The battle also rages on for the departmental election. The rally of the right was easier than for the regional elections, despite the differing stances with the president of the Finance Commission of the Department, Eric Ciotti. But what is LR’s concrete ambition for this department? We get answers from Franck Martin, a candidate in this constituency.
Once again partnered with Catherine Moreau, the deputy in Nice responsible for Trade, Markets, and Crafts, and the Les Hauts de Nice territory, he is a candidate for the Nice-5 canton. They were elected in 2015 in this stronghold that long belonged to Patrick Mottard and, earlier, to Jacques Médecin.
What assessment do you make of these six years of mandate in this canton?
There’s something we haven’t discussed enough, which is the creation of the Thérèse Roméo gymnasium. We built it right behind the Sud station. We were able to do it as departmental councilors. The department contributed significantly. I care about it a lot, especially for the students of Joseph Vernier. We’ve provided them with a beautiful gym, which prevents them from having to move around by bus.
And at the department level?
At the department level, various investments have been made. It contributed notably to the creation of the tramway line 2. There’s also the whole social and comfort aspect that the department handles. We live in quite a complicated time. There are people with severe financial difficulties. Today, with the help of the department, we manage to assist them through RSA and MDPH (Departmental House for Disabled People). They are all subsidized by the department.
What are the strengths of your program?
Our strength is our experience. It’s the fact that both my running mate and I are already deputy mayors. We are local elected officials, in daily contact with people. I am a deputy for commerce and markets. The market is a social link.
What do you consider the strengths and weaknesses of your canton?
We have a massive commercial offer. From Jean Médecin Avenue to the Ray stadium (former OGC Nice stadium demolished in 2017), on Joseph Garnier, Gorbella, Cessole, there are food merchants nearby. Sometimes people don’t know they exist, and they deserve more recognition. Some people from Nice can’t do all their shopping near their neighborhood. We have set up digitalization support for merchants. They need to modernize. Today, young people are connected to their phones, so we must assist previous generations in this transition.
How did you manage to come together, as Christian Estrosi stated?
We are already united in the city of Nice and the Metropolis. These are outstretched hands; we must stop being in divisions and dogmatic positions. We need to open up! It’s 2021; we can’t do politics like we used to. We would say, you’re from this or that party and therefore there’s a border. I exclude the extremes because that’s out of the question for me. My colleague Catherine Moreau is from the UDI, and I am from LR. We are in the union of forces. It’s a local election.
How do you explain that we are “held hostage” by these local elections?
Some have national ambitions. It’s unfortunate that a national dimension was given to them. I’m not here to talk about the 2022 presidential election. My goal is to defend the people of Nice and the Maralpins. Society needs a budget. There must be cohesion between each entity.
