Pierre Cuny: “Yes, I want to take this city to the top, that’s what we call Thionville 2030.” Photo La Semaine
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By evoking possible reductions in subsidies to associations and a reduction in the payroll of agents of the City of Thionville, Mayor Pierre Cuny raised some concerns in his opposition. She denounced her ambition to want to develop a city that would disregard the most modest.
Like a majority of municipalities, Thionville must deal with delicate finances, weakened by the health crisis. Nothing dramatic said Pierre Cuny, its mayor, during the municipal council of November 22, but it is important to be careful. As the City does not wish to downsize with regard to its numerous investments and projects, it must therefore moderate its operating costs. To do this, it is particularly a question of reducing the envelope of subsidies granted to associations and reducing the payroll of City officials (50% of the operating budget), or even going through public service delegations in regarding parking.
City officials will have to work more
So presented, it is clear that this raises some concerns in the opposition. Brigitte Vaïsse and Manon Pellicori did not fail to emphasize this. And the mayor to explain … To clarify first of all that the envisaged reduction in subsidies for associations will be done on a case-by-case basis and will only concern those who have the “means”. “Some have a year’s cash flow in their account (sometimes 1.3 million euros). After all, for two or three years, it may be possible to reduce the subsidy a little, ”said Pierre Cuny, promising to open a discussion on this subject.
With regard to the reduction in the number of agents, the non-replacement of certain retirements is accompanied by a whole support system aimed at promoting the rise in skills, versatility or internal promotion of agents. All this will be done in dialogue, underlined Emmanuel Bertin, in charge of school affairs and human resources, before pointing out one last… “problem” (or opportunity, the future will tell). “The law says that the floor and the ceiling in the public service is 1,607 hours. Each civil servant must complete this quota of hours. Currently, a City agent works between 1,520 and 1,530 hours per year. Understand that there are hours to be gained. “Or rather to conquer through a broad dialogue with trade unions and agents aiming to put the issue of working time on the table”, corrects Emmanuel Bertin. The City has no choice. As of January 1, 2022, she must be in compliance with the law with regard to this working time.
Both issues would therefore offer room for maneuver without severely weakening the “concerned”. But the fact of choosing to reduce costs by “attacking” associations or city agents, while reaffirming ambitions in terms of urban development, economic development and real estate, attractiveness and digital transition , goes badly. For Brigitte Vaïsse, this amounts to making Thionville a “high-end” city.
“Thionville had little or no image”
Pierre Cuny does not dispute but nuance… “Let someone tell me that my city is an upscale city, I am very happy. It had been a long time since Thionville had little or no image. And we had to breathe life into this city which has colossal assets, ”said the mayor, referring to its geographical location, its connection to networks (road, river, etc.), its growing demography, the number of its students which will double for go from 1,000 to 2,000 in 2026 (the opening of a first year of law in Yutz is scheduled for 2023), its growing visibility in the digital world, the reindustrialization of the territory with Knauf or Kubota …
“Being an upscale city is a city where it is good to live, where people want to come and live and work. Not everyone works in Luxembourg: 50% of the working population works here in Thionville and the surrounding area. Before, people who came from elsewhere to work in the Grand Duchy lived in Luxembourg or Metz. Now they come to live in Thionville, so yes I want to take this city to the highest level, it’s what we call Thionville 2030 ”, declared Pierre Cuny, not without stressing that between 2020 and 2026, 800 social housing units will be created and that a Solidarity Land Office is in the pipeline. Understand that an “upscale city is not an elitist city”.
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