By Amanda Spence
NEW ORLEANS — Despite previous comments, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell says the city’s next Mardi Gras and carnival season will not be canceled. The clarification comes after Cantrell said the cancellation might become a possibility due to the city’s current police officer shortage.
“We ARE NOT canceling Mardi Gras,” Cantrell told The New Orleans Advocate.
The mayor also talked about efforts to ramp up recruiting, as well as retention bonuses to be given to public safety personnel in 2022. Both recruitment and retention bonuses are on the table, and the bonuses, according to The New Orleans Advocate, may reach as high as $20,000 for the longest-serving officers.
Cantrell is also poised to give every city employee a one-time payment in 2022 in the amount of 5% of their current salaries. In addition, she wants a 5% raise the following year and a 2.5% raise over the next two years. These payments are part of a proposed plan amounting to $39 million coming from funding from the elimination of unfilled city positions.
NEXT: ‘I don’t see this trend getting any better': Officer shortages devastating small-town PDs