A Nashville Town Council member has pleaded not guilty to charges that she was driving while intoxicated downtown.
Alisha Gredy, 43, was unanimously chosen as council vice president the afternoon of Jan. 3, the council’s first meeting of the year.
At 11:40 that evening, Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy William Pool saw Gredy driving left of center on North Jefferson Street in front of her workplace, Bright and Williamson Insurance, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed Jan. 7.
Pool wrote that Gredy smelled of alcohol and showed other physical signs of intoxication. She also argued with the officer, he wrote.
The officer’s probable-cause affidavit does not say whether a portable breath test was given, but Sheriff Scott Southerland said that one was administered, and the result was 0.149. The legal limit for a driver is 0.08.
A blood draw also was taken, but those results were not immediately available, the affidavit said.
Gredy, of Wells Drive, was booked into jail at 1:56 a.m. Jan. 4 and posted $500 bond at 11:10 a.m., according to jail records.
She was charged on Jan. 7 in Brown Circuit Court with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated — endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor. She appeared in court without a lawyer on Jan. 8 and pleaded not guilty, court records say.
A charge of “endangering a person” is commonly filed if the vehicle is alleged to have been swerving, crossing the center line or if an accident was involved. In this case, the officer reported Gredy was left of center.
Hours before her arrest on Jan. 3, Gredy had introduced an insurance agent at the town council meeting who spoke to the members about risk management and liability. Council President Jane Gore and member David Rudd asked additional questions about guidelines for council members’ personal behavior as town representatives and their use of social media.
“Remember, all eyes are on you,” said Stacy Edgell with insurer Tokio Marine. “So even when you leave this room, again, all eyes are on you and your employees. … Just be careful.”
Gredy and Gore both said last week that on the advice of legal counsel, they could not comment about this incident.
The town does not have personnel policies for town council members that would relate to this situation, Gore said.
Gredy was appointed to the council in the summer of 2015 to fill a vacancy created when council member Sean Cassiday was hired as Nashville utility coordinator. The town canceled its election that fall because all council members who would have been on the ballot were unopposed, so Gredy and others automatically earned another term. This is the third year of her first full term; her seat representing District 2 would be up for election this year.
Her follow-up court date was set for Jan. 24.
If convicted, Gredy could be sentenced to between 0 and 365 days in jail and fined up to $10,000 on the Class A misdemeanor, the higher-level charge.
