He will be “the right arm of the prefect”: who is Yann Gérard, the new secretary general of the Gard prefecture ?

Yann Gérard, nouveau secrétaire général de la préfecture du Gard. MIDI LIBRE – MIKAEL ANISSET

He will be responsible in particular for files concerning economic development, employment, the environment and foreigners' rights.

Breton weather, this Monday morning, to welcome Finistère Yann Gérard. The latter, originally from the pretty town of Quimperlé, is the new secretary general of the Gard prefecture. A pivotal position, occupied until then by Frédéric Loiseau.

As is protocol, Yann Gérard began by laying a wreath at the monument to those killed in the two wars. The ceremony took place in the presence of representatives of the city of Nîmes (Julien Plantier) of the Agglomeration (Bernard Angelras), of the department (Christian Bastide), of the Region (Amal Couvreur) and representatives of the forces of order and military authorities. Other elected officials, personalities from civil society or representatives of the prefectural body were also present.

Aged 48, Yann Gérard already has a solid career to his credit, having alternated positions in the prefecture (chief of staff of the prefecture of Charentes-Maritime, chief of staff of the prefect of Île-de-France region, secretary general of the prefecture of Eure-et-Loire, his last position…) or in ministries (in the cabinet of the ministries of Labor and the City between 2014 and& ;nbsp;2016, to that of the Ministry of the Interior to the Director General of the National Police…)

"The men of the last mile"

"The general secretary is the right arm of the prefect, he recalled at a press conference. He has three main missions. Working alongside the prefect, he must lead the State collective in the department. It must implement public policies on a territorial scale, adapting them so that they are effective. I like to say that we are a bit like men of the last mile…hellip; Finally, he has the function of district sub-prefect. As such, Yann Gérard is assigned to the district of Nîmes, which extends from the Bagnols-sur-Cèze sector to the Camargue (181 communes).< /p>

Yann Gérard will be responsible, among other things, for files concerning economic development, employment, the environment and foreigners' rights, one of his specialties. Asked about the administrative slowness observed for the renewal of residence permits for foreign nationals in the Gard, he was cautious: "It’is a subject that I'm going to discover. This is unfortunately quite common in several departments. This is also why the law has evolved to facilitate the renewal of residence permits when there was no particular problem. "