It appears that New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is doing what many politicians do - she seems to be sacrificing true concern for the safety of the citizens who voted her in office twice to focus on her political life after she leaves office in 2026.
At a time when the murder rate currently vaults the city of New Orleans to the murder capital of the country and carjackings and armed robberies have become so routine that the citizens of New Orleans are feeling the threat of crimes every day, our mayor refused to even say that the crime surge in the city is at a “crisis” level.
Last month, Mayor Cantrell acknowledged an increase in crime in the city, but refused to describe the problem as a “crisis.” One wonders how bad things will have to get for Mayor Cantrell to admit that the crime rate in the city during her administration is a crisis.
Tuesday, two ranking members of the New Orleans City Council, Helena Moreno and JP Morrell used an interview on WWL-TV to blast Cantrell’s impotent approach to the current crime wave. Moreno said the crime surge is a “crisis" and that Mayor Cantrell and NOPD Chief Shaun Ferguson “must admit that there is a problem.”
JP Morrell accused the mayor and the police chief of downplaying the city’s crime problem to protect the image of the city.
Further demonstrating that Mayor Cantrell is more concerned about her political image than protecting the citizens who elected her to office is the reality that the city council has approved funding for programs that will address NOPD’s dangerous shortage of officers and other issues related to the crime wave.
Mayor Cantrell, however, has not acted on the funding. Moreno said in the interview with WWL-TV that the Cantrell administration is refusing to attack even the “low-hanging fruit” opportunities to fight increasing crime in the city.
The council approved over $1 million to increase recruitment of NOPD officers, but Cantrell will not sign a memorandum to move forward. The council has also approved funding for programs that would have non-commissioned officers responding to some traffic accidents, which would leave time for police officers to deal with more pressing issues; but the Mayor’s office and NOPD have not even taken advantage of the funding.
Pointing out that Mayor Cantrell seems more interested in her image than in the safety of the citizens who voted for her, Morrell said that NOPD pulled 10 to 20 officers out of their districts to patrol the French Quarter during Essence Fest this past weekend. Morell said, “When you pull that many officers from all the districts to the Quarter, the rest of the city is less safe, but the tourists are.”
Mayor Cantrell was a prominent figure at Essence Fest, wearing flashy dresses and sporting a new hairstyle. From the beginning of the pandemic when New Orleans was one of the COVID-19 hotspots, Cantrell relished in the national spotlight; her comments exposed her motives of preparing for a much bigger political role.
The state of Louisiana watched Governor Bobby Jindal turn his back on the voters who put him in office and abused his position as governor to position himself for a run for the presidency. We all know that he quickly crashed and burned.
We witnessed Mitch Landrieu use his position as mayor to set up a run for the presidency. He, too, crashed and burned and never became more the a whisper. Landrieu is currently part of the Biden administration and is overseeing the $1 trillion infrastructure legislation.
It seems obvious that Mayor Cantrell is striving to protect her image to position herself for when she leaves office. Cantrell seems to believe that she can become a national political figure, and her appearances at Essence Fest support that goal.
When you look back on the number of press conferences and the vigilance of her concern for the safety of the citizens at the outset of the COVID pandemic, Cantrell proved that she has the ability to talk to people and demonstrate how concerned she is about their wellbeing.
Compare that to her unwillingness to be vigilant in attacking the city’s current crime wave. Cantrell’s lack of press conferences and lack of contact with the citizens of New Orleans paints a definitive picture of a mayor who is refusing to admit that the current crime wave during her administration is a crisis, and ignoring the growing threat of crime is an effort to protect her image as a politician.
Mayor Cantrell initially refused requests to respond to the harsh criticism of her approach to the crime wave but finally did respond, saying, “Public safety remains my number one priority, and my administration remains laser-focused on the goal of reducing crime in New Orleans. For anyone to say that we don’t take crime seriously and public safety seriously, is someone who is not paying attention to the prevention, intervention, and community transformative strategies that this administration has put forward.”
The simple response that exposes those words as nothing but lip-service comes in the form of a proven cliché’: Mayor Cantrell - actions speak louder than words!