Mayor Cantrell's cone of silence

Catch up quick: Federal prosecutors are rumored to be looking into allegations of bribery, according to WWL and NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, citing sources.

• It's unclear if or when any charges will be brought forth and what they might be.
• Cantrell is mentioned throughout former NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie's recent federal indictment, but she has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
• Federal investigators accuse Vappie of falsifying timesheets, lying to the FBI and taking other actions to conceal his alleged romantic relationship with Cantrell. Cantrell and Vappie have both previously denied having a relationship.

The big picture: The mayor's office has its own team of communications professionals and they, under the leadership of Terry Davis, have implemented measures to make sure city employees don't talk unsupervised with reporters.

• The policy has been explained multiple times to Axios New Orleans following several of our requests for comment.
• The guidance includes employees paid to talk with members of the media, including public information officers within various departments.
• At least four city employees expressed fears to Axios about losing their job if they didn't follow the rules.

Between the lines: Axios New Orleans requested a copy of the city's media policy through the Freedom of Information Act, and the city responded by saying the only result the legal department could find was this web portal.

How it works: Most media requests must go directly to the mayor's office, who will decide if and how to answer. A few agencies are exempt: NOPD, NOFD, the Health Department and S&WB handle their own requests.

• It's not uncommon for organizations to have a point-of-contact for media relations. For example, Jefferson Parish has a comms team that connects reporters with employees for interviews. But, reporters are still able to reach out directly to department heads if needed. That's not the case in New Orleans.
• Second, members of the mayor's comms team now chaperone media phone interviews if they are granted.

Case in point: The mayor's press secretary joined two recent Axios phone interviews with city staffers about pollinator practices and Lincoln Beach's redevelopment.

• Cantrell was not mentioned during either call.

Meanwhile, the mayor's office has been making changes the past eight months or so to insulate Cantrell from public interactions and unexpected questions.

• Before last fall, the mayor held weekly media briefings to provide updates on what was happening in the city and to take questions from reporters.
• The intensity amped up last summer when she and her comms team refused to take questions from Fox 8 amid the TV station's investigation into the use of the Pontalba apartment.
• Shortly after the City Council suspended Gregory Joseph as her comms director over ethics violations in October 2023, the weekly briefings stopped.

Now, Cantrell is only available through her comms team or at press conferences, where reporters are limited to one or two questions on the topic her team specifies.

• Additional questions have been refused at multiple press conferences as Cantrell is quickly ushered out of rooms.

Context: Cantrell's office has not made a statement — other than saying they were withholding comment — about Vappie's indictment and the allegations in it.

• The mayor was at a National Urban League press conference last week, but when a WWL reporter asked her about the investigation, Cantrell's team shut down the questioning.
• "We're not going to do that," Cantrell's comms team told WWL reporter Alyssa Curtis. "I told you all that this morning. We're going to keep moving."

Zoom in: That interaction came after the mayor's office postponed in-person and virtual town hall meetings that were meant to get public input on budget priorities. They cited the death of Bill Rouselle Jr., the CEO of Bright Moments who played an "integral role" in the budget engagement process.

• Cantrell led last year's in-person town hall meetings, Verite said, which included questions from the public. The city has not said when the rescheduled meetings will be held.

The other side: The response from the mayor's office for this story was that "it is standard practice and will continue to be the policy of the City of New Orleans not to comment on ongoing proceedings."

• Specific questions regarding the implementation of the new communications measures were not answered in a Sunday afternoon email.
• Leatrice Dupré, the mayor's press secretary, instead said media were told in January that the city would focus on "community engagement through the City's meeting people where they are community initiative."

What's next: All eyes are on what the feds will do with their investigation and how the city will respond.