Nice Premium: Benoît Loeuillet, in 2008 your candidacy for this same 6th district received 5.09% of the votes. How do you approach your candidacy this year?
Benoît Loeuillet: We can already assess Estrosi’s term in office. And let’s just say it’s not good. First, there’s that dreadful “15%” law with the Estrosi-Ciotti duo at the helm of the city and the department. In one year, we have seen: 15% increase in violence, 15% increase in unemployment, 15% increase in local taxes. Then we could discuss two areas Christian Estrosi wanted to focus on in his election where his failure is evident: cleanliness and security. In terms of cleanliness, beyond the announcements it’s clear that the city is still just as dirty, if not more, and the “FRAP” (Fast Action Cleanliness Force of the city of Nice) was nothing more than a sham, barely good enough to fill some media articles. And regarding security… It’s hard to know where to start given how catastrophic the situation is in our poor city. Every Wednesday and Saturday, Avenue Jean Médecin becomes the territory of gangs and it seems that only the CRS (riot police) can still move through there peacefully! I can’t help but think about the terrible riot scenes last January… For two weekends, the rabble imposed their law in the city center, and one wonders where was the one who then dared to present himself as a security specialist. Estrosi can parade on TV or in Paris with his gimmick laws against gangs and masks, meanwhile, in the city where he is mayor, residents live in constant insecurity. Certainly, the people of Pasteur would not disagree!
Elected by presenting himself as a “far-right” candidate and playing the card of the true Niçois, Christian Estrosi is actually leading a policy whose only objective is to please the media, showbiz, and Parisian good-thinkers. Blue bikes, guilt about slavery in a city where it was never practiced, same-sex unions celebrated in the wedding hall, and Gay Pride on the Promenade des Anglais… A year ago, I was already a candidate against a program that I thought was harmful for Nice and its people; today I am clearly standing against the implementation of a policy that hurts my city and my people. Facing Estrosi and his cronies or accomplices, I want to embody the candidacy of the resistance of the Niçois people. “100% Niçois – 100% anti-rabble” say my posters, and that also means “100% anti-Estro”!
NP: The campaign takes place during the summer; do you consider this an advantage or a disadvantage?
BL: We thought it was a joke when we discovered the date of September 6… There is a real issue currently in the way by-elections are managed. There’s no room for debate, and ultimately no room for politics. Certainly, organizing elections with two-week campaigns or imposing campaigns in August does not inspire citizens to vote again… We favor more local and direct democracy. A referendum on the tramway question on the Prom’ for example… Nonetheless, I am perhaps less penalized than other candidates because we are fortunate to have many activists and local supporters (merchants, sympathizers), who facilitate the campaign. By being present in all local elections for three years, we have proven that we are a movement to be reckoned with. Our opponents know this, and so do the Niçois as evidenced by our constantly increasing scores.
NP: How would you define the 6th district of Nice?
BL: The ancient city of Cemenelum; the old Nissart quarter of Pasteur; the Liberation market and the Malausséna district, deeply popular and rooted; suffice it to say that this canton is simply Niçois and that’s certainly why – apart from the fact that I grew up here and still live here (at the junction of Cimiez and Pasteur) – I am so attached and feel so well here.
But let’s also talk about the problems of this canton… From Cimiez to Pasteur through the Liberation, the realities are very different. Yet these districts experience a similar situation: they are completely abandoned by the municipality.
In the Pasteur district, the municipality has allowed insecurity to become a real plague. Assaults, thefts, damage, insults have become commonplace for many buildings. Some thugs even advise residents to “get out” of “their” neighborhood. With us, it’s the rabble who will have to get out of “our” neighborhood!
At the same time, while the Cimiez district suffers from excessive taxation and its residents will be among the most affected by the 15% increase in local taxes, it is completely neglected in terms of transport and infrastructure. The new administration also plans to deprive it of its Jazz Festival starting next year to transfer it to the Albert 1st Garden. And tomorrow we will celebrate the “fête des Mai” at the Arénas?
There is much to do here like valuing the Roman roots of the city and therefore the archaeologica
