The outgoing mayor’s proposal regarding the future of the Ray lands prompted a comment from Patrick Mottard, general councilor of the 5th canton (of which the Ray is part), who had spoken numerous times on this issue. A timely and well-documented opinion from someone who has known this case from the start.
“Christian Estrosi has finally presented his own project. In fact, within a hundred apartments, it is the twin of ours. A document we presented as early as February 2nd with Patrick Allemand, reflecting the positions consistent with the will of the populations of Nice North that I have defended as a general councilor for four years: a ‘Family Plain’ with sports and recreational activities, parking, and public services.” Explains Patrick Mottard who is surprised by this late conversion, just as he is to see the candidate proposing what the mayor had forbidden for years. The political opponent of these two finally considering that “plagiarism in politics can be a good thing when it goes in the direction of the general interest.”
However, this late conversion inspires two reflections from the general councilor of the canton.
The first is that mobilization always pays off: “As with the South Station, 42 bis rue Trachel of friend Laurent or the tram on the Promenade, I was convinced that the town hall and its real estate projects could be driven back. I kept explaining this to sometimes disillusioned or discouraged residents. This U-turn from the mayor-candidate is therefore the confirmation that rejecting the theory that the earthen pot is helpless against the iron pot is a winning strategy.”
The second is that nothing is definitively acquired: “Once bitten, twice shy. If the candidate ever returns to being mayor, who guarantees us that he will not go back on such a late promise?”
This is precisely why Patrick Mottard hopes that “… the electoral results of the neighborhood and the canton are favorable, and that it is imperative the list supported by the general councilor, uncompromising on the subject for four years, makes a significant score in Nice North. This will be a kind of insurance.”
The battle for Ray seems far from over. In a way, it is just beginning.
