Topline: New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has a history of taking expensive trips using public funds, but her latest voyage is shrouded in secrecy. FOX8 found in an open records request that Cantrell spent over $50,000 traveling to the French Riviera in June, and the city refuses to say whether taxpayers will foot the entire bill.

Key facts: Cantrell, her security guard and two other city employees spent over $9,800 each on upgraded flights to the United Nations Ocean Rise & Coastal Summit in Nice, France, according to FOX8. The group flew first-class in and out of New Orleans and business class on the connecting flights to and from France.

Cantrell’s hotel stay at the Villa Victoria cost $552 per night for a “superior room with a double bed,” FOX8 found.

New Orleans city employees are required to book the cheapest possible flights or submit an explanation to city council of why a first-class ticket is needed. Otherwise, officials must pay the bill themselves.

FOX8 asked the city whether Cantrell will pay for her own upgraded flight, but officials refused to answer, instead forcing FOX8 to file another open records request. That was in July, and there has not been an update since.

In the last two years, Cantrell has also taken trips to South Korea, Africa, Dubai, Canada and Qatar, according to FOX8. Her salary was $193,079 last year.

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Background: The France trip comes amid larger scrutiny of Cantrell’s travel spending. The New Orleans City Council tried earlier this year to ban her from taking taxpayer-funded trips. It came after she withdrew from a $20 million legal settlement with the Orleans Parish School Board that would have had the city resolve a long-running legal dispute over tax revenue.

The mayor claimed the city “could not afford it,” and pulled out of the agreement. The city council, in return, said if the city can’t afford to pay the school, it can’t afford to pay her travel. A judge overturned the travel ban, but the city council is appealing.

Cantrell previously made headlines in 2022 following reports she had spent nearly $30,000 on first-class and business class plane tickets to Switzerland and France, in potential violation of the city policy requiring employees to buy the cheapest possible plane ticket.

Cantrell initially refused to return the money. She explained in a press conference, “Anyone who wants to question how I protect myself just doesn’t understand the world Black women walk in. My travel accommodations are a matter of safety, not of luxury. As all women know, our health and safety are often disregarded, and we are left to navigate alone.”

Cantrell eventually reimbursed the city once her own chief administrative officer sided against her and the city council president threatened to lower her salary. She was still cited by the Louisiana Board of Ethics in 2023 for the violation.

Summary: While some official travel may be necessary for the mayor of a major city, there is no reason Cantrell can’t fly in economy class like most of the constituents she serves.

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This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.