New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has so many scandals that you need a wall chart to keep track of them.
Here’s just a few brief samples from the endless horror show
Board of New Orleans ‘mayor’s fund’ nonprofit sues former executive director – WWNO
Cantrell’s Wisner Trust extension was illegal, had ‘no discernible public purpose or benefit,’ council argues in recent legal filing – TheLensNola
Mayor Cantrell hit with ethics charges over first-class flight – WAFB
Cantrell “personally worked” with alleged Costco carjacker – Audacy
New Orleans’ mayor accused her of stalking. Now she’s filed a $1 million defamation suit – WGNO
If this seems like wall-to-wall scandals, you’re right. Also, policywise, New Orleans under Cantrell became much more dangerous and an even worse place to live or do business (and it wasn’t that great to begin with).
And yet despite record unpopularity, she decisively won two elections and survived a recall election. Call it a combination of dubious elections and bloc voting.
Now it’s all over.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has been indicted by a grand jury Friday.
Cantrell is facing charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, false statements, obstruction of justice and false declaration before a grand jury.
Former New Orleans Police Department officer Jeffrey Vappie is facing new allegations in Cantrell’s indictment.
The indictment alleges that in October 2021, Cantrell and Vappie developed a personal relationship and hid that relationship to maximize their time together.
Compared to some corruption scandals, this is only so big. The bottom line is that LaToya Cantrell used her position to start a relationship with a man who was supposed to be guarding her and abused city resources, including an apartment, and city salaries and spending, to keep it going.
It’s only a small part of the damage that Cantrell did to New Orleans and surrounding areas suffering from crime spillover. But there are certain echoes of Fanni Willis here. Earlier, Cantrell claimed that she faced “crucifixion”. Expect her to really boost the rhetoric once the trial gets underway.
The real question though is can New Orleans get any better without her?
