Since the beginning of the campaign in September, Patrick Mottard has been proclaiming throughout Nice that he plans to do politics differently. He wanted to run as a candidate without going through the Socialist Party’s primaries. From that moment, his campaign would inevitably be different, whether deliberately or not, than if he had the support of the Socialist Party behind him. A few months later, with twenty days to go before the first round, Patrick Mottard had to distinguish himself again with the presentation of his program. And he did. He gambles on imagination:
“It may be the teacher in me resurfacing, but we are doing thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. The thesis is that we have many ambitious plans. The antithesis is realism. The coming years will be difficult for our city, according to the regional chamber of accounts. Proposing anything and everything would be demagogic. The synthesis of ambition and realism is imagination.”
His goal is to “awaken the sleeping beauty,” to make it “become a university city again” and a “city open to the south and the Mediterranean.” He also wants it to become a city oriented towards cinema with his project named NiceCitta. No “big” projects. He justifies: “The slogan of our competitors is ‘always more.’ With those who have been in office for a long time, this slogan sounds odd. Our slogan would be ‘always better.’ We first seek to improve people’s lives.” He gives the example of the tramway where four of the five main candidates want to build line 2 as quickly as possible. “They will put the city in debt,” criticizes the head of the Nice Autrement list. He advocates for a Tram Train system for the Plaine du Var and to set up Bus Ways on the Californie.
Always with a concern to save, he will give up the project of the new city hall at the south station, he will reduce the communication budget, cut the budget of the Opera and the philharmonic orchestra by finding them external support, rationalize the number of museums and community centers. Patrick Mottard will reorganize the functioning of the city by making better use of municipal police and will make the cleaning services more efficient. On the institutional level, he will transform the CANCA into an Urban Community to benefit from better state aid. He also hopes for more European aid by being better represented in Brussels. He will submit major projects (except those included in his program) to the people of Nice through a referendum, such as the location of the port.
He will renovate the Stade du Ray with a capacity of 26,000 seats and sports facilities. On the Sulzer parking lot, he will build a mixed-use building including municipal reception halls and a small convention center. He will extend Tram line 1 to the Ariane. The 110 proposals from candidate Mottard will be distributed to the people of Nice. They are also available on the website www.nice-autrement.com. Simply open your eyes or ears and then compare with the other candidates. Politicians propose… The voters choose.
