Fla. City Official Resigns, Kills Self

[Ghost in the Machine]

Fla. City Official Resigns, Kills Self
Published: 9/7/07, 10:05 PM EDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - A city councilman apparently committed suicide Friday, hours after he resigned amid allegations that he sexually abused two teenage girls and a woman, authorities said.

John Bryan, 56, was found by a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, slumped in a golf cart in the garage of his home in Floral City. Paramedics pronounced him dead, said Citrus County Sheriff's spokeswoman Gail Tierney.

A riding lawn mower was running and two nearby four-wheelers also appeared to have been running but were out of gas. Officers found a suicide note in the house, but Tierney did not know what it said.

Bryan was being investigated on suspicion of sexually abusing three females, said Ron Stuart, spokesman for the Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court.

Earlier Friday, Bryan had acknowledged in court a sexual relationship with a young woman, but he said that it was consensual and that she was 18, Stuart said. At the hearing, Bryan agreed not to have contact with the suspected teenage victims.

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[Maq]

1. another Republican Sexual Deviant

Bryan long held political ambitions
Aaron Sharockman writes for Saturday's St. Petersburg Times:
ST. PETERSBURG -- John Bryan's political ambitions were never a secret.

When City Council members picked Bill Foster over Bryan for a vacant council seat in 1998, he moved to a new district so he could try again.

Three years later, Bryan built a formidable team that included help from Charlie Crist and GOP heavyweight Mel Sembler, as well as two former mayors.

He was elected that year and easily won re-election in 2005.

Many speculated that a run for mayor was next.

Now, Bryan's death throws the already shifting makeup of the City Council into further uncertainty.

With four of the eight council seats up for election in the fall, and a primary scheduled Tuesday, council members must also fill Bryan's seat in District 2.

St. Petersburg officials removed Bryan’s image and biography from the city’s Web site late Friday.

Under an empty picture of District 2, it simply said "vacant."
For more, pick up Saturday's Times or visit tampabay.com

[DS1]

2. Democracy, Chinese style.

Any other wording would might promote the new Guns and Roses CD, so I did it this way

[Ghost in the Machine]

3. kick

[book_worm]

4. A Republican! Who would have guessed?