My first article in The Hayride goes all the way back to June 2022. In that article, I explained how New Orleans had become a dumpster fire under Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Here is a piece:
The tragedy of this situation is that New Orleans did not have to become a Third World Dumpster Fire. The city’s demise was not inevitable, but this decline has been ongoing for decades, and little to nothing has been done by the city’s political class to reverse it. I hope that better days are ahead for New Orleans, but nothing will change when citizens keep electing corrupt, inept politicians—like Mayor LaToya Cantrell, District Attorney Jason Williams, and others—for decades.
Unfortunately, not much has changed in the past two years in New Orleans. Crime is down from the 2022 highs, but the city is still less safe than it was in the late-2010s.
Much of the blame for the city’s continued demise falls in the lap of Mayor Cantrell, whose second term has been constant with scandals, willful neglect, and squabbles with the City Council.
In the past week in fact, Cantrell’s credibility took another nose-dive following multiple controversies.
To start last week, the Metropolitan Crime Commission (MCC) released the following photo of Mayor Cantrell with embattled police officer Jeffrey Vappie. Taken on April 7th, the photo shows Cantrell sharing a meal with Vappie. Last year, Vappie was under investigation for payroll discrepancies, and he was also accused of having an extramarital affair with Cantrell.
Last week the MCC sent a letter to the NOPD Public Integrity Bureau requesting an investigation into the conduct of Executive Protection Team member Officer Jeffrey Vappie.@FOX8NOLA @WWLTV @wdsu @WGNOtv @NOLAnews @nolaipm @NOLACityCouncil pic.twitter.com/qqK9aPbeYj
— MetroCrimeNOLA (@MetroCrimeNOLA) April 15, 2024
In the MCC’s letter, MCC Commissioner Rafael Goyechce asked the Public Integrity Bureau to investigate if Officer Vappie’s actions complied with NOPD policies. Several days after the photo released, NOPD Superintendent Kirkpatrick affirmed that the Department will investigate Vappie’s conduct over his meal with Cantrell.
This recent story is just another example of the failed political leadership coming from Mayor Cantrell’s office in New Orleans.
A week after Cantrell’s meal with Vappie, New Orleans suffered one of its worst shootings in recent years. On April 14th, a dozen people were shot in the Warehouse District of New Orleans—only a few blocks from the Convention Center.
Only two days after the shooting, word got out that Mayor Cantrell will leave the city later this month to speak at the African-American Mayor’s Association conference in Atlanta. Talk about an utterly tone-deaf decision.
We're honored to have featured Mayors @Mayorcantrell, @Mayorcoreywoods, and @DeanaIngraham joining the line up of leaders who will be attending the 2024 annual conference from April 24-27 in Atlanta! Turn on our post notifications to hear from these impactful figures. #AAMA10 pic.twitter.com/KLgosc1A4I
— African American Mayors Association (@OurMayors) April 16, 2024
At this point, there is no political solution in New Orleans at the municipal level. Mayor Cantrell and the New Orleans City Council have failed to demonstrate any ability to properly govern the city, so it’s time for the state government to step in.
Fortunately, Governor Jeff Landry and the Louisiana Legislature have shown a willingness to remove power from the Mayor’s office and the Sewerage and Water Board due to the continued corruption and incompetence coming from the local government.
For instance, Senator Jay Morris proposed a bill (SB 122) that would permit the LA Attorney General to prosecute local cases at the AG’s discretion. This bill follows similar models in states like Florida in order to hold “soft-on-crime” DAs accountable for their failure to prosecute dangerous criminals. This bill was heard in the Senate Judiciary B committee last week, but the RINOs and Democrats in that committee did not pass this bill out of committee.
Similarly, Attorney General Liz Murrill previously signed an agreement with New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams that would permit the Attorney General’s office to start prosecuting criminal cases in Orleans Parish.
Hope may be on the way for the city of New Orleans. The question comes down to whether Louisiana’s executive and legislative branches have the political will to save the city of New Orleans from itself. Only time will tell.
—
Nathan Koenig is a frequent contributor to RVIVR.com, a national conservative political site affiliated with The Hayride. Follow his writing on the Louisiana First Standard Substack, on Twitter (X) @LAfirststandard, and on Instagram @tincanconservative. Email him here: louisianafirststandard@proton.me