NEW ORLEANS — Mayor Latoya Cantrell has been charged with violating state ethics law. This all centers on travel the mayor took over a two-year span. Now, she could be on the hook for hefty fines.
The mayor could be censured or pay a fine of up to $10,000 or both. That will be decided later by the ethics board.
Between 2021 and 2023 Cantrell took 13 domestic and two international flights.
On all of those flights, she flew first class. The ethics board found this violated not only city travel policy but state law.
After scrutiny from the city council and threats to dock the mayor's pay, Cantrell paid the city back for the upgrades. Which totaled nearly $29,000.
A spokesperson from the mayor's office sent the following statement to WWL-TV:
"We believe both the Mayor and the administration have appropriately addressed the travel issue and will respond to the Ethics complaint in due course."
Word of these charges comes as the Mayor is on another international trip this time to Kenya for a United Nations meeting on plastic pollution. On Sunday, she will speak during a session, titled, “Local Impacts, Local Solutions: Cities Leading the Way.”
Cantrell will return to New Orleans on Wednesday, Nov. 15.
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