During a press conference with the lead candidates and representatives of the National Rally for the Nice Côte d’Azur metropolis in the upcoming 2020 municipal elections, Philippe Vardon (head of the list in Nice) presented the campaign slogan: Another way for the metropolis is possible: balance and fairness!
The candidates outlined the timing and tone of their prospective legislative actions: while the electoral campaign will be aggressive, the post-election debates—within the council chambers of the municipalities but particularly in the metropolitan assembly [We all feel in our municipalities the growing weight of the Metropolis]—promise to be intense.
The main target of the criticism was naturally Christian Estrosi, a long-standing personal adversary of Philippe Vardon: [“In reality, today the mayors of the metropolis no longer act as free mayors but merely as adjuncts to Christian Estrosi—the omnipotent president of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis: he decides the policies, and they implement them!”]
The R-nationalists denounce his fiscal policies [in 2018, Nice was the large French city where the property tax increased the most (+19.3%), and moreover, among the 10 cities with populations between 5,000 and 50,000 where the property tax increased the most, 8 were municipalities of the Metropolis!]
Regarding proposals, three measures were announced to restore “balance and fairness,” the campaign slogan:
➡️ The outright abolition of the Metropolitan Property Tax [for them, it’s the “Estrosi” tax],
➡️ A fair distribution of financial aid [editor’s note: not further specified],
➡️ And the introduction of a rotating presidency of the Metropolis… a novelty that could inspire some new ideas…