When was the last time LaToya Cantrell actually commented on the short term rental issue?

It's not easy to pin her down on the question. We've all been trying to for years. And since she's become mayor, Cantrell has become even more quiet on the subject. Which is weird given her penchant for rambling on extemporaneously in just about any circumstance. Here she is last month delivering a commencement address at Bard College that relays insights into the utility of organic deodorant.  But in New Orleans, even as the process of revising the city's approach to regulating short term rentals has steadily made headlines, we've barely gotten a whiff as to what the mayor's inclination might be.

Historically, she's pretty slippery. I believe the first time I heard her say anything about it one way or the other was in 2015 at this Tulane Hillel forum on gentrification.  There was an audience question from someone who had been personally displaced to make room for an Airbnb. Cantrell appeared to empathize but would only say she was interested in a "balanced" approach. She also spoke about that balance in terms of the potential to increase revenue in light of the fact that  New Orleans is, in her words, a "destination city."

In December of 2016 City Council passed Mitch Landrieu's disastrous legalization scheme which we are now trying to undo. Cantrell voted with the 5-2 majority that day.  This was shortly after it had come to light that her father-in-law, Judge Harry Cantrell, was found to have been operating an STR out of his law office in violation of the zoning rules at the time.

Judge Cantrell has also been a focus of local efforts at bail reform. It was only this week  and under a federal consent order that he finally agreed to curtail his routine habit of setting unreasonably high bail for defendants least able to pay. Cantrell's bail practices have been described as enabling a de-facto "debtor's prison" in New Orleans.

But this isn't a post about Mayor Cantrell's affinity for and connection to oppressive over-policing policies that hurt poor people. It's about her apparent sympathy for housing policies that do the same. At least, she has been sympathetic to specific individuals who profit from it.  As a council person she was often amenable to spot zone requests from landlords.

This one in particular caught our eye because it, at least, gave the appearance that LaToya was taking a more conservative position than Stacy Head on a housing question.

Head said she supported the legalization of short-term rentals in commercial areas, but did not intend to convert residential neighborhoods to commercial zoning to allow them to proliferate.

“This seems to be in conflict with your cry for more affordable housing,” Head said to Cantrell. She explained later, “I do not believe we should allow the creeping into neighborhoods that are otherwise residential by changing the zoning to commercial.”

The short-term rental issue should not be blamed for the city’s lack of affordable housing, Cantrell shot back. That, she said, was the result of intentional efforts by city leaders after Hurricane Katrina.

“Affordability and the crisis that we’re in in the city of New Orleans is not because of short-term rentals,” Cantrell replied. “It’s because the issue of housing was not a priority in the post-Katrina environment. Resources allocated for the city of New Orleans, millions in fact, were reallocated because there was sentiment coming from policymakers in this city that New Orleans was on the path of having too many affordable units.”

It's a little bit tricky because, yes, of course short term rentals aren't the sole or even the main driver of the housing crisis. And it's also germane for Cantrell to point that out to Head who, many will remember, actually blew kisses at public housing residents from the council dais when she voted to demolish the Big Four projects. But this line from Cantrell is also a misleading talking point frequently deployed by the pro-STR lobby.  The proliferation of short term rentals might not be the thing that got us here, but 1) it greatly exacerbates the problem and 2) we don't have to allow it if we don't want to.

For some reason, LaToya Cantrell often wants to. Last February we counted at least four spot zoning requests approved by Councilmember Cantrell that would have allowed for short term rental usage under the (hopefully) outgoing rules. Since she became mayor, she hasn't had to make any decisions like these.  But she also hasn't had much to say about the debate over where all this is headed.  A mayor's thumb on the scale can make a big difference in a matter like this.  Even at the end of what has been a very long process.

Today The Lens published an infuriating story about one New Orleans resident's attempts to get the #CityOfYes to enforce the rules against an STR operator running multiple whole home rentals with expired or inappropriate permits.

The Massachusetts-based company that operates the four short-term rentals on Phleger’s block is called Heirloom, also known as Stayloom. It manages more than 100 homes in New Orleans, Boston, New York, and “other destinations,” according to its website, and caters to large groups looking for luxury accommodations.

“They’re all kind of branded almost as Instagram Airbnbs, for lack of a better word,” Phleger said.

The company manages houses owned by other people. But The Lens also identified several Heirloom-managed properties owned by the company’s co-founders, Frank Glaser and Dan Glaser.

As of last week, the company had 67 listings in New Orleans on its website, including a “Cosmopolitan Designer Home with Pool” for $2,250 on average per night, the “Trendy Creole Luxury Home” for $1,710 on average per night and the “Opulent Esplanade Estate near the French Quarter” for $3,140 on average per night.

The Lens was able to confirm the addresses of 34 of those listings. Nineteen of those had expired short-term rental permits. Of the 15 with valid permits, several have records of alleged violations from the Department of Safety and Permits.

Even if City Council were to pass the strictest regulations we could write up for them, it will still fall to the mayor to see that they are enforced. Sooner or later we're going to have to hear something from her about how she plans to do that. Apparently that isn't happening today, though. 

Officials with the Department of Safety and Permits said they needed permission from Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s communication team before they could speak to The Lens. Cantrell’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.