New documents show how much the city of New Orleans spent on a trip the mayor and several other city employees took to Amsterdam last month. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell attended The Bloomberg CityLab conference in Amsterdam from Oct. 9 through 11. The conference is in partnership with the Aspen Institute and aims to bring global mayors and city leaders together to discuss solutions to pressing issues in their communities. Cantrell’s Communications Director Gregory Joseph told WDSU Investigates that the city felt this was an important trip for the mayor to take because the conference focused on improving the quality of life in communities. Joseph issued the following statement regarding the trip: “Bloomberg CityLab 2022 placed the City of New Orleans among a global audience of mayors and government leaders all engaged in learning, teaching, and sharing results on policies and solutions. By applying data-driven decisions to pressing issues like climate change, public health, the arts, government leadership and more, CityLab presented this administration the opportunity to discover the most effective and innovative strategies needed to address our most systemic issues.” WDSU Investigates requested all travel documents for city employees who attended the trip on Oct. 7th. Those on the trip included Mayor LaToya Cantrell; Joseph; Liana Elliot, the city’s former director of policy and government operations and Robert Monlyn, the mayor’s security. Cantrell was invited to attend the conference by The Aspen Institute, a nonprofit that works to gather leaders to address complex problems and find solutions, according to its website. The Aspen Institute paid for part of Cantrell’s flight and Elliot’s flight. The nonprofit also paid for everyone’s hotel rooms. The Aspen Institute paid in total $14,889.05 for the trip. The city paid $13,151.11. According to the travel documents, Cantrell flew in United Airlines Premium Economy, but did not book her own airline ticket; the Aspen Institute did. Elliot flew in business class twice, and first class twice. These tickets were paid in full by the Aspen Institute, according to the travel documents. The city said the Aspen Institute booked a flight that was more than what it allotted to pay for Cantrell’s seat, so the city paid the difference, a total of $390. The city said the $390 charge fell under the city’s travel policy and was covered. The city also paid for Monlyn and Joseph’s flights. Joseph’s flight cost $2,589.98 and Monlyn’s flight cost $2,589.98. Both Joseph and Monlyn flew economy, according to the travel documents. All of the city employees were given per diem for food. Cantrell, Monlyn and Elliot were given $1,781.31 per diem and Joseph received $1,991.20. According to the city, due to a paperwork error, Cantrell, Monlyn and Elliot received less per diem than they were meant to receive. However, all three did not seek to get reimbursed by the city for the difference in per diem, a total of $209.89, according to the city. The city confirmed that Cantrell, Elliot and Joseph are all salaried employees. WDSU has requested documents in a public records request from the New Orleans Police Department for how much was billed to the city for Monlyn’s time on the clock while providing security for the trip. The city’s Chief Administration Office confirmed that because no upgrades were made by Cantrell or her team on this trip, no money was owed back to the city.
New documents show how much the city of New Orleans spent on a trip the mayor and several other city employees took to Amsterdam last month.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell attended The Bloomberg CityLab conference in Amsterdam from Oct. 9 through 11.
The conference is in partnership with the Aspen Institute and aims to bring global mayors and city leaders together to discuss solutions to pressing issues in their communities.
Cantrell’s Communications Director…
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