Here at The New Orleans Tribune, We say, “Bring It!”
The effort to oust Mayor LaToya Cantrell failed because Black New Orleanians did not sign the petition. Period.
Of course, some Black residents signed; and it was their right. And yes, the public faces of the recall were Black. But when it came down to it, in a city that is still majority African-American, Black voters, as a whole, were not inclined to recall New Orleans’ first Black woman mayor.
The New Orleans Tribune repeatedly and publicly stated the reasons for its opposition to the recall, calling it an attack on Black leadership, in general, and seeing it as an unjustified assault against Mayor LaToya Cantrell, as well. Most of all, it was just one weapon in an arsenal being used to weaken and deter us from taking space in places of power and influence. From that position, we remain unmoved.
Had it worked, the consequences would have been dire and far-reaching. We are glad it failed.
We would like to think that our thoughtful and timely analysis of the situation helped sway some voters on the topic.
Here at The New Orleans Tribune, we believe that by not signing, Black voters quietly coalesced and had a tremendous impact.
Don’t believe us? Consider that according to an analysis of the recall petitions by The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, there was a clear and pointed racial divide with respect to who signed the failed recall petition and who didn’t. The local daily reported that, based on its examination of the recall petitions it received and reviewed, 76 percent of the signers where White, while only 15 percent were Black.
We did not sign that petition en masse. That is why it failed.
Don’t Be Fooled
They would rather blame the recall’s failure on deficient management and a lack of orderliness as opposed to facing the truth. The truth hurts: It failed because the number of New Orleanians against it outnumbered those that were for it. So, don’t let these pundits steal your thunder. We didn’t fall for their anti-LaToya rhetoric. We saw this effort for what it really was. We stood up for Black leadership and refused to sign that petition. We were unified.
Now that the signatures have been counted and found wanting, the so-called pundits are trying to dismiss the failed recall as some poorly organized campaign doomed for disaster. Boy, how they have changed their tunes.
For the better part of six months, they all clamored about this being some great display of civic duty by a diverse community fed up with elected leadership in New Orleans at the highest level. It was about time somebody stood up and did something – Bravo, they said.
Now they’re saying:
It needed better PR.
Its public faces should have been a coalition of diverse business, civic and neighborhood leaders.
It needed to be better organized.
There should have been more transparency.
The recall laws are vague and need to be changed.
Come again?
Please, don’t be fooled by their post-recall rhetoric. These Monday morning quarterbacks were the very same folk lauding the recall effort as some “grassroots” movement representative of “the people”. They made certain Eileen Carter made the weekly rounds on local television and radio. Hell, Newell Normand with his anti-New Orleans, anti-Cantrell posturing could not get enough of Carter on his WWL radio show. There was even national media attention.
Meanwhile, we were wondering what grass . . . and what roots . . . and what people were they referring to. We knew that, despite the public facade, this effort had not emanated from our community.
Local pundits were holding up recall co-chairs, Carter and Belden Batiste, as shining examples of proletarian leadership. Now they are castigating them for “promising more than they could deliver”. We knew this was coming. Carter and Batiste were dispensable pawns in a game they didn’t even know was being played.
Let’s be clear, this was never some up-from-the-people grassroots movement. At the end of the day, there was a reported $1.2 million poured into the recall campaign. And if you think businessman Rick Farrell poured $1 million of his money into something he thought would fail or that Carter and Noonie Man were calling shots on how that money got spent, then you are really out here on some Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse mess.
The recall didn’t fail because of poor leadership. We have said it before and we will say it again: Carter and Batiste were not the real leaders.
And it didn’t fail because it was unorganized. This thing was well funded and quite organized. There were pro-recall billboards, television and radio ads everywhere. The recall campaign made good use social media and ran an easy to navigate website. They held recall petition block parties. There was not a single registered voter in Orleans Parish unaware of the recall campaign. Anyone who wanted to sign that petition could have done so easily.
But they would rather blame its failure on deficient management and a lack of orderliness as opposed to facing the truth. The truth hurts: It failed because the number of New Orleanians against it outnumbered those that were for it.
