LaToya Cantrell

Cantrell grew up in Los Angeles and moved to New Orleans to attend Xavier University of Louisiana, where she earned a BA in sociology.

Cantrell moved to Broadmoor, New Orleans, in 1999. In 2003, she joined the board of the Broadmoor Improvement Association and became president of the association in 2004. After the 2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, the Broadmoor neighborhood flooded severely and remained mostly deserted for months afterward. In early 2006, the Bring New Orleans Back Commission, a blue-ribbon panel convened by then-mayor Ray Nagin, released a recovery plan that called for Broadmoor and five other New Orleans neighborhoods to be converted into greenspace. In her role as president of the association, Cantrell worked with residents and local religious leaders to organize opposition to the panel's recommendation. She also helped enlist returning Broadmoor residents in a six-month effort to write a recovery plan for the neighborhood.

Cantrell worked full time to implement Broadmoor's recovery plan from 2006 through 2012. She and fellow residents formed the Broadmoor School Board, overseeing the reopening and renovation of the Andrew H. Wilson school. She served as a founding board member of the Broadmoor Development Corporation, a community development corporation that provided case management and other social services for returning residents. She was involved with residents' efforts to reopen Broadmoor's Rosa F. Keller Library, which won a $2 million grant from the Carnegie Endowment. She created a partnership between the Broadmoor Improvement Association and Church of the Annunciation, which provided the neighborhood association with office space and hosted volunteer groups.She also formed a partnership between the Broadmoor Improvement Association and her home parish, Blessed Trinity Catholic Church, to open the Broadmoor Art and Wellness Center.

New Orleans City Council

In 2012, Cantrell declared her candidacy for the New Orleans City Council seat vacated when former District B representative Stacy Head won an election to an at-large position. After the November election, candidate Dana Kaplan and Cantrell advanced to a December runoff, which Cantrell won with 54 percent of the vote. Cantrell served the remainder of Head's 14-month term and won re-election to a four-year term in 2014, running unopposed.

As a council member, Cantrell has focused on health, housing, and criminal-justice issues. She introduced a bill banning smoking at restaurants and bars within New Orleans, citing the health effects of secondhand smoke on service industry workers. The council unanimously passed the bill in 2015.

Also in 2015, Cantrell began work to open a low-barrier homeless shelter, a move that was objected to by residents becase of its proposed placement in Central City, New Orleans. The shelter location was changed to instead open at the downtown site of the former VA Hospital. In 2017, Cantrell introduced legislation with at-large council member Jason Williams to register and inspect rental units in the city.

As a member of the Criminal Justice Committee, Cantrell has participated in efforts to install crime cameras in her district, assess the effectiveness of citywide anti-gun-violence campaigns, and address understaffing at the New Orleans Police Department.

2017 mayoral race

Cantrell declared her candidacy for mayor of New Orleans in March 2017 in a race to replace term-limited mayor Mitch Landrieu. An open primary will be held on October 14, 2017 with a possible runoff on November 18, 2017.

Awards

In 2016, Cantrell was given a lifetime achievement award by the presidents of Tulane, Loyola and Xavier universities and the University of New Orleans for her service to the community.

Cantrell lives with her husband Jason and daughter RayAnn in Broadmoor, New Orleans.