NEW ORLEANS — The Office of the Inspector General released a letter about Mayor Cantrell's use of an apartment in the Upper Pontalba.
The IG says because the mayor is not paying market value for the French Quarter apartment, it gives the appearance of a donation of public property, which is a possible violation of the Louisiana Constitution.
In a letter addressed to all city councilmembers, the OIG is calling for the city to hand over the mayor’s apartment to the French Market Corporation, so they can instead collect market value rent from the public.
According to the OIG the Upper Pontalba, which overlooks Jackson Square, costs $36,000 annually. Allegedly the Mayor has been staying there for free.
Back in April, the council passed an ordinance which says, "No immovable property owned or controlled by the city or by a public benefit corporation may be used for residential occupancy by a city employee or elected official, except upon payment of fair-market rent pursuant to a written lease. … The use authorized by this subsection must be directly attendant to the performance of the mayor's official duties or directly related to a city event or other public purpose. Overnight stays shall be prohibited."
In April, at the council meeting Councilman JP Morrell expressed concerns about the way the ordinance read. At the time he said, "You have prevented prohibited overnight stays, you have not prohibited parties that go the whole night and no one stays there. For example, you still will have a unit at the use of future mayors or whatever does not constitute an overnight stay. And when that happens, I want everyone to look at the tape of this meeting and see we had an opportunity to solve this problem and get the city out of a headache and instead we just turned into a different one."
He also expressed concerns of legalities when it came to the mayor staying in the French Quarter apartment. Back in April Councilman Morrell said, "For the record that we as a city do not have a residence for mayors... there is an underlying legal issue regarding gratuitous donation."
But the council passed the ordinance and now the OIG is requesting, "City Council re-examine the ordinance passed in April 2023... the ordinance does not appear to ensure that the City receives fair market value from the usage of the Mayor’s Apartment. Additionally, the ordinance lacks an enforceable definition of what qualifies as an “overnight stay”."
The OIG says, "The FMC and the city were unable to provide any documentation regarding the public purpose, intended use, or expected benefit received by leaving the mayor’s apartment vacant."
The department also said, the mayor’s personal use of the apartment is a possible grant of compensation in excess of the salary of the mayor authorized, meaning the city may not be making the required payroll deductions.
The OIG is advising FMC to keep the apartment key secure when the mayor’s apartment is not in use and maintain a guest log documenting when the key is checked out and returned.