After being caught at a recent Irvin Mayfield concert, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell doubled down on calling Mayfield a “true son of the city.” The mayor added that we need to continue to support him.
Irvin Mayfield is waiting to be sentenced after pleading guilty to stealing $1.3 million for the New Orleans Library Foundation. Mayfield and his business partner, Ronald Markham, were both on the foundation’s board.
They pleaded guilty stealing the money, which was used to pad their $100,000 a year salaries, also using the stolen money to purchase a 24K gold-plated trumpet for Mayfield and pay for luxury hotel suites when the New Orleans Orchestra performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Considering his actions, does Irvin Mayfiled deserve the honor of being called “a true son of the city” who we should all support?
The video of Mayor Cantrell praising a man who stole $1.3 million from the library fund was revealed by WWL-TV. After the video came out the mayor’s office said it would have “no comment.”
After discussing the exposure of Mayor Cantrell’s ill-advised comment on my talk show, I wonder if the mayor felt the need to address the issue? Cantrell did address the issue through city spokesman Beau Tidwell. Tidwell explained that the mayor is about giving people second chances.
On behalf of Mayor Cantrell, Tidwell said, “Mr. Mayfield is a son of the city. He’s made some incredible music. He’s made some awful mistakes. He has pleaded guilty and he’s going to pay the price for those crimes, right? The mayor believes in second chances. And in that sense, she did reach out to him and offer her support as she would with any resident.”
I question whether the mayor, who refuses to come on my talk show, would give me the same respect she is giving Mayfield.
People do deserve second chances, but only after they display a sincere recognition of what they have done. The sentencing of Mayfield and Markham has been postponed several times, and there appears to be no specific date for sentencing.
An agreement was reached for Mayfield and Markham to pay back $1.1 million of the $1.3 million stolen in restitution. But what about the 24K gold plated trumpet? And do the terms of restitution agreement unfairly favor the guilty? What about the $200,000 in stolen money that does not have to be paid back?
If $200,000 of the $1.3 million stolen from the public library was money spent on expensive hotel suites and other things, then does that suggest that Irvin Mayfield and Ronald Markham used $1.1 million to increase their salaries over the 2-yr period from 2011-2013? If that is the case, could the two have added $225,000 to their $100,000 annual salaries for each year of the 2-year period? That would mean that both men had salaries of about $325,000 a year for 2 years.
Paying $1.1 million back is appropriate, but how could Mayfield ever play that 24K gold-plated trumpet with a clear conscience?
Mayor Cantrell’s empathic declaration that Irvin Mayfield is a “son of the city” and that he deserves our support seems to dismiss the fact that this jazz great stole over $1 million over a 2 year period to selfishly improve his life. It must have taken a calculated plan to figure out how to funnel that much money from the library fund and if he had not been caught would Mayfield still be adding to his salary?
If you want to argue that every male literally born in New Orleans is a “son of the city,” then you can argue that Irvin Mayfield is a “son” of this city, but Cantrell’s passion behind her words makes calling Mayfield a “son of the city” an honorable distinction of which anyone would be proud.
Returning stolen money does not change the fact that money was stolen. Crimes should be punished for the intent and action committed by an individual. If Irvin Mayfield and Ronald Markham spend little or no time in jail, that would be a travesty of justice and a slap in the face of all of the men and women serving extensive sentences in jail for the crimes they committed.
Let’s watch the process of delaying sentencing while Mayfield is free to put on concerts. Let’s see if Mayfield and Markham get little or no jail time. And let’s be quick to notice if this is further proof that the rich get preferential treatment by the judicial system.
Mayor Cantrell honoring Irvin Mayfield as a “son of the city” is another example an elitist disconnection between politicians and the people.
