Transition of power begins at New Orleans City Hall

NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) - City Hall begins the transfer of power between Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Mayor-elect Latoya Cantrell.

The transition period will be months long but already plans are being made. Landrieu says early on he vowed to never leave the city in the shape it was in when he took office in 2010.

"Our city as you know was nearly bankrupt when we came in the door, there was no organizational chart, there were literally stacks of contracts just sitting on the Mayor's desk just waiting for people who hadn't been paid in a long period of time," said Landrieu.

Landrieu says before any votes were even cast, his team had been preparing for this. They will continue to work toward a smooth and professional transition for Mayor-elect Cantrell. And, you could see some changes at City Hall with the Cantrell administration.

"In regards to the current city structure with the deputy mayors I am not inclined to keep that however, this is where the transition really does, where the rubber meets the road," said Cantrell.

While she says her team will take a closer look at exactly what their city structure will look like moving forward, when it comes to leadership, she says the current police and fire chiefs will absolutely be considered.

"The good news to this is that we have a five-month transition period, and we will use it wisely and definitely, effectively, and so with that no real quick moves here. We owe the public this time to ensure that we not only have a seamless transition, but that leadership will be in place come May 7, 2018, to move this city forward," said Cantrell.

Cantrell says the people will be put first as she moves into office. While she is still putting her transition team together, Landrieu says his administration has created a transitional working group and PFM Consulting has also been hired to help with the process.

"It is really critical to the next Mayor's success that our team gets this right and our team is really leaning forward to make sure that this happens," said Landrieu.

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