So, don’t let these pundits steal your thunder. We didn’t fall for their anti-LaToya rhetoric. We saw this effort for what it really was. We stood up for Black leadership and refused to sign that petition. We were unified.
There is only one way to show your opposition to a recall campaign, and that is by not signing the petition.
The recall did not fail because it was disorganized. It failed because of US . BRAVO.
Let’s Get Back to Business
And that is why it is important for Black New Orleans to give itself credit for putting this recall madness down. If we can beat back a well-funded recall campaign simply by understanding what was really at stake and making up our individual minds that we were not going to take part or sign some petition, imagine what we can do if we purposefully came together and coalesced around issues important to New Orleans, in general, and our communities, specifically.
For her part, Mayor Cantrell says she is on with the business of New Orleans. And she is right. With the recall behind us, the Mayor should move forward with creating policy and taking action that improves the lives of all of the citizens of New Orleans.
“My administration has always remained focused on addressing the real pressing issues that face our City,” Cantrell said in a statement released after the Governor’s announcement about the recall failure. “Now, with the divisiveness of the failed recall campaign officially behind us, we must heal and recommit ourselves to working collaboratively to continue the progress we’ve made towards reducing crime, increasing public safety, building a more sustainable and resilient city and creating economic and job opportunities that benefit all of our people.”
There is no way that the organizers of the failed recall have any shot at challenging the certification. And we doubt anyone will attempt to wage another recall campaign against Cantrell during the remainder of her tenure. All of that is to say New Orleans will not have a new mayor-elect until Fall 2025; and that person will not take office until Spring 2026.
Cantrell is the Mayor of New Orleans for the next three years. She has work to do, and the people of New Orleans have the right to hold her accountable. We certainly will.
Of course, this recall was never about accountability. It was a political power play designed to disenfranchise the voters of New Orleans.
There are plenty of things that the Mayor can and must do over the course of the next three years. Here are our thoughts on just a few.
While we recognize that the Gordon Plaza problem festered long before Cantrell’s terms on either the City Council or as Mayor, we believe that making those residents whole would be a great accomplishment for her administration. Progress has been made. Now it’s time to remove any remaining impediments out of the way so that these families can move forward.
Of course, violent crime needs attention. And the Mayor has a role to play in that along with members of her administration in the area of public safety. Efforts must be made to increase NOPD’s ranks. And officers need to be given the tools they need to make a difference. But if you think long-term solutions will come without keen attention to economic equity, education and youth services, then you really are living in some fairytale land with talking mice and ducks. This must be a community effort involving our schools, business leaders, churches and much more. This is a long row to hoe. Anyone looking for instant results will remain disappointed.
Speaking of economics, Mayor Cantrell must lead efforts to ensure that Black-owned business are treated equitably when it comes to city contracts. She needs to take the lead in ensuring that Black-owned companies that are currently holding city contracts are no longer expected to do more for less, starting with the current trash-collection contract held by Richard’s Disposal. Inequities in what each of the trash collection contractors are expected to do or how they are paid needs to be corrected NOW.
New Orleans East and the Ninth Ward need attention. The Cantrell administration’s recent announcement about nearly $25 million being allocated to the redevelopment of Lincoln Beach is major. We love it! But don’t stop there. The redevelopment of Six Flags must also get off the ground. And while luring major national businesses to any of these projects might sound nice, the real windfall for New Orleans will be working with existing and emerging small, Black businesses in these communities to ensure that they are positioned to take advantage of the economic opportunities created by these projects. This is vitally important because we know that Black businesses are second only to government when it comes to employing Black people. And Black businesses are critical resources that help stabilize and support Black communities.
We Won A Battle,
But We Are Still at War
We don’t know if you noticed what has taken place in the wake of the recall’s failure. We have.
More so-called investigative reports surrounding the Mayor surfaced in the days following the failed recall certification than we can count.
And what is passing for investigative journalism these days? Stories about members of the Mayor’s security team being asked to hold the Mayor’s purse. Give us a break!
