Through Leo Gautret
Published on
updated on June 8, 21 at 18:53
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The controversy swells in Trans-sur-Erdre (Loire-Atlantique), after the recent resignation of four advisers, including two assistants. Several reasons have been given to explain these resignations. One of them concerns the sum entered at the end of the line “ceremonies and festivals” for the year 2020.
€ 4,664 for whiskey
€ 12,500, or € 2,500 more than last year. A sum intended in particular for the purchase of alcohol and drinks of all kinds, served at the end of advice, ceremonies, official visits or meals organized by the town hall. 157 liters of wine, 98 bottles of whiskey for € 4,664 or even 74 bottles of port appear among others in this budget revised upwards, in the midst of a health crisis.
A nice envelope for a town of just over 1,000 inhabitants, that Anne-Cécile Richl, 4e deputy, openly criticized on May 21, at the last city council.
“It’s quite deplorable. The town hall was closed for three months in 2020, we did not have a ceremony in May or meals for the elders. It is personal consumption. I’m not the first to pick it up. At each mandate, elected officials were indignant at the amounts of this line “ceremonies and festivals”. “
“Not enough room for debate”
Mayor of the town for 32 years, Philip Squélard is directly targeted by these resigning advisers, including Guillaume Raitière: “I already alerted a year ago, at the start of the mandate. […] A few people may have gotten into the habit of having a regular aperitif in town hall. The brand pencils offered to the fifteen elected for the trifle of € 3,192 are also criticized.
But for these elected officials, these consumption habits are only the reflection of a decadent functioning that they denounce.
“If there was only alcohol, I wouldn’t have left. What bothers me is the way the mayor manages his town. Everything is decided upstream. ”
Anne-Cécile Richl also noted during the last municipal council the attitude of the city councilor towards the staff of the town hall. “He speaks with contempt, especially with women. “
Guillaume Raitière, who denies “not being in the opposition”, sharply criticizes the functioning of the town hall which denounces bluntly.
“We don’t leave enough room for debate. There is no longer a commission, so the advisers are a little lost and faced with a fait accompli when the time comes to vote. We were spectators rather than actors in municipal life. It is a monarchical mode of operation, I decide and you do. […] I was told a year ago that an effort was going to be made on this point, but nothing. I cannot condone this. “
It asks for an “awareness”
The increase in compensation for the mayor and his deputies voted at the start of the mandate is another element that goes wrong for the former municipal councilor. “It’s out of touch with reality and intolerable. We tend to live beyond our means. […] But there is such a feeling of impunity and power that we no longer listen to anyone. I couldn’t go on like this for five years. “
If the former elected does not go so far as to claim the decision of Philip Squélard, he calls on the other hand for a “awareness and a mea culpa” of the mayor.
Philip Squélard: “We welcome people at the town hall”
From the height of his six terms as mayor, Philip Squélard responds point by point to the attacks of his former two former councilors. “I am appalled and affected! “, He launches in the preamble, invoking a” malicious political maneuver “.
If he concedes that he “may have welcomed people too well” in town hall, on the other hand, the latter does not admit in any case the criticisms evoking unbridled alcohol consumption in town hall.
“There is no alcohol problem. If we receive craftsmen, design offices in appointments or weddings, Pacs, we always offer a drink of friendship. We are friendly in Trans-sur-Erdre! We will therefore welcome them a little less well. “
“Proximity and conviviality are essential”
Of the 4,664 € budgeted for the purchase of 98 bottles of whiskey, the town’s chief magistrate explains:
“The expense corresponds to 0.66% of the total operating expenses (€ 70,8984). It was approved, like other expenses, by 13 votes in favor, and one abstention during the vote on the 2020 administrative account, on April 14. Contrary to what we would like to believe, this sum is not only used for elected officials. […] I am one of those elected officials who believe that proximity and conviviality are essential for cohesion, for living well together, which we are so sorely lacking in our modern society. “
The mayor also justifies the significant increase in the “ceremonies and celebrations” budget by purchasing fifteen branded pens, worth € 3,192, “to thank the people who work for the good of the municipality”. “At the end of each term, a souvenir gift is offered to outgoing advisers,” he recalls.
“Divide it by 15 advisers, then by 72 months of mandate and you will obtain an amount of 2.96 € TTC / month. Is this an excessive amount for councilors who do not receive any compensation and devote the maximum of their free time to the service of the population? “
“I always remain polite, courteous”
Regarding his relationship with elected officials and town hall staff, Philip Squélard denies everything:
“I am used to working with women, at the town hall, at the regional civil service management center, at the departmental social works committee that I chair, because the directors are in charge and the majority of the workforce is female. […] I always remain polite, courteous, because I have too much respect for these territorial agents. “
As for the functioning of the municipal council, the mayor considers quite the contrary of his detractors, to open the debates and to work in “all transparency”:
“In city council, we deal with issues on the agenda, of course. At each end of the board, once the agenda has been reviewed, there are various questions. Everyone can talk about a particular subject, freely. This does not seem to me to be an “old-fashioned way” but usually practiced in very many municipalities. “
“Some people seem to have a memory problem”
He also explains that the absence of a committee “had been agreed upon at the election for fear of lack of staff” and “systematically invite the entire council to any thematic meeting”.
“Some people seem to have a memory problem and do not remember having been invited to a meeting to prepare the annual municipal bulletin, another on a Saturday morning to study the landscaping at the“ Les Blés Noirs ”subdivision or for the future establishment. of the “Vieux Chêne” subdivision. Finally, no one is unaware that, since the start of this mandate, the functioning of communities has been disrupted by the Covid crisis. “
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