Here’s what Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s next 100 days look like if she wins reelection
13th November 2021 · 0 Comments
By C.C. Campbell-Rock
Contributing Writer
Mayor LaToya Cantrell drew 13 opponents in her November 13 primary reelection bid for mayor of New Orleans. If Cantrell doesn’t get more than 50 percent of the vote, she and one opponent must face off in the December 3 general election.
When Cantrell succeeded former Mayor Mitch Landrieu and took office in 2018, she became New Orleans’ first woman mayor and the first African-American woman to lead the city in its 300-year history.
Cantrell faced many challenges during her tenure. From fighting for a fair share of tax revenues from the state government to the Hard Rock Café catastrophe, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sewerage & Water Board scandal, Entergy failures, sanitation collection problems, and more recently, Hurricane Ida.
Her critics have lambasted her for implementing the strictest pandemic precautions in the state and for her efforts to redistribute government funds for childcare and support of the city’s ‘culture bearers.’ Through it all, Cantrell remained undaunted, unbossed, and forward-looking.
Cantrell last week spoke with The Louisiana Weekly about her priorities and what she will do during her first 100 days in office if she wins reelection.
“My first 100 days in office, if reelected, will be getting the 2022 budget approved, ” Cantrell said. Expanding city services, moving the city forward during the pandemic recovery, and stabilizing the economy are top priorities in public safety and crime.
“We made a mid-year adjustment and got $77 million to help NOPD promote and retain officers, boost morale, and focus on violent crime, “rather than writing citations. Cantrell will shift the responsibility for writing citations to other law enforcement agents to free NOPD officers to pursue violent criminals and focus on crime prevention.
Addressing recent Interstate shootings, Cantrell says her administration will embed license plate technology on the interstate to identify criminals targeting people.
During her tenure, Cantrell is proud of presiding over 11 police academics, the most graduations in over a decade. “We initiated the first captain’s exam since 2003,” she adds, and the recent promotion of 161 senior police officers will boost morale and retention. FOR YEARS, the NOPD has been understaffed, and Cantrell wants to strengthen the force by hiring more locals.
The NOPD’s consent decree has brought the NOPD closer to the community and mandates an investment in personnel, equipment, tools, and access to a new firing range, says Cantrell.
Potholes and street repairs, the city’s drainage system, affordable housing, sanitation, redevelopment of Six Flags and Lincoln Beach, 200 more beds for the homeless, green infrastructure jobs, a solar panel plant, workforce development, sobering centers, contractual accountability, waste recycling, investments in bioscience, advanced manufacturing, higher wages, stimulating population growth, restructuring the fair share agreement, and investing in the city’s culture bearers are on Cantrell’s To-Do List.
Cantrell is investing six million in the city’s Job I program for workforce development, $300 million from bond sales for projects that are already approved, $10 million for the environmental clean up of Lincoln Beach, and $11 million for raising city workers pay to $15 per hour. Cantrell also secured $50 million for Sewerage & Water Board to replace failing pumps and drainage repairs.
When federal infrastructure dollars reach the city, Cantrell will invest more in green technology, biosciences, waste recycling, and complex infrastructure. “Investments in infrastructure create jobs that pay above a living wage. We want to create jobs that will lead to transferable wealth for families,” the mayor explains.
Cantrell recently returned from Glasgow, Scotland, where she attended the COP26 Conference. COP (Conference of Parties) is an annual United Nations summit – bringing heads of state, climate experts, and campaigners together to accelerate action against climate change. “We were invited to COP26 because we supported green technology.
The mayor’s green infrastructure plans include building a solar panel plant at the Gordon Plaza site and paying to relocate Gordon Plaza residents from the former landfill.
When asked how residents can get relief from excessively high electricity and gas rates, the mayor says, “We need to get federal help so we can diversity renewal energy, solar, and turn solid waste into energy. It’s happening elsewhere.”
What about the garbage pick-up problem? Cantrell pledges to restructure the competitive bid ordinance to build in contractual accountability for vendors. She recently released a Request of Interest to find solid waste companies with the capacity to service New Orleans. “We will put out an RFP in the next 60 days,” Cantrell explains. “We have to reimagine trash recycling, composting, and turning solid waste into energy. We’ve built and created a foundation for a forty to fifty-year green technology plan.
Cantrell opposes the constitutional amendment that creates what she says is a “ bureaucracy.” The amendment takes away the city’s control of its tax collection and shifts it to state control through a state empowered Tax Commission.
“We are the largest collector of taxes in the state. We have our own taxing authority and we earn interest on our tax dollars. That will go away. The bottom line is we don’t need a constitutional amendment. If the state sets up a bureaucratic body to collect taxes, we will lose our leverage to determine how our tax dollars are spent.”
Cantrell’s concerns about the state overseeing New Orleans’ taxing authority are not without merit. New Orleans collects the most sales taxes in the state, but Cantrell has had to fight for a fair share of the billions generated by the city’s main income-generator, tourism.
Last August, the Louisiana State Bond Commission voted to withhold financing for over $30 million worth of construction projects in New Orleans that affect both public and private facilities.
The LA Illuminator reported that Republican officials voted to delay the financing because they were upset with Mayor Cantrell for imposing stricter COVID-19 restrictions.
“Republicans in the Louisiana Legislature have complained about Cantrell’s measures, which they think will deter visitors to New Orleans and potentially affect the state funding generated from tourism.”
A Los Angeles native, Cantrell earned a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University of Louisiana and received executive management training at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Her husband, Jason Cantrell, a former assistant DA, is the son of former Criminal Court Judge Harry Cantrell. The couple has a daughter, RayAnn Cantrell.
