″ Loulou ″, the Portuguese gatekeeper in the race for municipal elections in Paris

Lourdes Rodrigues is a gatekeeper in the 17th district of Paris and will enter the race for municipal elections in the French capital to show that being a gatekeeper is a job “like any other”.

Geoffroy Boulard, current mayor of the 17th “arrondissement” (neighborhood or zone, in free translation) asked for a meeting with Lourdes Rodrigues – or Loulou, as she is affectionately known to all – to find out if she would be interested in joining her list for re-election to the elections, which take place on March 15 and 22.

“He asked for a meeting with me because he sees that I am a person who organizes events and I am always gathering people, rather than dividing them. I work as a volunteer in the solidarity delegation. If I have been doing this here for so many years, I have so much time , he said I can also give in another way “, told the Portuguese gatekeeper to the press.

Lourdes Rodrigues accepted the invitation. In recent years, it has been gaining prominence for the initiatives it organizes locally, especially the so-called “neighbors’ party” – which takes place every May and brings together neighbors who rarely cross paths. Last year, it gathered around a thousand people and the party became a landmark event in the capital.

“We will present our lists in the coming weeks and in the 17th district we will have a Portuguese candidate, whom I have known for many years and is very involved in her neighborhood. She is in an eligible place. For me, it is important to open the list to personalities who do a lot for others, “said Geoffroy Boulard.

Boulard is a right-wing mayor, affiliated with the Les Republicains party and runs again on the lists of Rachida Dati, right-wing candidate for the Paris City Council.

As a large metropolis, Paris is then divided into 20 neighborhoods and each has its own Mayor, equivalent to the parish councils in Lisbon. However, the Parisian scale is much larger. In the 17th district alone, almost 170 thousand people live and the price per square meter reaches more than 10 thousand euros.

For Lourdes Rodrigues, who has no political experience, this is also an opportunity to show other facets of his profession.

“Being a gatekeeper is a job like any other. I don’t consider myself as those gatekeepers of old who had to shut up, they couldn’t say anything. Today it’s not like that, I feel it’s a job like any other. I even appreciate it more. “, indicated Lourdes Rodrigues.

If elected, the Portuguese wants to promote the network of solidarity gates, in which she has been working and betting on the beautification of her neighborhood.

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