The ongoing battle between New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Mayor-elect Helena Moreno continues, with both camps firing salvos on Friday.
Cantrell said says she will not pause a number of Hurricane Katrina-related road construction projects despite Moreno's request for her to do so.
Moreno made her request because, according to her, those projects could compound the city's ongoing budget crisis. According to our partners at WWL-TV, the project would cost the city's general fund $7.5 million between January 1 and January 12, the period for which Moreno requested the pause. Federal funding for the projects expires on December 31.
Cantrell says she will keep the work going because she's hopeful the city will receive a funding extension from the federal government. She also claimed that any pauses would lead to higher costs, longer completion timelines, and other consequences.
Meanwhile, Moreno's transition team rehung the banners that Cantrell had removed from Gallier Hall on Wednesday in the French Quarter.
Our partners at NOLA.com report that Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser invited Moreno to hang the banners, which celebrate New Orleans and its people, from the Cabildo and the Presbytère.
Moreno said that City Hall gave her approval to leave the banners hung outside Gallier Hall through her inauguration on January 12. However, chief administrative officer Joe Threat said in an email that Cantrell directed city officials to remove the banners and rehang them immediately before Inauguration Day.