The New Orleans City Council has scored an early victory in its lawsuit against Mayor LaToya Cantrell over the Wisner Trust.
Councilman Joe Giarusso broke the news Friday on the Newell Normand Show.
"The city for the next five or six days is precluded from making any expenditures out of the Wisner Trust unless the court approves it," Giarusso said of the temporary restraining order signed by the judge hearing the case.
The council wants the court to dissolve the Wisner Trust, a city-controlled entity that owns thousands of acres of land--including most of Port Fourchon. That would cut out other beneficiaries in the trust and make the city the sole owner of the land and its revenues.
The Mitch Landrieu and the Cantrell administrations extended the trust beyond its 2014 expiration date.
That's cost the city millions of dollars in royalty revenues from the thousands of acres of land at and around Port Fourchon.
"The Fourth Circuit has ruled on this issue already and said that the trust expired in 2014. The mayor and the administration cannot unilaterly extend the trust," Giarusso said. "The mayor and the administration cannot unilaterly extend the trust."
What's next?
"On Wednesday, we'll hear the preliminary injunction," Giarusso said.
Still, Giarusso says he'd rather settle this dispute with the Cantrell Administration outside of the courtroom.
"Rather than litigating in court, we can work these things out between two branches of government and not have three involved, but if we need to continue to go with the court system, then we'll continue to do that," Giarusso said. "My sincere hope is, like most things that I try to do, is that you try to resolve them behind the scenes and not in the press and not in the courtroom, but if if it's necessary to go and litigate these things, then that's what we're going to have to do."