Newell Normand/ WWL/ March 1
Is New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell holding the Pontalba Apartment hostage after the City Council revoked it from her use? Records show it is still sitting unused despite orders that it should be made available for lease.
Rafael Goyeneche, President of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, told WWL’s Newell Normand that Cantrell’s office may have been communicating with Executive Director of the French Market Corporation, Leslie T. Alley, to maintain a hold on the Pontalba apartment instead of the apartment being put back into commerce as ordered by City Council.
Goyeneche cites emails discovered via the Freedom of Information Act that show just a month ago the corporation was requesting access from the mayor to the apartment for ‘a fire alarm and smoke detection test.’ “We know the apartment has not been put back into commerce,” he said.
The listed fair market value of it is $2,900 a rent and it’s still sitting vacant and has been for six months. 192 people are on a waiting list for apartments anywhere in the building.
Per the AP, Cantrell’s use of the apartment in the Upper Pontalba on much-sought-after Jackson Square was among complaints cited in an unsuccessful recall effort last year. Previous mayors have said they had used the apartment for meetings, special events or to house visiting dignitaries, while undercover video saw Cantrell using it for many hours at a time and even staying in it overnight with guests.
“The fact that she has basically ignored a City Council ordinance and the French Market Corporation as well is of course disturbing to anybody … but to think that that is going to be rectified by this mayor, it hasn’t happened yet and I don’t believe that it will as long as she is the mayor. What you see is what you get,” Goyenche said.
Normand said the corporation’s ineffectiveness in having the mayor relinquish the apartment means its executive director Leslie T. Alley should quit. “Leslie T. Alley needs to get booted,” he said.
This flagrant disregard of the law when it comes to the apartment comes as FOX 8 Live reports a “federal investigation into New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and a member of her security team, Officer Jeffrey Vappie, is reaching a critical juncture as authorities determine whether to bring criminal charges.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has demanded access to video footage obtained by Fox 8 in a series of investigations focusing on Cantrell and Vappie’s use of time and taxpayer money. Kickbacks are also allegedly being investigated.
Rafael Goyeneche, head of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, told the TV station it suggests that the government could be gearing up for indictments.
“If there wasn’t anything that was going to come of this investigation,” Goyeneche said. “Then they wouldn’t be subpoenaing records at this point in time. This, I think, is an indication that the investigation is winding down and that the government is preparing what charges they’re going to bring in this particular case.”