Charles Guyard, edited by Yanis Darras
modified to
10:47 a.m., November 23, 2022
Rising energy prices, risk of power cuts this winter, multiplication of attacks… At the Congress of Mayors of France which opened on Tuesday, there will be many topical issues. And to reassure the thousands of elected officials present on the spot, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, will move himself on the spot.
Because the unease is great among French mayors. Nearly a thousand of them have already resigned since their election in 2020. Resignations already more numerous than during the previous term. “I would have loved to be able to go until the end of the four years that I had left”, explains at the microphone of Europe 1, Géraldine Hary. The mother, elected in 2020 at the head of the village of Trégourez in Finistère, decided to abandon her tricolor scarf on September 23, after only two years in office.
“There are no holidays, no weekends”
She admits it bluntly: it is with regret that she returned her mayor’s scarf after having nevertheless carried out beautiful projects. “I will see the result (note: of these), but I will not be there to cut the ribbon”, she continues.
And for good reason: mayor of a village of 1,000 inhabitants, the former elected official found herself trapped in her function: “There are no public holidays, no weekends. Sometimes the phone rings in the middle of the night because there’s been an accident. Or when the ponies wander down the road on a Sunday at 7 a.m., well, you have to go.”
The family’s choice
“We find ourselves caught in a spiral which means that every day we are on the ground. And after a while, you have to make a choice because you can lose your family like that”, underlines the former elected .
So, after months of reflection, this mother of three children decided to leave the town hall to resume her activity as a youth illustrator. “I kinda feel like I’m letting people down,” she says. “But in fact, they say that being mayor is a commitment. But for me, it’s not a sacrifice,” she concludes at the microphone of Europe 1.