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LaToya Cantrell, New Orleans’ controversial Democratic mayor, has said she will repay the city for $30,000 she claimed in city money for first-class flights after living rent-free in a government apartment just three miles from her home.
The mayor had to pay for the flights after a city attorney found that Cantrell, as a city employee, was required by policy to seek the cheapest fares or reimburse the city for luxury costs.
Cantrell spent about $10,000 on her own flatbed seat and blew a similar amount on a first-class return to France earlier this year — while her assistants traveled in a coach.
The under fire mayor is already in trouble after admitting he lived in a rent-free city apartment in the French Quarter, just three miles from her $500K Broadmoor home.
Cantrell had previously caused outrage when she spent taxpayers’ money on first-class air travel to France and Switzerland, and apologized by saying that economy class was “unsafe” for black women, adding that she hadn’t done anything illegal.
“However, based on the policy review, I will have to pay back,” she said of the flights. “So I’m going to do that,” without specifying when she would.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has said she will repay the city for $30,000 she claimed for herself in July for first-class flights from Washington Dulles Airport to Switzerland and France.
At the same time, she admitted that she stayed for free in a city apartment in the Upper Pontalba building on Jackson Square in the famous neighborhood. It has a market rate of $2,991 per month
The city’s Metropolitan Crime Commission showed photos of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell entering and leaving the apartment and testifying that she spent nights there, putting up privacy screens and receiving package
“Based on the policy review of the collective bargaining agreement and the legal department, it is very clear that business has been done on behalf of the city of New Orleans, but I will have to reimburse the city for those business costs,” she says. said.
Initially, she repeatedly refused to reimburse herself for the cost of a luxury American Airlines flight from Washington Dulles Airport to Switzerland in July, despite a city ban on luxury air travel.
“My travel accommodations are a matter of safety, not luxury,” Cantrell, who reportedly earns about $188K annually, told a news conference last Thursday.
“As all women know, our health and safety is often ignored and we have to navigate on our own.
“As the mother of a young child I live for, I’m going to protect myself by all reasonable means to make sure I’m there to watch her grow into the strong woman I’m raising her.
“Anyone who wants to wonder how I protect myself just doesn’t understand the world black women walk in.”
Cantrell spent about $10,000 on her own flatbed seat and blew a similar amount on a first-class return to France earlier this year — while her assistants traveled in a coach.
But councilors did not accept these apologies and had threatened to include her salary in the 2023 budget to get the money back.
“I’m glad we can put this behind us,” said council chair Helena Moreno.
“We have so many bigger problems to solve. Of course with public safety. We have the budget coming up and we really want to focus on that.’
The policy enforcement to have Cantrell reimburse the city for its first-class flights came after she gave an extremely stingy response to journalists on Thursday when questioned about the matter.
Cantrell’s home in the Broadmoor neighborhood of New Orleans, which she shares with her husband Jason, is valued at over $500K
A spokesperson for Eugene Green, who is on the board of French Market Corp. sitting, said, “Councilman Green is not aware of any rules or procedures that may have been violated.” Mayor Cantrell is pictured here (right) raising her glass during a parade during Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras celebrations in March 2022
“All expenses incurred in conducting business on behalf of the City of New Orleans will not be reimbursed to the City of New Orleans,” Mayor Cantrell said outside the Nix Library.
‘One thing is clear; I do my job and I will continue to do it with distinction and integrity every step of the way. And so, that’s what I have to say about that!’
Meanwhile, the city’s Metropolitan Crime Commission sent a report to the city council on Thursday requesting an investigation into Cantrell’s use of the apartment in the city’s Upper Pontalba building on Jackson Square.
It is owned by the city and operated by the French Market Corp., a city-affiliated agency, has a market rate of $2,991 per month
A spokesperson for Cantrell and the city councilor who sits on the FMC board said everything is legal under the city’s terms with French Market Corp.
However, the MCC report included footage of Cantrell going in and out of the apartment over several months, as well as allegations from witnesses who said she regularly stayed overnight in the apartment.
Moreno asks for time to review the findings before agreeing to an investigation.
A spokesperson for Eugene Green, a Democrat on the board of French Market Corp. sitting, said, “Councilman Green is not aware of any rules or procedures that may have been violated.”
FMC records obtained by: WWL TV said no rent was paid on the apartment between September 1, 2021 and July 31, 2022.
It is also alleged that a city employee was used as a de facto building superintendent to solve problems in the apartment.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell refuses to refund money for international business and first-class flights to France and Switzerland
The report shows Cantrell talking to Byron Cornelison of the Mayor’s Office for Cultural Economics about a bathroom leak and telling him when it’s a good time to fix it.
She wrote to him earlier about getting Cox Cable employees to come and fix the wifi in the apartment.
Rafael Goyeneche, the chairman of the MCC, calls this arrangement inappropriate for the mayor and says: “That’s a tax-free extra benefit she receives. She doesn’t have to live there or use it. And I think it’s abuse and abuse of her authority. But I’m waiting to see what the council’s position is.’
Goyeneche demands that the municipality investigates.
“The mayor’s use of the city’s apartment on Pontalba is consistent with the use of previous mayors,” said Gregory Joseph, Cantrell’s communications director.
“In the 2013 franchise agreement, there are no rules for using that unit, and the FMC believes that the mayor is under no obligation to pay rent for that apartment because she uses it in the same way as previous mayors.”