The reason no member of a security detail before Cantrell took office ever held a purse for the Mayor of New Orleans is because neither Mitch Landrieu, Ray Nagin, Marc Morial, Sidney Barthelemy, Ernest “Dutch” Morial, Moon Landrieu nor any of the dozens of MEN that preceded them carried a purse. And if they never asked an officer on their security detail to pick up or drop off their minor child, it’s probably because they didn’t need to.
She should have hired a personal assistant, they say. With what money? The Mayor earns about $188,000 annually before taxes. And while that is more money than the poorest New Orleanians, it ain’t exactly enough money to flex and hire a personal assistant either.
Rest assured, if LaToya Cantrell dared to hire a personal assistant using taxpayer funds, it would be one more reason for the witch hunters to lambast her and launch their investigations. Hell, they went after her for hiring an image consultant using her own campaign funds.
We will put our heads on chopping blocks that members of security details for any of those other mayors can recall being asked to fulfill a task or two that may not have fallen entirely in the scope of what might be strictly construed as “security detail” work.
In other words, dear readers, don’t fall for this crap.
They could not oust her from office using the recall process, so their attacks against Mayor Cantrell will intensify. They are coming with everything they can find. And if they can’t find it, they’ll concoct it. Of course there is still a movement afoot to discredit her. She remains the single, most prominent example of Black leadership in New Orleans because she is Black and the Mayor. And if they discredit her, they discredit Black leadership and pave the way for influencing who will be the City’s next Mayor.
So now, the City Council wants the Inspector General to investigate the City Attorney’s involvement in the NOPD investigation of Officer Vappie.
Wait, let’s correct that sentence: City Councilman J.P. Morrell, who walked into his at-large seat on the Council from Day One with his eyes on the Mayor’s suite, wants the Inspector General to investigate the City Attorney’s involvement in the NOPD investigation of Officer Vappie.
And now, City Councilwoman Helena Moreno wants a progress report like yesterday on the work of the Violent Crime Task Force that the Council, led by Moreno’s charge, practically backed the Mayor into a corner to form.
Understand that Morrell and Moreno, both of whom certainly expected to ride the coattails of the recall, are licking their wounds now. The two of them are operating with their own personal and political agendas. From their contrived ordinance that resulted in an unneeded charter change to weaken the office of the Mayor by requiring City Council approval for top mayoral appointees to their continued posturing and politicking, we must look at everything they do and say with jaundiced eyes.
Here’s the thing, just like the recall effort was bigger than Cantrell—so are these spiteful attacks against her. And just like you saw through the recall, you must see through this . . . like crystal-clear glass.
No, we are not saying, Mayor Cantrell just gets to do whatever she wants from now until a new mayor takes office in 2026.
As we have stated, there is plenty of business for her to attend to and we must hold her accountable. But let’s not confuse the business of the people . . . the business of our communities with Moreno and Morrell’s undeclared bids for mayor or with the business elite’s profits and private itineraries.
Let’s Get Down to Business:
Choosing the Next Mayor
Speaking of 2025, that’s what we should be focused on NOW. It’s never to soon. Rest assured, the elite business community is thinking about it.
And that is why it is important for Black New Orleans to give itself credit for putting this recall madness down. If we can beat back a well-funded recall campaign simply by understanding what was really at stake and making up our individual minds that we were not going to take part or sign some petition, imagine what we can do if we purposefully came together and coalesced around issues important to New Orleans, in general, and our communities, specifically.
So with one hand, Black New Orleanians ought to be patting each other on the back; and with the other, they should be placing their pointer fingers to their temples, asking “Huh, what’s next?”
No, we’re not talking about publicly bandying names of potential African-American candidates right now. That’s dangerous.
But now is the time to find those spaces for private conversations that have the potential to lead us to a candidate that our entire community can embrace and elect.
As a community, we need to create a solid comprehensive agenda and assess potential candidates on their willingness and ability to champion and fight for that agenda. And if we can find that person, we must propel and protect him or her.
If it is a candidate that some White New Orleanians might gravitate toward, that’s fine. But it cannot be someone that needs the elite business community to win. We have seen what happens when a Black candidate backed by the business elite falls out of favor with them, and it ain’t pretty.
If Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck can beat back a $1.2 million recall campaign, we can do this y’all.
So, huh . . . what’s next?
