The Nice City Council meeting on Friday, held via videoconference, marked the resumption of public activity—this year the health situation canceled the New Year’s wishes—after the end-of-year holidays and before the electoral campaigns that will occupy the time and especially the minds of the political staff in the coming months.
Measured tones accompanied the presentations of the dossiers and the interventions of the opposition councilors.
The main item of the session was the debate on budget orientations (editor’s note: see article on this subject), but other points were also on the agenda.
We will return to certain points.
- Function protection for Mr. Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice, due to defamatory remarks.
One of the many subjects addressed during this City Council was the granting of functional protection to the mayor of Nice, as part of the defamation proceedings initiated against Mr. David Nakache, an activist from the Tous Citoyens association.
Indeed, following comments made about Mr. Estrosi by Mr. David Nakache published on the social network Twitter in 2019, the mayor of Nice subsequently filed a defamation complaint following this tweet.
It was therefore a matter of deliberating on whether the city of Nice would cover the costs of legal assistance and representation, lawyer fees, travel expenses, as well as other procedural expenses that the elected official would need to incur to pursue necessary actions for his defense.
The proposal from the majority was criticized by Jean-Christophe Picard, former president of Anticor, who likes to nuance the facts against David Nakache, but Christian Estrosi’s clear intent was to put a stop to the proliferation of this aggressive language that spreads too easily in political debates.
- Support for creation: artists’ workshops.
The city of Nice will provide various workspaces to accommodate visual artists in refurbished premises at site 109, and then expand its support system by providing a “Round Table” workshop, adding to the already existing 29 workshops, and then 2 additional workshops outside of site 109.
Application dossiers for artist workspace allocations can be collected and must be submitted digitally by April 2, 2022.
The implementation of this project will allow artists to develop their productions within the territory of the commune.
- Plan Nice 100% Culture at School.
The objective of the Plan Nice 100% Culture at School within 51 schools starting from the 2022/2023 school year is to provide all primary school students in Nice with access to Culture, Art, and Heritage from an early age and on a permanent basis.
The municipality will relaunch a support plan aimed at cultural professionals that spans 5 areas: Plastic Arts Education, Heritage and Literature, Music Education, Image Education, and Performing Arts.
The experimentation of the Plan Nice 100% Culture at School has already allowed 5,000 students from 21 schools to benefit from 12 hours of artistic and cultural education for the 2021/2022 school year, through 18 cultural associations and 11 metropolitan artists.
–Development of urban agriculture and vegetable gardens in the commune of Nice.
The proposed charter is a measure included in the ambitious Climate Plan 2025 desired by Christian Estrosi, a moral commitment to the territorial project of preserving the environment and biodiversity.
It plans to develop urban agriculture and vegetable gardens, among other things by making municipal land plots available for vegetable gardens to associations.
The delegating associations must commit to eliminating products from synthetic chemistry such as pesticides and fertilizers, limiting the use of plastic, being responsible with water resources, minimizing the production of non-recyclable waste, and recycling those that can be, then using a composter.
- Control of furnished tourist rentals.
The rental of a furnished space intended for repeat short-term stays to transient clients who do not establish residence destabilizes the hotel supply market and can create social dysfunctions among co-owners. This practice has in recent years assumed sometimes worrying proportions.
To address potential abuses, the establishment of centralized information, following a framework already tested at the national level, will allow for better control.
