They refer to it as The Big Easy. While New Orleans has earned a popularity for its laid-back life, its government has long been known as an simple, dirty den of corruption and incompetence.
It’s a good-paying gig if you can find it.  ,
In fact, there’s little cheese to be made as a “dedicated” people maid in the world’s largest Democrat-led places — even while they burn.  ,
Get New Orleans ‘ best crimefighter, Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, the old fella with the Kristen Wiig Target Lady haircut. She’s raking in more than$ 300, 000 a year. Kirkpatrick began her position as director in September 2023, earning a new document from Open the Books, a government spending monitoring company.  ,
That’s a big money, even for a 65-year-old experienced law enforcement former who appears to be a dedicated man for the public’s three pillars of common security: diversity, equity, and inclusion.  ,
‘ I Didn’t Know About Them ‘ ,
Some of her own citizens are questioned about the price Kirkpatrick brings to her position after a radicalized American ideology with an ISIS flag drove a delivery vehicle through a group of Bourbon Street dancers on January 1st, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. When Kirkpatrick admitted that she had no idea that New Orleans had put restrictions in place in an effort to stop for problems in the tourist-rich region in 2017, issues of trust certainly came up. The obstacles were put in place at the time, but they have since been removed.  ,
” Basically, we have them. The apparently overmatched Kirkpatrick told reporters a day after one of the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil,” I didn’t know about them, but we have them, and we have been able to put them out.”  ,
According to a report from NBC News,” the 700-pound material restrictions, which are certified by the Department of Homeland Security, were credited with preventing deaths in a similar event last year at the Rose Parade in California.” The protection barriers were reportedly removed because they had been broken, and city workers were currently putting together a novel bollard system. The confused police director obviously wasn’t aware of everything.  ,
City leaders did not return The Federalist’s requests for comment.  ,
‘ When You Mess Away, You Fess Up.’
Strangely, Kirkpatrick was under investigation after a similar car-versus-pedestrian event near the same place where the New Year’s extremist attack took place. When her car struck a gentleman and a girl, the police director was traveling in Paris. The adult received minor injury.  ,
Kirkpatrick told NOLA that she was on duty at the time and that she had just flown to a doctor to visit an injured police commander when she made a left-hand change without looking at the walkers.  ,
” I’m so sorry for what happened last night. I’m so happy that the two parties involved are going to be just fine. Only badly sorry”, the director said in August. The investigation’s position is unclear. In a later interview, Kirkpatrick said,” When you mess up you confess up. And that is also a prerequisite for leadership and direction. And even myself, if you mess up, I own this, I apologize for it, and then I will take the consequences for it and then we’re gonna move on” . ,
Kirkpatrick has collected close to$ 3 million since 2016 according to Open The Books. She previously served as police chief in Oakland, California, where her 2017 starting salary grew from$ 250, 003 to$ 334, 090 by 2019, OTB reports.  ,
In February 2020, the Oakland Police Commission voted overwhelmingly to flame Kirkpatrick without cause. She sued for unlawful termination, claiming she was fired for speaking out against alleged fraud in the Commission, an independent human party that oversees Oakland’s police”, the watchdog information in its record.  ,
She won in federal court. A judge in 2022 ordered the city of Oakland to pay Kirkpatrick$ 1.5 million in damages, including a full year’s salary of$ 337, 675, according to OTB. She had sought$ 3 million, part of it in “emotional damages” . ,
Kirkpatrick, “one of the most tenured police executives in the country”, is steeped in the politics of DEI. As a National Press Foundation bio notes, the police superintendent is a national instructor at the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Association’s Leadership Training Program, “where she instructs on topics including, but not limited to, Bias and Diversity, Emotional Intelligence and Leading Generations”.
With Distinction and Integrity
According to the review from Open The Books, Kirkpatrick is making a much heftier salary than New Orleans ‘ leftist mayor LaToya Cantrell. But the mayor will muddle through somehow on her$ 188, 370 annual compensation.  ,
Of course, Cantrell is a real high flier. She was arrested a few years ago for bumping up her unneeded “official” overseas flights to first class. The Democrat and three of her top aides took a trip to France so the mayor could sign a” sister-city agreement” according to New Orleans ‘ Fox 8 and reported on the episode on Fox 8. Cantrell changed her seating arrangements to the elite section after charging New Orleans taxpayers$ 18, 000 for the privilege.  ,
Cantrell traveled to Switzerland for another signing of a” sister city” agreement about a week after returning from France. Her flight there cost just over$ 9, 800, and she spent more than$ 11, 000 for the six days in Ascona, Switzerland”, Fox 8 reported.  ,
Cantrell had long resisted paying the city back for the extravagance, despite a clear city policy that clearly mandates that city employees travel on their own dime if they want to do so for business or first-class reasons.  ,
” The City of New Orleans will not be reimbursed for all expenses incurred in conducting business on behalf of the City of New Orleans.” Cantrell remarked,” I do my job and I will do it with distinction and integrity every step of the way.”
