NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced that she will travel to Amsterdam, Netherlands to attend the Bloomberg CityLab Conference and Mayors Innovation Studio.
The Conference is scheduled to take place October 9 - 11. City officials said the conference will include panel discussions, interviews, and artistic performances.
Mayors from around the world are scheduled to attend including Mayor London Breed of San Francisco, Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis of Athens, Greece, and Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo of Mexico City, Mexico.
Cantrell is scheduled to return to New Orleans on October 11.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be invited to join my brother and sister mayors from around the world, as well as other prominent city innovators, business leaders, urban experts and activists to explore the shared hurdles and possibilities faced by cities and around the world and create better solutions and opportunities for our people and communities to thrive,” said Mayor Cantrell. “From leading our communities through pandemic recovery to welcoming refugees from global conflicts to being on the frontlines of climate change as a coastal city, attending this year’s Bloomberg CityLab is directly aligned with my administration’s goal to create a more inclusive, equitable, resilient, and welcoming city. We are a world-class city, and I will continue to embrace any opportunity to place New Orleans front and center on the global issues that greatly impact our people the most.”
Earlier this week Cantrell said that she will repay the city of New Orleans for her upgraded travel expenses which are in the neighborhood of $30,000.
“I’m moving forward to do that,” Cantrell said at a ground-breaking event Tuesday morning."Based on the policy review of the CAO, as well as the law department, it is very clear that business was done on behalf of the city of New Orleans, however, I will have to reimburse the city for those business expenses."
Cantrell had repeatedly said that she would not repay the funds, once stating that expenses made doing business for the city of New Orleans would not be paid back to the city of New Orleans.
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