Jean Christophe Picard is part of a young political class in Nice that is starting to make its mark ahead of the upcoming municipal elections, in which he will likely be a candidate. Having earned his initial political credentials with the Azure Socialist Party, we now find Picard as a spokesperson for the Radical Left Party, pointing out a little-known service because it is rarely used by Nice’s citizens: its municipal archives.
“In Nice, it is an understatement to say that some of the documents thus classified are clearly not intended to be easily consulted later.” Another ripple in the Nice pond that relentlessly causes waves, further stigmatizing a city whose image, on the contrary, is in great need of renovation.
Interview with Jean-Christophe Picard, departmental spokesperson for the Radical Left Party
Nice Première: Jean-Christophe Picard, explain to us what is amiss with the municipal archives of the City of Nice?
Jean Christophe Picard: The way a city takes care of its archives reflects its organizational quality, good management, and the interest it places in its history.
Certainly, the communicability period for most documents is 30 years.
But, it is always possible to access the deposit slips and explanatory listings that enumerate the number and nature of the documents transmitted to the archives by each municipal service.
In Nice, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that some of the documents thus classified are clearly not meant to be easily consulted later… For instance, if we look at the deposit slips 222w0001 to 222w0005, which list all the documents transmitted by Michel Vialatte during his period as the mayor’s chief of staff, we have the following scant captions:
“- 1996: Mayor’s Office – M. Vialatte’s chronos from 04/03/1996 to 31/10/1996
– 1996-1997: Mayor’s Office – M. Vialatte’s chronos from 05/11/1996 to 06/02/1997
– 1997: Mayor’s Office – M. Vialatte’s chronos from 10/02/1997 to 30/05/1997
– 1996-1997: Mayor’s Office – J. Peyrat’s chronos from 05/03/1996 to 30/05/1997
– 1996-1997: Mayor’s Office – handwritten notes from March 1996 to July 1997
– 1996-1997: Mayor’s Office – miscellaneous files”
We can only hope that not all the municipality’s documents are classified under Mr. Vialatte’s preferred categories of “notes” or “miscellaneous”!
Meanwhile, there is a certain opaqueness to the management of some sections of the archives, which does seem curious…
NP: In your opinion, what does this classification, which you find curious, conceal?
In my opinion, this kind of classification is precisely designed so that no one can fathom it! But the worst part is that we might never find out… Indeed, in the event of political change, it would be easy to remove “sensitive” documents whose existence is not mentioned anywhere…
NP: How did you become aware of this issue?
When you are interested in your city, you are interested in its history, and therefore in its archives.
Moreover, I like to tackle topics that, at first glance, are of little interest to most people… It’s a mistake because municipal management is a whole.
NP: Will you delve further into your investigations, and what do you plan to do next?
I intend to verify the accessibility of documents which, by law, can be immediately disclosed; this includes items related to public procurement procedures (consultation regulations, specifications, bid invitation letters, programs, competition files, minutes, analysis reports, etc.) and their execution (service orders, purchase orders, delivery receipts, invoices, amendments, etc.)
NP: Finally, what would you propose to the Nice Municipality for more effective archive classification?
The municipality would be well-advised to follow the example of the national archives, which, in the spirit of the law, offer exhaustive catalogs that are directly accessible.
For even greater transparency, these catalogs could also be made directly available online.
