The City Council has again kicked New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell out of the French Quarter apartment where she was accused of having an affair with her NOPD body guard.
By a vote of five to two, the council overrode a mayoral veto today.
Councilmen Eugene Green and Oliver Thomas were the only no votes.
The veto override means the city is now required by law to lease the Pontalba apartment on Jackson Square to the public, instead of keeping it for the mayor's use.
The council previously tried to restrict how the mayor used the residence, passing an ordinance to ban her from staying over night at the Pontalba. She later threw an all night party in the apartment, prompting the ordinance to effectively ban her from using it at all.
None of the councilmembers spoke prior to the vote. The mayor's office did release a statement in response to the vote.
"This obsession with the Mayor’s appropriate use of the apartment in the Upper Pontalba Building has revealed that certain members of the New Orleans City Council would rather use their legislative powers to pursue personal vendettas than focus on the most pressing issues facing our people today," Director of Communications Gregory Joseph said in a news release. Click here to read more of the mayoral response...