She eventually consented to repay the nearly$ 29, 000, but only after the New Orleans City Council threatened to deduct the unapproved travel expenses from her salary.  ,
‘ Accusation After Accusation’ ,
Cantrell and Gilbert Montano, the city’s chief administrative officer, were implicated last year in a 25-count indictment unsealed in September. Both of them have been charged, but they are mentioned in the Metairie indictment, which states that a licensing inspector is accused of conspiring to bribe city officials to thwart an investigation into illegal permitting activity.
It gets worse. According to a column in the Louisiana Illuminator:  ,
Jeffrey Vappie, a former member of the mayor’s police security detail, was charged in a prior federal indictment on July 19 with defrauding the taxpayers by submitting false timecards to the NOPD for work he never did. According to the indictment, he is accused of “having a personal and romantic relationship with a public official 1” rather than performing police work during those hours.
” Public official 1″ is the mayor, according to multiple reports. Vappie is accused of making false statements in an effort to conceal his romantic ties to the mayor by the FBI. Since Vappie’s trial date has been postponed until July, he has entered a not-guilty plea.  ,
According to a recording from Fox 8,” How I came in seems to be how I’m going to go out,” Cantrell said at the beginning of her Oct. 1 budget presentation to the City Council. ” Accusation after accusation after accusation. but also a track record of producing results.
Crime Pays
While Kirkpatrick made law enforcement diversity, equity, and inclusion a top priority and Cantrell did Europe in style, New Orleans still held the dubious title of one of the most dangerous cities in America. Celebrating FBI crime statistics can be a challenging task, even though the former” Murder Capital” boasts a significant decline in violent crimes from the record numbers released a few years ago as a result of the country’s “defund the police” movement. As John R. Lott, Jr. reported in October in The Federalist, the bureau has been caught fudging the numbers in the Biden years.
” While the FBI claims that serious violent crime has fallen by 5.8 percent since Biden took office, the NCVS]National Crime Victimization Survey ] numbers show total violent crime has  , risen by 55.4 percent”, the story, originally published by RealClearInvestigations, notes.  ,
That’s the same FBI, by the way, that missed an Islamic State-inspired terrorist’s deadly intentions because it was too busy hosting DEI-ladened recruitment sessions.  ,
We want to meet you at the Diversity Agent Recruiting event that# FBINewOrleans is hosting! Agents and FBI executives will provide first-hand details about a rewarding career. Apply now to see if you qualify for the July 17th event in Metairie, LA here: https ://ow.ly/Y Wh250RPl15″, an inclusive X post advertised in June.  ,
The narrative is the same throughout. The nation’s largest cities, run by Democrats, are crime-infested, debt-ridden places that are making their leftist leaders a very good living.  ,
According to a salary review by Open The Books for The Federalist, the mayors of the nation’s five-largest cities hauled in a combined$ 1 million-plus in total compensation in 2023— not counting kickbacks.  ,
While California Burns
Karen Bass, the grossly incompetent mayor of Los Angeles, raked in compensation totaling more than$ 300, 000, according to OTB’s records. As the Los Angeles-area burns from “unprecedented” wildfires, Bass is on the hot seat for slashing the city’s fire-fighting budget. As the wildfires raged out of control, the Democrat mayor was in West Africa— attending the inauguration of Ghana’s president. One of the four delegates who represented President Joe Biden was Bass.  ,
Her predecessor, like Bass, pumped plenty of DEI into “fire protection”, according to my Federalist colleague Beth Brelje.  ,
In January 2022, then-Mayor Eric Garcetti checked multiple DEI boxes by appointing Kristin Crowley as fire chief, the first female, LGBT chief in Los Angeles. That year, according to LAFD data,” of the more than 6, 500 applicants to LAFD, 70 % were people of color and nearly 8 % … were female”, which was “double the … percentage of female firefighters within the Department” at the time.
Crowley, according to OTB’s review, collected” an absurd$ 439, 772 —$ 412, 493 base pay and$ 27, 278′ other’ pay”.
Crowley has pushed the DEI banner inside the Los Angeles Fire Department.  ,
” As the fire chief, if confirmed, I vow to take a strategic and balanced approach to ensure we meet the needs of the community we serve”, she said, as Newsweek quoted her. ” We will focus our efforts on increasing our operational effectiveness, enhancing firefighter safety and well-being, and fully commit to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture within the LAFD”.
