NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans City Council says Mayor Cantrell’s office may have violated city procurement policies by hiding the cost of flyers sent out earlier this year.
During a council meeting Thursday, City Council President J.P. Morrell said the findings determined the mayor’s office purchased and distributed a political mailer while hiding the cost and violating city procurement policies.
A summary of the evidence said, "The Office of Communications engaged in a political campaign to build public support among likely voters for the Mayor specifically and exclusively during the recall period. The Office deliberately sought to violate the City's procurement rules when it engaged Mercury Public Affairs. Furthermore, the use of public funds to pay for the campaign, which prominently featured the Mayor's name and image, is a clear violation of state law. The cost of the mailer campaign, as initially contemplated, would have cost nearly $600,000."
City council also highlighted the following findings:
- Finding One: The mailer was a targeted campaign aimed explicitly to likely voters for specific purpose of building public support for Mayor Cantrell.
- Finding Two: The timeframe for the mailer campaign was tied directly to the recall period.
- Finding Three: The contract with Mercury violated the City's procurement rule for professional service agreements
- Finding Four: The mailer campaign serves a partisan, political purpose that violates state law
- Finding Five: Mailer Campaign Cost
This comes as the council is wrapping up its four-month investigation into the glossy tri-fold mailer that went out to 106,000 households in the city in January. It cost taxpayers about $80,000.
Council President J.P. Morrell announced initial findings from the probe at Thursday’s meeting of the city council Governmental Affairs Committee.
“Many residents and many officials felt that public dollars were being utilized to push a political agenda which is absolutely against state law,” Morrell said.
The flyer titled the ‘City of New Orleans: 2022 Recap’ highlighted Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s successes in the areas of infrastructure, public safety, and the economy. They were sent out in the final days of the push to recall Cantrell.
“Mailers if they go out have to be factual in information, not political, no name, no photos associated with them if you’re using government money for a good purpose,” City Councilman Joe Giarrusso said. “We can’t use government funds for a naked political campaign.”
The city council now wants to hear from Communications Director Gregory Joseph and Deputy Director Leslie Thomas.
“They’ll have the opportunity to explain what was your thought process when the city attorney told you this violates procurement law and you basically said, hold my beer, I’m going to do it anyway,” Morrell said.
Mayor Cantrell's Communications Director and Deputy Director, Gregrogy Joseph and Leslie Thomas, will now be subpoenaed to appear before the council on August 16. Morrell says the final report will be turned over to the city inspector general's office for further investigation.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.