Mayors frequently award a “key to the city” to those deemed worthy; never, that I know of, has a mayor been ordered to give a key back to the city.
We are seeing the drama play out since it was discovered that Mayor LaToya Cantrell was using an apartment in the Upper Pontalba building that has long been set aside for government-related entertainment purposes. The city council took the privilege away once it was discovered that the mayor was supposedly frequently using it for her own entrainment including at times allegedly staying there rent free.
Last week the council ordered her to give the apartment keys back to the French Market Corporation, which governs the Pontalba building, and to clear out her possessions.
Adding spark to the controversy is that a year ago the city’s Inspector General issued a statement that the apartment should be managed by the French Mark Commission and not subject to the will of the mayor. Then the unit could be publicly rented as are other apartments in the historic building.
“This would ensure that the City receives a benefit equivalent to the fair market value from this high demand property,” the statement concluded. That value is estimated to be $3000 a month. So, instead of serving as a getaway for the mayor and her friends, as appeared to be shown on surveillance tapes during the past Essence Festival, the cash-starved city could be raking in an extra $36,000 a year, surely enough to fix a few potholes.
Not wanting to be one of those people who just complains without offering solutions, I do have a suggestion. Instead of using the apartment for entertaining VIPs, use the Cabildo which is only a block away. The building is one of the most historic in the nation with a second floor balcony that overlooks the spot where the ceremony for transferring the Louisiana territory from France to the United States was held. That was one of the most important moments in the nation’s development. With cocktails served in the next room, visitors could be in awe of the history around them rather than being stuffed in an apartment. The Cabildo is owned by the state which I trust would be a reasonable landlord in allowing the space for municipal entertaining.
If there is a need to offer an overnight stay to any of the visitors, hotels abound in the neighborhood. It would be cheaper for the mayor’s office to provide a nice room, rather then to deny the city $3000 a month. Besides, if the hotel has a free buffet breakfast and a piano bar, the visitor would probably enjoy that more anyway.
Other than good government, there is little for mayors to gain from these changes but there is one small perk possibility. Last week, Councilmember at Large JP Morrell, who has been the most outspoken in the Apartment Recovery movement, explained on WWL radio that demanding the return of the keys is more of a legal technicality similar to when an outed tenant surrenders a key to a landlord. Morrell teased, however, that when it is all done the locks will have been changed anyway, so the mayor can have the keys back, perhaps as a souvenir.
(Just a thought: The keys, which by then may have have achieved social media fame, could be a hot-item on E-bay, especially among political memorabilia junkies.)
Amazingly, the transfers of the Pontalba keys and the Louisiana Territory to other authorities will have happened on the same block.
—30—
Have something to add to this story, or want to send a comment to Errol? Email him at errol@myneworleans.com. Note: All responses are subject to being published, as edited, in this article. Please include your name and location.
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS: Errol’s Laborde’s new book, “When Rex Met Zulu: And Other Chronicles of the New Orleans Experience” (Pelican Publishing Company, 2024, is now available at local bookstores and in the myneworlean.com store.
Laborde’s other recent publications: “New Orleans: The First 300 Years” and “Mardi Gras: Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival” (Pelican Publishing Company, 2017 and 2013), are available at the same locations.
SOMETHING NEW: Listen to “Louisiana Insider,” a weekly podcast covering the people, places and culture of the state. LouisianaLife.com/LouisianaInsider, Apple Podcasts or Audible/Amazon Music.
WATCH INFORMED SOURCES, FRIDAYS AT 7 P.M., REPEATED AT 9:30 A.M. SUNDAYS.WYES-TV, CH. 12.
