It is a family affair, over several generations. Armand Rouvier’s father, the current mayor, was already mayor of Brenon in the Var, from 1959 to 1995. His son took over.
When asked why the whole family went into politics, Armand Rouvier, 59, jokes:
“In communities like ours, it necessarily has repercussions on the whole family. It triggers fervor.”
Family council
The 7 elected officials were the only ones to run, the participation rate reached 58% in the first round, or 18 registered out of 31. The municipal council logically re-elected the mayor on Saturday May 23 and chose the first deputy, Jean-Luc Rouvier, who is the first cousin of the mayor. Two of his children are municipal councilors, including Laurent Rouvier.
“When I talk about politics, these are the left-right divides, and there, this is not the case in our small towns. If I started with them, it is to carry new projects” confides this farmer and breeder installed in the village when asked why he agreed to go into politics this year.
He adds: “By our job as a farmer we have flexibility in work, we finish at 11 am and we will go to bed later in the evening, we have no boss”.
At a time when many elected officials from small communities give up or do not represent themselves, he did not really think about when he agreed to introduce himself:
“my father pushed me to the previous mandate, I said no. Today I have two children, I am 34 years old and to see all that we can do … we are changing duty”.
A small Var village
Brenon is just under an hour’s drive from Draguignan, the sub-prefecture. The population of the village has stabilized, it has 70 inhabitants including 30 residents year round.
Most of the municipality’s revenue comes, according to the town hall, from the rental of communal lodgings. A small village with a large family and the mayor says it, we say it all: “my candidacy must not make a fracture at the family level”.
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