“Youth is on the move. ” VSWas in 2001 the slogan of its first municipal campaign. It was the time when, to defeat the irremovable Gaullist mayor Robert Poujade, François Rebsamen was touring retirement homes, with the rose in his fist on his leaflets. Become mayor of the Burgundy metropolis, he remained socialist but no longer sets foot in an Ehpad before the elections. On the other hand, his electoral posters camp him as mayor of the “City for all”. Clearly: for all generations. And for good reason, Dijon now has almost as many seniors as students.
“With this motto, I reinstated the elderly in my message”, explains the city councilor in his large office at the town hall, his eyes raised towards the Golden Fleece which decorates the fireplace. But without targeting or citing them in his leaflets or speeches. That’s all the subtlety. “It was not won”sighs Mr. Rebsamen.
“For a long time the left said:” The old people vote for the right. ” And the right said, “The old people vote for the right.” So no one took care of them, “ summarizes Serge Guérin, sociologist author of the book The Quincados (Calmann-Levy, 2019). Dijon has become the epicenter of a small revolution almost by accident.
Former member of the cabinet of François Rebsamen, Pierre-Olivier Lefebvre created in 2012 the Francophone Network of Age-Friendly Cities (RFVAA). The association encourages to put into practice the program, decided in 2007, by the World Health Organization (WHO) for “Adapting cities to aging”. Affiliated to WHO, the RFVAA has successfully enrolled some 140 French cities. The largest is Paris, the smallest Meaulnes-Vitray (Allier), 900 inhabitants. From all partisan obedience. They form a breeding ground for almost 12 million inhabitants.
Second youth
RFVAA offers a method to mayors to enlist seniors in transport, housing, culture policies… Retirees “Expect their city to find a place and not only that the elected officials take care of them”, exhibits Mr. Lefebvre, delegate general of RFVAA.
“Daddy’s patronage is over, increases Mr. Rebsamen. Gone are the days when elected officials infantilized the elderly by offering them boxes of chocolates with the hope that they would vote for them. “
On February 20, a troop of dashing Dijonnais between 62 and 74 years old seems to have found a second youth. They form the core of the “age observatory”, a municipal structure with 45 seniors drawn by lot or chosen from neighborhood committees. They have met at the seniors’ house and are reviewing what they have obtained from the town hall.
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