With “Mayor’s Notebook”, Jean-Yves Chapelet delivers a not-so-anecdotal daily life

“Carnet de maire”, tome 1. Jean-Yves Chapelet a matière pour la suite. DR

Like so many of his peers, the councilor of Bagnols-sur-Cèze took up his pen. But "Mayor's Notebook" differentiates itself by defining, through a series of short stories, the role and daily life of an elected official.

At first glance, Jean Yves Chapelet's book, “Mayor's Notebook", may seem confusing. Unlike many of his peers who try their hand at writing, the mayor of Bagnols-sur-cèze does not unfold his vision of the world, of society, or of what should be democracy today. No, the elected official, a civil engineer at the CEA – now retired -, decided to share ten anecdotes from the notebooks he has been scribbling every evening since he took charge in 2008. "The chemist’s habit of writing reports. I kept this reflex of noting what struck me, details the councilor.

Glasses of white, a reggae-man, begging for a license…

Jean-Yves Chapelet thus chose to share with his readers, in a simple tone and never devoid of humor like his character, his first funny encounter with a reggae-man who came for the Bagnolais festival , two marriages that really almost went wrong, glasses of white wine shared in the early morning with residents who were nevertheless threatened by rising waters, the plea of ​​a young rugby player who had just lost his license or even a virile discussion between the market stalls.

Anecdotes, really ? Not so much. Behind these little stories in the history of a medium-sized town of 18,000 inhabitants, reveals the daily life of a mayor. And above all everything he must be at the same time: "psychologist, confidant, social worker, firefighter on duty, scapegoat…", lists Jean-Yves Chapelet.

A sandwich and a beer, a footbridge…

He could have added opportunistic. This is for example what reveals the story of a sandwich and a beer, shared unexpectedly before a meeting and which will allow you to obtain, a few months later, the construction of a footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists over the Cèze. "Once elected, you have six years of mandate ahead of you during which you deploy your program. But during this period, you must demonstrate adaptability and opportunity to benefit from windfalls coming your way. As mayor, you have a moral obligation to do everything possible to seize these opportunities without knowing where they will take you", relates the elected official.

Jean-Yves Chapelet further demonstrates the expectation that a mayor can generate, even if he cannot do everything, "our power is limited and fortunately& ;quot;, he writes to those who sometimes ask them to break the rules. Or that the chief magistrate of a city, although considered by the French people's favorite elected official, remains "within reach of shouting from his constituents". But, he adds, "this proximity of local elected officials is essential for our democracy in these periods of permanent questioning of representative bodies".

Understanding what the role of mayor is

Jean-Yves Chapelet, through the pages he blackened, formulated a wish: "that people, when closing this book, say to themselves: I have understood what it’s like to be mayor. At least they will understand that he is above all a human being driven by the general interest. And that too is far from being anecdotal.

"Mayor's notebook", by Jean-Yves Chapelet, published by NomBre7, prefaced by Regional President Carole Delga. 12.50 €. The proceeds will be donated to the AGIRabcd association. I subscribe to read more