New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell today blamed the news media for her continued resistance to release the names of the 6 finalists for the important job of NOPD chief. During her press conference today, Mayor Cantrell said that she is not releasing the names of the candidates because the news media has a way of harassing people they investigate.
[shortcode-inline-related expand="1" link="/wwl/news/local/cantrell-refuses-to-name-candidates-says-media-does-harm" headline="Cantrell again refuses to name NOPD chief candidates; says media "does harm"" image="/media-library/image.jpg?id=64237301"]Blaming the news media for her decision not to release the names could be a way of covering up an action that she knows is questionable. WWL legal analyst Doug Sunseri said that Cantrell's claim that she wants to protect the individuals who are finalists is not a legitimate reason to keep the names a secret. According to Sunseri - a news outlet could sue the mayor and force her to release the names, but that could take months and the process will be well over by that time.
There could be another reason Mayor Cantrell refuses to release the names of the final 6 candidates - she may have intended all along to appoint interim Chief Michelle Woodfork to the position, and may fear that if the names of all of the finalists are released that the news media may vet the candidates, and reveal that one or more are actually more qualified than Woodfork.
As bad as crime is in New Orleans, it can be argued by some statistics that crime is down in some key areas and interim Chief Woodfork deserves some credit for that - but when it comes to appointments and the history of this mayor - there is a legitimate reason to be skeptical of Cantrell's intent. And that's not the fault of the news media. That is the result of precedents set by the mayor.
Also - in response to the recent crime wave in New Orleans - Mayor Cantrell drew attention to her action of creating a Violent Crime Reduction Task Force, and she chose the controversial and embattled OPCD Director Tyrell Morris to head the task force. Morris suddenly resigned his position amid numerous allegations of a range of improper or illegal behaviors in office. Once again, Mayor Cantrell's own actions draw attention to her motives that may be contrary to what is in the best interest of our city.
When this task force was announced, I made a point of talking about how often politicians create a task force for the sole purpose of making the voting public think they are solving a problem - in this case the crime problem. Well - it appears that the highly-touted Violent Crime Reduction Task Force has essentially done very little - if anything at all - to actually manifest change in our crime wave.
We need to be smarter and more demanding as voters. Cantrell was reelected by an extremely small percentage of the population of New Orleans. She has no right to boast of significant support because the voting percentage was so low.
When politicians strive to keep things secret and blame the news media, and when politicians set up a task force to solve a problem, we need to see through these charades and understand that we the people are being manipulated by elected officials who view themselves as royalty rather than public servants.