Los Angeles ‘ top cop, Jim McDonnell, was sworn in in November at a$ 450, 000 base salary, one of the highest police chief salaries among the nation’s largest cities, according to the Associated Press.  ,
And if you’re scoring along at home, Brian K. Williams, Bass ‘ deputy mayor for public safety, was on administrative leave after being accused of making a bomb threat to city hall, the Associated Press reports. The FBI searched Williams ‘ home last month, and the matter remains under investigation.  ,
Crime and Debt ,
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, facing corruption charges, collected$ 258, 041.16 in total compensation in 2023, according to OTB. Prior to an April trial involving his alleged relationship with Turkish government officials, the mayor is looking at some significant legal bills. Adams is accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in unintentional gifts, including extravagant international travel packages from wealthy foreign businesspeople. Federal prosecutors reported earlier this week that “law enforcement has continued to find additional criminal activity by Adams” and “law enforcement has continued to identify additional individuals involved in Adams ‘ conduct.”
The Democrat, who has pleaded not guilty, blasted the prosecutors at a press conference.  ,
” You know, even Ray Charles can see what’s going on. And I have an attorney, Alex Spiro, he is handling that. I’ve said over and over again, I’ve done nothing wrong. Let the attorneys handle that. I have to run the city”, Adams told reporters Tuesday.  ,
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson — Let’s Go Brandon! — was set to earn about$ 221, 052 last year following a pay raise tied to inflation, according to Illinois Policy. Chicago City Council members, the publication reported, pulled down a comfortable salary of just shy of$ 146, 000 after a whopping 9.6 % pay raise in 2023, even as crime and debt continued to devour the Democrat-led Windy City.
” Chicago is not only the nation’s murder capital but leads the nation in mass shootings. Last year, there were 83 mass shootings, which Chicago Police define as three or more”, Illinois Policy reported in July.  ,
Left Coast Corruption
Ousted San Francisco Mayor London Breed was the highest-paid mayor in the nation, raking in$ 383, 760 in total salary and benefits in 2023, according to Open The Books.  ,
Breed’s administration was so disastrous that even the most devoted liberals in the leftist city couldn’t accept any more. In San Francisco’s streets, chaos caused the Democrat to lose her bid for reelection in November. Her leftist leadership only exacerbated the city’s homeless, drug, and brazen retail theft crises. Breed’s fellow Bay Area Marxist, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, suffered a worse fate — she was ousted in a recall election after just two years into a four-year term under a cloud of corruption.
Breed, too, faced a corruption scandal heading into November’s election after the former director of the mayor’s multi-million dollar” Dream Keeper” initiative, billed as an “ambitious social equity program”, was suspected of improperly spending funds. Breed faced “mounting scrutiny” after the San Francisco Chronicle investigation exposed troubling expenditures.  ,
Despite the crime, the incompetence, and the corruption, voters in the America’s biggest cities continue to elect leftist mayors. The Dem stranglehold on mayoral seats, which is essentially 10 of the 10 liberals who will lead the 10 most populous cities in 2023, was referred to as the new” Blue Wall” by NBC News. That same year, Democrats controlled all but three mayor’s offices in the nation’s 25 most-populous cities, according to the corporate news outlet.  ,
” Those 25 cities are home to 38 million residents, about 12 % of the country’s total population and more people than the combined populations of 21 states”, the NBC News noted.  ,
The” Mindset of Liberal Failure”
While Democrats still dominate the city electoral map, President-elect Donald Trump “made significant inroads in surprising places”, from blue havens like New Jersey, New York, and Hawaii, according to an AP analysis of November’s vote totals. AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120, 000 voters nationwide, “found that Trump made substantial gains among Black and Latino men, younger voters, and nonwhite voters without a college degree, compared with his 2020 performance”.
In the Bronx, for instance, Trump picked up 27 percent of the vote, unheard of in the deep blue bastion, according to the New York State Board of Elections. According to NBC News, it was the Republican presidential candidate’s best performance there in 40 years.  ,
” Even Chicago, the bluest of blue cities, is getting Trumpier”, Chicago Magazine reported post-election.  ,
” In the last three elections, Donald Trump has steadily increased his share of the vote here, from 12.4 percent in 2016, to 15.8 percent in 2020, to 21.4 percent” in November’s election, the publication noted. ” In Illinois as a whole, Trump’s percentage jumped from 40.5 percent in 2020 to 44.3 percent this year” . ,
Of course, lots of Democrats, uninspired by fill-in candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, sat out the election. However, last summer, Patricia Easley ( also known as” P Rae” ), a black conservative activist and mega MAGA supporter from Chicago, predicted growing support for Trump in her city as black voters especially grow sick of decades of broken promises from Democrats.
” Our goal is to get people away from the mentality of liberal failure that is happening in our city”, Easley, the founder of conservative group Chicago Red, told me at July’s Republican National Convention.  ,
Matt Kittle covers The Federalist’s senior elections coverage. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
