A former Gainesville mayor was arrested last weekend on a charge of public indecency.

Mark Musselwhite, who left the Gainesville City Council in 2006 for an unsuccessful bid for the state Senate, was arrested Saturday night at a National Forest campground in Rabun County, according to Robin Hill, spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources.

The Warwoman Area Manager for the forest arrested Musselwhite for allegedly being naked at a campsite. Musselwhite was taken to the Rabun County Detention Center and charged with public indecency.

Reached Thursday night, Musselwhite told The Times that he and his attorney would release a statement in the coming days, but refused to say whether he planned to fight the charges.

"We really don’t need to make any comments at this time," Musselwhite said. "...We’ll be coming out with a statement that will be clear and have an opportunity to clarify the situation."

Musselwhite served on the Gainesville City Council from 2000 to 2006. In 2008, he told The Times that he had considered running against Tom Oliver for Hall County Commission chairman, but decided against it.

The 2006 state Senate race, which Musselwhite lost to Sen. Lee Hawkins, was the most expensive race involving two Hall County candidates.