan Barry pleaded guilty to theft and announced her resignation amid scandal surrounding her affair with the former head of her security detail.

He becomes the eighth mayor of the Metropolitan government, 55 years after his grandfather Beverly Briley took office to serve as its first.

"I need some coffee," he said after taking the oath. He pledged to "deliver results" for Nashvillians under unprecedented circumstances.

"We share Nashville’s optimism," he said, citing a challenge he made to the Metro Council upon his inauguration as vice mayor. "We will work to extend economic prosperity to those being left behind, protect our neighborhoods and build upon the successes in our public schools. We will act transparently, listen to everyone, expect accountability and deliver results."

Briley previously ran for mayor in 2007 after two terms as an at-large member of the Metro Council during which he become popular among progressives. He proposed initiatives like citywide wireless internet and won the endorsement of the Metro teacher’s union. But he ultimately failed to make the runoff, finishing fifth.

Briley was an attorney with Nashville firm Bone McAllester Norton. He resigned from the firm Tuesday. Briley will serve as mayor through August 2018, when a special election will be held to fill the remainder of Barry’s term, which ends August 2019.

One Metro Councilmember, District 19 representative Freddie O’Connell, said that if Briley runs in August, “It will be important for voters to seriously consider extending his contract through the end of our shared terms.” Briley did not say if he would run to fill the rest of the term.

At a press conference after the ceremony, Briley told reporters he would continue to drive himself to and from work and would not take a security detail on out-of-state trips, two practices that in part led to increases in overtime pay for Barry’s security detail. Briley also suggested the special Metro Council committee investigating Barry reconsider its decision to hire a law firm to help with the investigation, citing cost concerns and Barry’s resignation.

"Mayor Barry is my friend and I give her my thanks for her years of service to the city,” Briley said. "It's important to put today in perspective. Nashville has never been defined by a single person."

Metro Council President Pro Tem Sheri Weiner was also sworn in Tuesday night as vice mayor. She previously represented District 22 in the Bellevue area.

Briley said he did not know about Barry’s impending resignation until Tuesday morning. He had car troubles and was commuting to work at his law office by public transit before Barry called him around 8:30 a.m.

“I dropped my car off at the shop,” Briley said, “took the bus in, the 52B, came to the office, and by that time I realized something was afoot.”