NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Members of the Cantrell administration will have to appear before the council in August 2023 to answer questions about a mailer campaign.
The councilmembers say the mailers, which were sent out earlier this year, were a violation of city and state laws.
During a governmental affairs committee meeting on Thursday, July 20, the council revealed their initial findings of the investigation into the mailers that were sent out to voters in March when mayoral recall efforts were underway.
“After the mailers went out at the beginning of this year, the council received a host of complaints from the public saying, ‘Why am I getting a political mailer, and why was it paid for with my tax dollars?’ At that point, the council authorized the beginning of the investigation,” New Orleans City Councilman-at-Large JP Morrell said.
According to Morrell, his office uncovered a conversation between a member of Cantrell’s communications team and the law department, advising the staff member that city funds cannot be used for political activity.
“What was your thought process when the city attorney told you this violates procurement law, and you basically said, ‘Hold my beer. I’m not going to do it anyway.’ Explain how you substituted your non-legal judgment to do something that your legal counsel told you was illegal,” Morrell said.
The councilmembers say the city’s contract with Mercury Public Affairs, the company that assisted with the mailers, were separated into two agreements to avoid exceeding the maximum cost for professional service agreements of $15,000, which according to Morrell, is a violation of the city’s procurement rules.
“If we’re using public dollars that are the public’s money to not target the public, only those voters who might help me not be recalled, that is a public, political move, not a public, informative move,” Morrell said.
The mailer campaign is said to have cost $600,000, but Mercury Public Affairs brought their fee down to about $40,000.
“We have real serious problems facing this community right now,” Councilman Joe Giarrusso said. “We keep on saying procurement is a problem and legal is a problem, and yet rules get bent for something else. We can’t do that.”
Once the council hears from those who were issued a subpoena during the August 16 meeting, they will send their findings to the Office of Inspector General, which will determine the involvement of the district attorney’s office.
Without commenting on specifics, a city spokesperson says since the beginning, they have cooperated and will continue to do so moving forward.
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