Proximity meetings: “We will work on other exemptions to make your life easier,” declares Minister Dominique Faure

Laurence Baldit, mayor of La Grand-Combe. FREE NOON – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Christophe Rivenq, premier adjoint au maire d'Alès et président d'Alès Agglo. MIDI LIBRE – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Sylvain André, maire de Cendras. MIDI LIBRE – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Julie Lopez-Dubreuil, maire de Saint-Jean-du-Pin. MIDI LIBRE – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Jean-Yves Chapelet, maire de Bagnols-sur-Cèze. MIDI LIBRE – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Statut du maire, dette, simplification des démarches, etc. Cinq élus gardois étaient face à la ministre déléguée aux Collectivités territoriales et à la Ruralité, ce jeudi 7 mars, à La Grand-Combe, dans les Cévennes gardoises.

Facing Dominique Faure, the Minister for Local Authorities and Rural Affairs, Jean-Luc Gibelin, vice-president of the Occitanie Region in charge of transport, is the first to draw on the theme of "simplification", pressing the reopening of the railway lines: "Help us so that we can open, even if we then have to comply within ten or fifteen years." To support his point, he mentions the level crossings of the Alès-Bessèges line, in Gard, which should reopen in 2028. "I will forward your requests…", she responds, by videoconference, before the regional elected official, in the hanging room of the Miner's House, in La Grand-Combe, speaks again: " There are things that can be done quickly and respond to reality." "That’is what I am waiting for these exchanges", says Dominique Faure. "Let us move forward on concrete things. There, I have a subject on which I will come back to you with concrete elements…"

The minister questioned about the debt

Direct, the exchanges are. Thus, Laurence Baldit, the Grandcombian mayor, does not fail to question this member of the government on the recently announced budget cuts, particularly in terms of ecological transition: "This does not fail to worry us, who are working on the energy renovation of our schools." The minister then responds by focusing on a national debt "transpartisan", before the first Cévennes magistrate estimates that " all means of resolving this debt have not been discussed".

"We only talk about metropolises"

Of politics, it is obviously a question. Christophe Rivenq, president of Alès Agglomération, declares that "we have the feeling that everything is done for metropolises, hypermetropolisation. The head of state only talks about them. We must treat all the inhabitants of the country in the same way." He points out the "contradictory injunctions" that elected officials suffer, in particular in terms of Zero Net Artificialization (ZAN), mobility, public services. The Alésien is also a supporter of the simplification of procedures, and then sounds the charge against the administrations: "They prevent us from moving forward. It is enough to bring them into line with the elected officials. I'm counting on you!" In the room, the mayors present applaud.

"I am the minister of all territories"

Dominique Faure tries to reassure his audience. She talks about "medium-sized towns", before Christophe Rivenq takes it up, specifying that it’s about "city on a human scale". This member of the Attal government continues his remarks: "I am the minister of all the territories and these cities are very interesting because they are very attractive for our fellow citizens […] We have a policy of differences which is not yet visible. We will work on other exemptions to make your life easier…"

A "major concern" for 2026

Julie Lopez-Dubreuil, the mayor of Saint-Jean-du-Pin, a neighboring town of Alès, brings back the debate on what it means to be elected in 2024 . Or something "exciting", something "enriching". But she "worried a lot about 2026. There was Covid, with people closing in on themselves. And I can only encourage people to invest in the general interest. I'm afraid that vocations will be very, very rare. This is a major concern."

Better remunerate elected officials

While the Minister "shares" this and speaks about’"democratic emergency", Jean-Yves Chapelet, the mayor of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, agrees with Julie Lopez-Dubreuil, adding that to be mayor today, "you have to be tough and resist human stupidity". He appears "very happy" that Dominique Faure is taking up the subject of the status of the elected official "hand-on-hand. We've been asking for this for a long time." Because the minister, who is currently working in the Senate on the proposed law on the status of local elected officials, wishes "to increase compensation"< /em>. To hear him say, the mayor, "we need to protect him better, pay him better". "As a minister, you have to give a positive image of the local elected official. It’is essential for 2026!", insists Sylvain André, mayor of Cendras, at the gateway to the Cévennes, and president of the Association of Rural Mayors, before’ rsquo;also address administrative issues.