Municipal Affairs

Long before they elected him mayor in 1987, Nashville voters knew that William H. Boner was no Goody Two-Shoes. As a Democratic Congressman he had been cited by the House ethics committee for milking campaign funds for personal gain. Before that, in 1985, federal prosecutors scrutinized some of the services he performed for a defense contractor who paid Boner's lawyer- wife Betty fees totaling $44,000 in 22 months. Still, when newly elected Mayor Boner exulted three years ago that he felt "like a child in a candy store," Nashvillians did not know just what he meant.

As it turned out, Boner's exultation was a prelude to a pair of spectacular sexual escapades. First, while still married to third wife Betty, Boner had a fling with a female bodyguard. Then he lurched into a love affair with a willowy aspiring country-music singer named Traci Peel, 35, who joked to the press that the mayor made love to her for seven consecutive hours.

One tabloid dubbed the scandal the GRAND OLE SOAP OPRY, as Nashvillians cringed in embarrassment. After Boner's divorce from Betty and marriage to Peel, the city's mortification peaked when the Boners appeared on Phil Donahue's TV show to discuss, among other matters, the mayor's alleged sexual prowess. Boner also played harmonica while a rambunctious Peel sang Rocky Top. Donahue rightly charged that Boner's conduct came "very close to giving the finger" to Nashville. And Nashville seemed ready by last week to reciprocate. Unfortunately, Boner's constituents have found that the city charter fails to provide for recall. Unless he decides to resign -- or collapses in his bedroom -- it looks as if Nashville is stuck with him for another 11 months.