New rules set for mayor’s Pontalba apartment

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s overnight stays at an Upper Pontalba apartment are over, as well as overnight stays for any future mayor.

To the dismay of New Orleans City Council President JP Morrell, the city council passed an amended ordinance Thursday that prohibits residential occupancy by anyone at the city-owned apartment, designated as the mayor’s unit, at the Pontalba building in the French Quarter.

“We had an opportunity to solve this problem and get the city out of the headache, and instead, we just turned it into a different one,” Morrell said during the council meeting. “I appreciate it’s better than what we have, but we can do better than this council.”

Morrell had intended to pass an ordinance that was more restrictive.

“What I presented as an ordinance was a very clear solution, saying the City of New Orleans elected officials, the mayor in particular, any mayor should not be in control of a free apartment,” Morrell explained.

The council president says the ordinance doesn’t tackle parties thrown by a mayor at the space, but it does state the apartment must exclusively be used for city events or to host dignitaries.

“That’s the kind of event that you want,” Councilman Oliver Thomas said. “What you don’t want is elected officials and our mayors using it as a personal residence. I believe, and our attorneys believe, that we prohibit that.”

Morrell worries the council will run into problems related to the apartment further down the road.

“I would have wished that we’d have solved this issue definitively. It’s better than what it was. We have to move on to other things,” Morrell said. “There are other problems that are facing the city, other opportunities for the council to work together to address other issues, and I think this issue for the near future is settled.”

According to Morrell, Mayor Cantrell is no longer staying at the apartment.

The mayor’s office declined to comment.

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