Elected six months ago, four mayors of large, medium and small municipalities tell us about their first steps in their new mandate. None are counting their hours. There is no lack of work. The management of the epidemic adds difficulties.
Florian Bercault, Laval (50,000 inhabitants)
The Covid crisis
He didn’t really have time to celebrate his victory. It was immediately put in the juice
. In July, Mayenne sees a wave of Covid-19 surging. Massive screening is organized. Immediately fifteen journalists at the town hall. You have to keep a measured discourse ”.
And put on the mayor’s costume. And also innovate: Buses to screen as close as possible to neighborhoods, social patrols to teach masks …
Agir
Since this summer, the chosen one, 30 years old, – youngest mayor of a city of more than 30,000 inhabitants – feels he has been able to take back control of your agenda
. He is delighted to have triggered
a good part of his social-ecological contract ”with Laval residents
. “The € 1 canteen may not seem like much, but more children eat at school. “
Also launched free transport on weekends, energy renovation of buildings, the 10% more to community life …
” Doing otherwise “
Citizen participation, dialogue with residents … The mayor, also president of the agglomeration, wants to reinvent politics. Governance has thus been feminized. And he no longer wants to hear schoolchildren thinking that he is rich, let him ride in a limousine ” …
Her youth
Some elected officials winced in the face of this young stranger, dubbed by the Socialist deputy Guillaume Garot. But the legitimacy of the ballot box
and his attention to all the elect reassured the skeptics.
Public life, private life
A graduate of HEC and Sciences Po Paris, he left the executive functions of his company to devote himself 100% to his mandates. Another upheaval: he is preparing to become a father and intends to take his share.
Emmanuelle Lejeune, Saint-Lô (19,000 inhabitants)
” A gift “
Unifying, brilliant, methodical… It is her running mates who speak the best of her. At 44, she is the first woman mayor of the capital of La Manche, succeeding in federating left, right and center sensibilities around local issues. The culmination of a twelve-year municipal career, in particular as a family-childhood representative. My election, I take it as a gift.
The team first
Mother of three daughters (20, 18, 10 years old), she doesn’t put herself forward. The collective first. ” A cohesive team “ who wasted no time in setting up the first projects, despite the Covid. I feel responsible to the inhabitants to change the city. I have to live up to their trust.
Extended days …
The mayor has one ambition: to give his best. She works a lot, takes the time to analyze before deciding. I arrive at the town hall around 8:30 am. I never leave before 10 pm. Presence is important at the start of the mandate. There is the first budget to prepare.
She does not regret her commitment … taking. Seeing your city change is a source of satisfaction.
Serenity
This election, she sees it as a step aside
in her life as a teacher-trainer. Of course, this mandate exposes me, that there will always be discontented people. The main thing is to have a good chat with the locals. This mandate increases my energy tenfold.
Arnaud Salmon, Dinard (10,000 inhabitants)
Divisions to overcome
Renowned seaside resort from Ille-et-Vilaine, Dinard is not “that sleeping beauty” that some people like to describe. She’s bubbling with energy. She is even often angry. In six years, she has just met three mayors. The vote is given and is recovered quickly! Arnaud Salmon knows it, but wants to go beyond the divisions of the past. The work to be done is enormous, so I don’t have time to dwell on the quarrels.
Move forward at all costs
This 43-year-old hard worker, boss of a Tile SME, did not see the first six months of the mandate pass. The adaptation was short, but the team was ready.
Above all, he had to manage the epidemic, the orders and contrordances of the government, the economic consequences of the crisis. We must listen to our restaurateurs, cafetiers, hoteliers, support them as best as possible, arbitrate budgetary choices… 2021 will be difficult, but we must move forward. The renovation of the city, the urbanization projects… do not wait.
Live to the fullest
Overcoming obstacles one by one is the daily lot of the mayor. This does not prevent him from finding pleasure in his mandate. You have to be close to the inhabitants, even more during this period. My elected days often exceed twelve hours, but I am not complaining.
He managed to put his life as an entrepreneur on hold. I want to live this mandate to the full ”… Without trying to find out what he will do in six years.
Marie-Louise Grisel, Moëlan-sur-Mer (7,000 inhabitants)
The investment
Those first six months? Rich and loaded ”,
said the Finistérienne. This former nurse, 66, works a lot. His compensation? € 1,480 for 50/60 hours per week. And 700 € as elected community member. It is taking
, especially the daily worries: water leak, problem in the cemetery, marriage which goes badly… Next, there are his big sites
: the media library, coastal wasteland, social housing.
Private life
Mother of two grown children and twice a grandmother, she invests herself fully in her task. She is lucky: noon and night, her husband prepares for her a nice plate. I take my hat off to him
.
The Covid
It imposes another way of governing. People were at the heart of our campaign. We don’t see him much anymore
. But there may be good to take
. The day before, the city council was filmed. The inhabitants have hooked.
It makes us think
.
Popular origins
Eldest of a family of seven children, from a working-class background, she didn’t read a lot of books.
But she rejoices to be able address the prefect as an unemployed resident
. With the same listening quality.
Be a woman
She took some nasty remarks during the campaign. It was hard
. And since ? Nothing. Some still ask me if this
is not too hard …
You wouldn’t ask a man that question.
She finds, however, that the town has moved. The inhabitants chose a woman, who is not from here, as mayor.
– .
