On November 18, New Orleans voters decided to elect city council member LaToya Cantrell over former municipal judge Desiree Charbonnet to succeed Mitch Landrieu as mayor. The two candidates were the last standing from a crowded October 14 primary, assuring New Orleans that its next mayor would be a woman for the first time in the city’s history.

Cantrell inherits the city as it enters its tricentennial celebration next year, and hence she will help shape what the beginning of New Orleans’ next 30…