- The mayor of Marseille organized his first press conference this Thursday since his election last December.
- For this first media statement, the socialist Benoît Payan insisted on his desire to reform the functioning of the town hall, under the influence of an investigation by the national financial prosecutor’s office on the working hours of municipal agents.
For his first press conference as mayor , Benoît Payan wanted to receive journalists in the intimate enclosure on the top floor of the Daviel pavilion, as he did at the ‘accustomed, before each municipal council, in a not so distant time when he was only the leader of the socialist opposition to
Jean-Claude Gaudin. A media return with ease, in jeans, far from the sumptuous wishes to the press of his predecessor, often in a choice setting.
But the Covid – has been there, and an incredible election as well, which propelled the former first deputy to the head of the second city of France, in place of Michèle Rubirola, resigned . So, it is in the Bargemon space, near the hemicycle where a new career started for him on 20 December, which the new mayor received this Thursday for the first time by the press. The political opponent of Jean-Claude Gaudin of yesteryear, however, is not so far in the speech.
“The methods of an old time”
“2021 will be a year of change, a year of disruption and action for our city ”, promises the mayor who denounces in particular the “clientele” logics of the time. Before launching, as a warning: “And it will start here, with the town hall. We do not transform Marseille with the methods of an old time, with the tools that were those of the city for 21 years or more. If we inherit a situation, we are not the heirs of anyone. »
At the beginning of December, the national financial prosecutor’s office closed its preliminary investigation into the working time of Marseille municipal agents, revealing an entire illegal system of ” undue overtime and unjustified absenteeism on the part of officials of the town hall, led by Jean-Claude Gaudin for a quarter of a century.
An “extremely worrying” financial situation
And to recognize: “It’s complicated to change a city with a functioning which did not work during 21 years. It’s difficult, of course, when you ask to start work ex officio with organizations which are not ready and which are not prepared, which do not have the tools, the habitus. Of course, it is difficult to change the way the schools in Marseille operate with a division that does not go in the direction of history… We have to make a break because otherwise it will not work and we will not achieve anything. »
The mayor promises in particular to soon present a modernization plan for the town hall, with the assistant in charge of this file, Olivia Fortin. But barely in the chair of Marseille chef, Benoît Payan admits facing a difficulty, and not the least. The first returns from the audit conducted by the Deloitte firm on the finances of the second largest city in France are, according to him, “extremely worrying”. “When I say worrying, it’s very worrying,” insists Benoît Payan. “It’s quite hallucinating”, is alarmed, without giving quantified details, conceding that “there are no other examples in France of a similar situation”, but that we would be “very far away of the tutelage ”of the State as feared by the municipal opposition LR.
“ However, we are not going to manufacture austerity, assures the new mayor of the second largest city in France. I’m never going to do it, so let’s roll up our sleeves! There are sources of savings to be made, sources of funding to be found, proactive policies to be pursued. And to quote for example the thousands of euros of buffet planned for the organization of the world congress of nature. “It’s over with rhinestones and sequins! “The mayor promises to communicate the report” on the financial reality of the city in the coming weeks “, during a dedicated press conference.
Benoît Payan calls for an extension of vaccination to school staff
The socialist mayor of Marseille Benoît Payan will ask Prime Minister Jean Castex on Thursday that school staff and teachers are considered a priority for vaccination against Covid – .
“In schools, we can find viral strains that are extremely virulent, they are places of mixing where obviously the virus can circulate and it seems normal to me to include teachers and school staff, not just for the city of Marseille, in the list of priority staff, “said the new mayor of Marseille.
Benoît Payan calls for an extension of vaccination to school staff
The socialist mayor of Marseille Benoît Payan will ask Prime Minister Jean Castex on Thursday that school staff and teachers are considered a priority for vaccination against Covid – .
“In schools, we can find viral strains that are extremely virulent, they are places of mixing where obviously the virus can circulate and it seems normal to me to include teachers and school staff, not just for the city of Marseille, in the list of priority staff, “said the new mayor of Marseille.