Recall effort launched against Dem mayor after city labeled 'murder capital' – mayor criticized for using taxpayer funds for upgraded international travel

New Orleans residents expressed their frustrations regarding Democrat Mayor LaToya Cantrell's lackluster leadership by rallying together to file a recall petition, Fox News Digital reported. The dissatisfied residents claimed that while the city was being crowned the murder capital, Cantrell was busy taking extravagant trips to Europe on the taxpayers' dime.

The petition was filed by Eileen Carter, Cantrell's former social media manager; and Belden Batiste, a former Democrat mayoral candidate.

According to Carter, Cantrell failed the city on many fronts, including the soaring violent crime rate, questionable expenditures, inadequate garbage removal, and broken streetlights.

Last month, Cantrell was slammed for using more than $50,000 in taxpayer funds to cover bodyguard services. She was also accused of spending $175,000 in campaign funds on a personal stylist and shopper.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Cantrell used $29,000 in taxpayer money to pay for first-class tickets to Europe.

"My travel accommodations are a matter of safety, not of luxury," Cantrell stated in defense of the expenses. "Anyone who wants to question how I protect myself just doesn't understand the world Black women walk in."

The recall effort, which has been airing television advertisements and sending mailers to voters, hopes to gain at least 70,000 signatures supporting Cantrell's recall. The deadline for the petition is February 22, 2023, and it only requires around 53,000 valid voter signatures to pass.

Carter accused Cantrell of "quiet quitting," a term used to refer to employees who only do the bare minimum, and cited the mayor's absence at several important city events and meetings.

"The national term 'quiet quitting,' that's what our mayor has done," Carter told Fox News Digital. "Our mayor literally won't say the word 'crime.' She has disassociated herself from crime. She refuses to be involved it in at all."

Cantrell defended her record by stating, "The budget hearings that are underway right now speak to my work that my administration and team have done and continue to do for the city of New Orleans relative to public safety, relative to housing, relative to infrastructure, and I can literally go on and on."

As of September, New Orleans was declared the murder capital of the country following a 140% increase in homicides in 2022. The New Orleans Police Department told Fox News Digital that the department investigated 248 murders this year, compared to 218 in 2021. Shootings, armed robberies, and carjackings are also up compared to last year.

Further exacerbating the crime issue is the city's law enforcement staffing shortage. In 2021, the New Orleans Police Department lost more than 150 officers. Additionally, the department's superintendent, Shaun Ferguson, announced his retirement last week.

The mayor has dismissed the recall attempt as a Republican-backed effort to "undermine and discredit the first Black woman mayor of New Orleans."