Yes, the correct config file would look like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!--
    This file stores bootstrap properties needed by Openfire.
    Property names must be in the format: "prop.name.is.blah=value"
    That will be stored as:
        <prop>
            <name>
                <is>
                    <blah>value</blah>
                </is>
            </name>
        </prop>

    Most properties are stored in the Openfire database. A
    property viewer and editor is included in the admin console.
-->
<!-- root element, all properties must be under this element -->
<jive> 
  <adminConsole> 
    <!-- Disable either port by setting the value to -1 -->  
    <port>9090</port>  
    <securePort>9091</securePort> 
  </adminConsole>  
  <locale>en</locale>  
  <!-- Network settings. By default, Openfire will bind to all network interfaces.
      Alternatively, you can specify a specific network interfaces that the server
      will listen on. For example, 127.0.0.1. This setting is generally only useful
       on multi-homed servers. -->  
  <!--
    <network>
        <interface></interface>
    </network>
    -->  
  <connectionProvider> 
    <className>org.jivesoftware.database.DefaultConnectionProvider</className> 
  </connectionProvider>  
  <database> 
    <defaultProvider> 
      <driver>com.mysql.jdbc.Driver</driver>  
      <serverURL>jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/databasename</serverURL>  
      <username>databaseuser</username>  
      <password>*******</password>  
      <testSQL>select 1</testSQL>  
      <testBeforeUse>true</testBeforeUse>  
      <testAfterUse>true</testAfterUse>  
      <minConnections>5</minConnections>  
      <maxConnections>25</maxConnections>  
      <connectionTimeout>1.0</connectionTimeout> 
    </defaultProvider> 
  </database>  
  <provider>
    <auth>
      <className>org.jivesoftware.openfire.auth.JDBCAuthProvider</className>
    </auth>
    <user>
      <className>org.jivesoftware.openfire.user.JDBCUserProvider</className>
    </user>
  </provider>
   <jdbcProvider>
    <driver>com.mysql.jdbc.Driver</driver>
    <connectionString>jdbc:mysql://localhost/databasename?user=databasename&amp;password=*******</connectionString>
  </jdbcProvider>
  <jdbcAuthProvider>
     <passwordSQL>SELECT password FROM jos_users WHERE username=?</passwordSQL>
     <passwordType>md5</passwordType>
  </jdbcAuthProvider>
  <jdbcUserProvider>
     <loadUserSQL>SELECT name,email FROM jos_users WHERE username=?</loadUserSQL>
     <userCountSQL>SELECT COUNT(*) FROM jos_users</userCountSQL>
     <allUsersSQL>SELECT username FROM jos_users</allUsersSQL>
     <searchSQL>SELECT username FROM jos_users WHERE</searchSQL>
     <usernameField>username</usernameField>
     <nameField>name</nameField>
     <emailField>email</emailField>
  </jdbcUserProvider>
  <admin>
    <authorizedUsernames>username, username, username</authorizedUsernames>
  </admin>
  <setup>true</setup>
</jive>

The bbcode parser for this forum component is converting the & to &. Otherwise the XML won't be well-formed. DJJester, thanks for sharing this.