The New Orleans mayor is facing eviction from a French Quarter apartment.Mayor LaToya Cantrell has until noon Monday to provide the council her move-out date from the Pontalba apartment.A letter sent by Council Vice President J.P. Morrell said that if he doesn't get a response from the mayor by noon that he has no choice but to move forward with the process of an eviction. Six months ago, the New Orleans City Council passed an ordinance limiting the mayor's use of the property as a personal home.The mayor's use of the Pontalba apartment has been under scrutiny throughout her second term.A spokesperson for the mayor's office said there is a multi-million dollar plan in the works for the entire Upper Pontalba building.Once an agreement is finalized, the public will be notified.Councilmembers want the apartment back into commerce.Earlier reports: A government watchdog says New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell is holding her former apartment hostage, and now the city council is fighting back.This comes six months after the city council passed an ordinance putting it up for rent.Mayor Cantrell's use of the Pontalba apartment has been scrutinized throughout her second term. The city council passed an ordinance limiting all mayors from using the apartment as a home with no overnights.Months later, city leaders say she broke that ordinance.That's when they chose to take it away indefinitely.Metropolitan Crime Commissioner Rafael Goyeneche says emails from the French Market Corporation to the mayor's office prove the apartment is still owned by the mayor when the city could have been making money off it."That's $3,000 monthly and rental that is being squandered," said Goyeneche. "I am told that the mayor is refusing to remove all of her belongings, and that is part of the reason for that impediment or attempting to learn more about this, but what is confirmed is that six months after that apartment is ordered to go back on the market it hasn't done so."In the FMC board meeting notes from last March, it was reiterated the city is the property owner and controls the apartment, not the French Market Corporation. This means the FMC cannot kick out the city, which is the "landlord" in this case.Now, the council vice president, JP Morrell, is sending a warning in the form of a letter to the mayor to give up her keys no later than March 11.The letter below: "On August 24, 2023, the City Council overruled your veto of Ordinance Cal. No. 34,309 and adopted revisions to Section 2-930 of the City Code that transfer management and control over the entirety of the Upper Pontalba Building to the French Market Corporation (*FMC**)."The new Section 2-930(c) requires that "all units" within the building be leased "to the public for fair-market rent. preference to any City employee or elected official.""Additionally, on August 10, 2023, the Council adopted Motion No. M-23-315 directing all relevant City departments, including the Office of the Mayor, the Department of Property Management, and the Law Department, to take all necessary steps to transfer management and control of Unit 530B to the FMC and further directing the FMC to occupy and secure the unit within 10 days."It has come to our attention that Umit 530B has not yet been surrendered to the FMC and that furniture and personal effects remain in the premises. It is also my understanding that you and members of your executive protection detail possess the only keys to the unit. Until the property is cleared and the keys are turned over, FMC cannot begin the repairs necessary to lease the unit, as required by law. It is particularly important that FMC be given access immediately, given that the property is in need of major renovations to cure water damage."We have tried for several months to work with members of the administration to secure the handover of the property in a manner that is as orderly and respectful as possible, even suggesting that the City subsidize the cost of moving and storing property so that FMC can proceed while minimizing any inconvenience or disruption to you. To date, those efforts have proven fruitless."We had hoped (and continue to hope) that this process could occur without further legislative action or litigation, so as not to invite further acrimony between our branches and not to cause you any public embarrassment. We cannot, however, continue to allow a valuable public asset to lie dormant. Six months to surrender occupancy of the property and to come into compliance with the law seems more than reasonable."I am therefore formally requesting that you clear the property of any and all personal possessions or City-owned property and turn all keys aver to the FMIC or provide the Council in writing with a firm date (no later than March 11) when the removal of the property and turnover of the keys will be complete. IF do not hear back from you with confirmation that the handover is complete or receive a firm dare for completion of removal by the Council agenda deadline on March 4 at noon, then I have little choice but to file a motion to bring this matter to resolution, including a directive that the City Attorney institute eviction and/or mandamus proceedings."I cannot stress how strongly I hope to avoid the need for a public escalation of this issue and will again restate my willingness to support relocation and storage managed through the City. I urge you to complete the handover so that the property can return to commerce, and we do not have to waste further public resources enforcing an unambiguous legal duty. The Council cannot, however, continue to do nothing when the requirements of the law are clear."The city responded with the following statement: "The City of New Orleans is set to invest in a multimillion-dollar building-wide renovation package for the Historic Pontalba Building, and the City is currently in the early stages of drafting a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) with the French Market Corporation that could range to over a $10 million City renovation investment."Once the City's CEA is completed with all the necessary elements, the public will be notified, and the process will then move to the renovation phase for the Pontalba Building. The renovation is slated to take over 18 months to complete." The FMC says they cannot comment.