Cantrell sues city council over travel spending ban

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has sued the New Orleans City Council over the council's vote to freeze travel spending for city officials, according to our partners at NOLA.com.

Cantrell filed for a temporary restraining order in New Orleans Civil District Court.

The council voted to forbid using city funds to reimburse officials for travel outside the city, after Cantrell backed out of a settlement between the city and Orleans Public Schools.

Cantrell said the city could not afford the settlement. That prompted the city council to impose the travel spending ban.

Despite that ban, Cantrell last week traveled to Washington, DC for a Yale University-sponsored mayors conference.

"Given the administration’s claims that the City is headed for a potential fiscal crisis, it is simply beyond the pale that the Mayor would ignore an ordinance designed to address the fiscal crisis that prompted her to withhold funding from Orleans Parish schoolchildren," said New Orleans City Council President J.P. Morrell.