New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is in hot water after allegations have surfaced that she is misappropriating tax dollars (AGaiN) to fund her lavish city-owned apartment in the French Quarter.
“The use of the [apartment] is provided to the mayor of the city,” said Cantrell during a news conference Wednesday. “This has been on the books since the 1800s, and again, my use is consistent with that of mayors of the past.”
But her claims have not stopped the New Orleans Police Department from opening an investigation into a member of Cantrell’s security team, Officer Jeffrey Vappie, who has been accused of payroll irregularities.
Local New Orleans news station WDSU asked the mayor if New Orleans Police was the applicable agency to investigate Vappie to which she replied, “I have complete confidence in our Public Integrity Bureau. We have ensured that policies and procedures are in place for all investigative practices that are under their authority, and so I don’t see this as any different.”
Another reporter questioned whether several of her actions during her time in office was “appropriate.”
“Relative to your accusations, none of them add up at all. But in regards to my work for the city of New Orleans, it is really unmatched,” said Cantrell. “I can point to results on the ground, the budget hearings that are underway right now speak to the work that my administration and my team has done and continues to do for the city of New Orleans relative to public safety, relative to housing, relative to infrastructure, and I can literally go on and on and on.”
The news conference comes just months after the embattled mayor refused to pay back $30,000 for first-class flights she took both domestically and abroad. At the time, she said she would not pay back the city despite policies requiring government employees to pay the difference for upgraded fare. Her reasons for flying first class stem from safety concerns about being a Black woman and COVID-19.
“Anyone who wants to question how I protect myself just doesn’t understand the world Black women walk in,” Cantrell said in a statement. “My travel accommodations are a matter of safety, not of luxury. As all women know, our health and safety are often disregarded, and we are left to navigate alone.”
She has insisted that the expenses were on behalf of the city and she has been critiqued for inadequate explanations about what her race and gender had anything to do with her travel safety. She did, however, explain how COVID-19 has affected how she chooses to travel.
“There were some things that changed due to COVID. One, me flying with security, and my seat assignment — absolutely tied to my health and my well-being. No doubt about that,” she told local New Orleans TV station, WDSU. “In addition to that, many may not know, some of the levels of anxiety that I do have, however, COVID, I had to pivot, and I’ve had to pivot with making sure I’m traveling with security, and I have to be at my best doing it.”
