Impatience competes with annoyance. On July 4, after the urban violence at the beginning of the summer, the mayors of more than 200 municipalities listened, at the Elysée, to Emmanuel Macron outlining avenues and explaining that the government was giving itself the summer to build a plan. Nearly three months later, on September 21 and 22, meeting in Angers under the aegis of their association of elected officials, Urban France, the mayors of large cities are worried about the silence of the executive power. “Not only is the aftermath of the riots not buried, but it is at the heart of our concerns”assured, the same day, Dominique Faure, Minister Delegate in charge of local authorities, specifying that the government is working on all aspects of the issue: insurance, housing, prevention… And this, “so that it doesn’t happen again”.
But the elected officials of the metropolises, those who were on the front line when the neighborhoods were burning, do not have quite the same perception of things. The subject is ” forget “deplores the mayor of Grenoble, the ecologist Eric Piolle. “The government is only launching initiatives to give itself some airhe denounces. The CNR [Conseil national de la refondation], a year ago, the “hundred days” of Elisabeth Borne, the “sixty days” after the riots. But it’s to make us forget that nothing is happening. »
“Nothing is resolved. It’s smoldering, the embers are still there”in turn warns Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, mayor of Rouen and first delegate secretary of the Socialist Party. “If a new tragedy occurs tomorrow, the same causes will produce the same effects, or even worse. I am a bit worried “, he continues.
“We need to start a dialogue”
Certainly, welcomes the councilor of Mulhouse, Michèle Lutz (Les Républicains), the troublemakers have been sanctioned. She recalls that night of riots when a fire truck, coming to put out a fire in the Drouot district, was doused with gasoline. “They saw their last minute coming…”before managing to escape, she assures. “As mayor, I consider that it is important that there are sanctions, that young people know that there are limits and no lawless zone”explains Michèle Lutz.
For the rest, mayors are waiting for the government to react and address the problem at the root. “At the start of the school year, I hear about abaya or harassmentnotes Nicolas Mayer-Rossignolbut not so much new means for national education or justice, a suburban plan or a youth plan…” Many of them denounce, like the mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet (ecologist), “a form of contempt, of condescension, real, not necessarily voluntary, from the President of the Republic and the government towards those of whom Emmanuel Macron said were “nothing””.
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