A terrorist attack at 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day exposed to the world the deadly consequences of the dysfunctional leadership of New Orleans. The Crescent City has been controlled by the Democratic Party since 1872, when the last Republican Mayor left office.
The current Democrat Mayor, LaToya Cantrell, is thankfully in the final year of her second term in office. She has been enmeshed in controversy from the beginning of her tenure as Mayor.
While she survived a recall effort, she is currently embroiled in a federal investigation involving local businessmen, who allegedly gave her gifts in exchange for the firing of a city employee. She is also implicated in the indictment of her former bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, a former policeman, who has been charged with wire fraud and making false statements. The indictment alleges that Cantrell began having an affair with Vappie, then married, while he was “on duty” guarding her.
