Organizers of a campaign to recall New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced that they have gathered enough signatures to remove her from office.
“Right now our mayor doesn’t love New Orleans so the citizens and the residents stood up,” said Eileen Carter, Vice Chair of the No LaToya recall campaign, adding that “We’re taking our city back, and we’re gonna save New Orleans.” The campaign’s Chairman, Belden Baptiste, also criticized Cantrell, saying that she “didn’t do her job, and you’re about to be fired.”
According to a report by Fox News, Mayor Cantrell has been accused of not performing her job duties, as evidenced by her lack of meetings with department heads for over a year.
“It’s like a tale of two mayors,” said Carter, adding that “I don’t think she’s making very good judgment decisions for the city at all, to the point of arrogance.”
The crime surge in the city is also blamed on the mayor’s leadership, which caused New Orleans to briefly become the murder capital of the United States.
Residents of the city also spoke to Fox News about their grievances with Cantrell’s leadership. One resident, known as Sally, said that “The mayor has stopped working… She’s a smart woman, and she’s capable, but she’s just flat out stopped working.”
Another resident, Babs, said that “Cantrell will be bitter. She will go after people,” and added that while they don’t want retribution against them, they will vote for it when it goes to an election.
Carter accused the mayor’s office of blocking her campaign from using a local restaurant to host an event, which resulted in the owner of the restaurant receiving a restraining order, saying that,
“We have an administration of intimidation and fear tactics… They will take your job. They will take your livelihood.” However, a spokesperson for the mayor accused the campaign of being a “Republican-backed maneuver by people with an agenda” to “undermine and discredit the first Black woman mayor of New Orleans.”
While the recall campaign has faced accusations of being politically motivated, organizers are confident that they have gathered enough signatures to force a recall election.
“State law allows 20 days for the voter’s office to verify the signatures and declare next steps. Organizers are confident the recall will get approved by the governor for a special election,” a report by WWLTV said.
The campaign also filed a lawsuit against the Orleans Parish Registrar, claiming that more than 30,000 voters listed in the parish have either moved out of the state or to another parish within the state, which, if verified, would reduce the number of signatures needed to petition for a recall election by approximately 6,000. Cantrell has three more years left in her term-limited second term in office.
The recall campaign’s success is seen as a sign of growing dissatisfaction among residents with the mayor’s leadership, particularly in light of the city’s rising crime rates. As the campaign moves forward, it remains to be seen whether Mayor Cantrell will be able to survive the recall, or if a new leader will be elected to guide New Orleans towards a brighter future.
Sources: ConservativeBrief, FoxNews, WWLTV
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