Christian Estrosi, barely elected to the Presidency of the Regional Council of PACA, has made a bold first move: in search of operational savings, he wants to close local branches (one in the capital of each department) and refocus their activities in already existing public structures (town halls or community agglomerations).
The expenditure reductions would be estimated at 700,000 euros but “what about the employees who work there (about fifty)?” ask the unions at the request of those concerned.
Moreover, these branches also allowed elected officials to have an office in their own department, in addition to one at the Regional Hall in Marseille.
Yet, the majority of right-wing elected officials are, for almost all of them, already holding other mandates and thus not in need of this.
On the contrary, the far-right councilors are in the opposite situation and would very much like to establish themselves locally to plant their activities and create contact with their constituents. And for that, they need visibility.
The reaction of the opposition did not take long and reflects the feeling of being the victim of a crooked (political) move.
Signed by Marion Maréchal Le Pen and Olivier Bettati, respectively president and one of the vice-presidents of the group, a statement expressed their annoyance. *
“This is a clear regression of grassroots democracy compared to previous terms. By closing the departmental branches, Christian Estrosi would sever the contact between the Region’s services and the population but also between the Region’s elected officials and their fellow citizens,” they claim.
Continuing: “Moreover, regional councilors (both from the majority as from the opposition) have until now benefited from offices and resources in the branches of their department of election. […] Can we now imagine an elected official from the Alpes-Maritimes arranging a meeting in their Marseille offices with a resident from Saint Etienne de Tinée who has approached them?”
And they finish with a venomous jab: “If Christian Estrosi’s concern is truly to make savings, he should look at his communication expenses or the cost of his future ‘territorial conference’ or the 30 million euros promised for the institute that helped him win the favor of the independent ecological candidate.”
Even though he has no direct role (or interest), Patrick Allemand, a former vice-president of the Region who knows the issue well, partially comes to the aid of his traditional opponents: “The branches have never served the elected officials but the citizens.”
And he launches a proposal: “If it’s simply about not giving territories’ elected officials logistical means to save money, there are other ways than taking an entire population and associations hostage. It is enough to make the branches exclusively administrative entities and concentrate the political groups’ resources in Marseille at the Regional Hall.”
But ultimately, what are Christian Estrosi’s true motivations?
Answer (maybe) today during the first public session of the new Regional Council.
