Mayor Greg Davis Abuses City Funds, Outs Himself

According to his website, Mayor Greg Davis of Southaven can be credited with a long list of acheivements: he's served in the Mississippi Legislature, helped the city earn over $25,000 in grants, got citizens their first-ever tax rebate, created thousands of new jobs and "led Southaven into a new era of growth and prosperity."

Which is all great news, except for his minor misappropriation of roughly $170,000 on his own and a city-issued credit card. Some of those funds paid for expensive dinners, liquor and a personal vacation. There's also a $67 charge to Priape, a Toronto-based "gay lifestyle shop" - but with a name like Priape, did we even need to explain that?

So far, Davis has paid back $96,000 of the city's money. He's also publicly come out as a gay man, saying: "While I have performed my job as mayor, in my opinion, as a very conservative, progressive individual - and still continue to be a very conservative individual - I think that it is important that I discuss the struggles I have had over the last few years when I came to the realization that I am gay."

He refused to say anything about his unauthorized expenses "because of an ongoing criminal investigation."

We couldn't care less if Davis is gay. Isn't the real issue all the money he took from Southaven? If you ask us, there's some bait and switch happening here. Why address your criminal misuse of taxpayer money when you can just deflect with the gay card and call it a day?

Via HuffPo and The Commercial Appeal. Photo via mayorgregdavis.com.