You had 15% of the votes in the first round. You could have been the kingmaker of this election. You have chosen not to merge with any other list. Why ?
I could actually be the kingmaker because we were approached by other lists. My position was very clear on this, there is no merger between the two towers. If there is an alliance, we must consider it upstream. During this confinement, there were insistent approaches, notably on the part of Mr. Roudillon. One of my running mate was quite supportive of this merger. It sparked a debate with us. There was a vote which resulted in Montluçon being retained tomorrow.
It is a project that we have built for six years. It is transversal and I do not see who better than us can carry this project. What interested the other lists was my 15%. The program, honestly, they don’t care. They come to get the win.
43% of your running mate were for fusion. Did this episode create dissension?
Dissensions within the list, not at all since I have a team behind me who remains very mobilized for this end of the campaign and for the second round. I do have a dissension with Abdou Diallo (number two on the list, note). We have a divergent vision of what to do with this result.
Even if our score in the first round may suggest a difficulty in accessing the town hall, I assume that, given the distance between the two rounds, it is a one-round election. I think we have a project that is mobilizing and that can bring together all of the Montluçonnais.
After several weeks of negotiations, plans to merge lists are in vain in Montluçon
Is the divorce consummated with Abdou Diallo?
For me, yes. We will review our positions for Montluçon community (Abdou Diallo was presidential candidate, note). The agglomeration is a territorial project. We will see at that time who will be most able to represent the entire basin within the Montluçon community. There are very different positions on this. Me, what I want is that our pool of life comes out, that it is proactive and that we all go in the same direction.
Sylvie Sartirano
52 years old, head of a school support structure, opposition counselor (SE) since 2014.
First round
In the first round, his Montluçon list as of tomorrow obtained 15.4% of the votes behind those of Frédéric Laporte (LR) 27%, Joseph Roudillon (DVD) 21.2% and Frédéric Kott (DVG) 19.5%.
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Do you fear the useful vote in favor of a candidate who would have had more votes on Sunday?
Obviously there can be this useful vote. I also believe that we are armed with a project, that we are serious people. We have demonstrated over the past six years that we are elected officials on the ground, that we work.
I trained myself. I went in search of information, of technicality. We have always surrounded ourselves with competent people to allow us to progress
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Has the health crisis affected your program?
We have a different reflection but the subjects which worried us remain of topicality. There are nevertheless things that we will move in terms of priority. This affects, for example, the local economy. I want to make short circuits and food an essential subject. We have concrete solutions. We will be part of the territory’s food project. It has economic, environmental and social virtues. This allows local producers to live, possibly to expand and promote employment. And we reduce the carbon tax and food waste in canteens.
Actions could be delayed, on taxation for example?
It is proposed to lower the property tax by 5%. I wish to maintain it because I have faith in the future of our territory. We proposed it in 2021. I think we have to be reasonable. The crisis, especially the economic one, that we are experiencing risks stopping us from setting up in 2021.
However, I think it is an important lever and I hope that before the end of the next six years, we will be able to start implementing it. It is also to restore attractiveness, a little boost in terms of shops and purchasing power.
In your program, you want to change the image of Montluçon. What are you planning to do ?
From the handicap of the average city, an advantage must be made. We must use the assets of our territory. It will go through internal communication. Often we hear: “Nothing is happening in Montluçon”. It is not true! We have, culturally speaking, a very wide range that not all cities of our size. However, the highlighting of all these events is relatively average. It will also communicate on the outside, without spending millions.
You should not be ashamed to promote your territory. We have important assets linked to our heritage, to the environment. We do not understand the potential of green tourism. The tourism offer in the territory is not structured. We are very late on the digital relays.
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What will be your main measures to make Montluçon “a 3.0 city”?
We should welcome the arrival of fiber in the city at the end of the year. On this, we want to support companies financially. We can also distill this aid on the city’s facilities to promote teleworking, to make co-working spaces connected, which is not the case today.
The populations must also master the digital tool. We see that at the administrative level, we are forced to do it digitally, but what about equipment? We have seen this with educational continuity. When children had to find their lessons and make impressions from smartphones, we tell ourselves that digital technology and its uses are not in every home. As part of the house of knowledge and sharing that we want to create at the Boris-Vian space, we have planned to provide a digital mediator.
all our articles on municipal in Montluçon
Which mayor will you be? Will you continue your professional activity if you are elected?
We are the second largest city in Auvergne and I don’t see how you can do two things at the same time. I will be a full-time mayor. I take it upon myself to make a parenthesis in my professional life. I have remained in contact with the population during these six years and will continue to be so. The inhabitants need to have this proximity contact. It’s in my nature too. I think I am someone sincere and loyal.
We will try to work in all transparency, to make the consultation as wide as possible on subjects impacting our living area. I hope that in six years, our city will have much less poverty and precariousness, and that we will have managed to move forward together on the ecology, on the economy, on all the subjects that concern us today.
Interview by the editorial staff
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