Surveys at half mast - Benjamin Griveaux is third behind Anne Hidalgo and Rachida Dati -, a dissidence with Cédric Villani who rots his campaign every day a little more and a candidacy which still suffers from too low notoriety ... Despite the contrary winds, the nominated candidate of La République en Marche in Paris does not admit defeat and exposes several new shock proposals in our columns.
HIS CAMPAIGN
You face a dissident and you went from second to third place in the polls. Have you thought about throwing in the towel?
BENJAMIN GRIVEAUX. No never. A campaign to be mayor of Paris is not a path paved with roses.
How to breathe new life into your candidacy, then?
The campaign is just beginning! These last two months, Parisians did not have the head with the elections, they were concentrated on their galleys with the strikes. We will finally be able to get out of people's wars to see what each one offers. I regret: ladies Hidalgo and Dati, who dream of reactivating the left-right divide for their comfort, want to avoid the debate. But this cannot be done on the sly. I call several televised and transparent debates before the first round to talk about the future of Paris.
Cédric Villani has just been excluded from LREM. Was that your wish?
No, I did not request his exclusion.
Do you keep reaching out to him?
Cédric repeats that he is free. Since July 10, the day LREM chose me for Paris, I have been building a collective. I persist and sign: we can be free in a collective. I'm not for corporalization.
Do you have direct contact with him?
Since July, I try to call him and open the dialogue. He always refused. Again on Monday, he did not answer me. I will continue on this line, because it is the only one possible.
During your meeting in Bobino, you mentioned “family dramas”. Some people see it as a tactic of communication…
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
I said things as I felt them. A campaign, you know, is a lesson in humility because we are often implicated, and it is a moment of truth. I'm ready for it, because you can't play a role or create a character. We are there with his convictions, his strengths, his character, but also with his doubts.
You have a very locked image!
Everyone has their share of shell. Mine is probably a little thicker than the average ...
Will Agnes Buzyn end up being a candidate by your side?
It is currently at the forefront of a serious global epidemic. She said that she wanted to get involved in Paris and I think it is good for ministers to get involved in local life. If she wishes, we will therefore welcome her with great pleasure.
THE EASTERN STATION
You are proposing to move the Gare de l'Est to a Paris “Central Park”. It is very commented, even criticized. Do you still take it?
Yes. I assume it all the more since she was very caricatured. But as a general rule, all major projects in Paris started out as caricatured. Review the debates of the time on the installation of the Louvre pyramid! Each time, we said it was unrealistic. It was even very mocked. We know the rest…
But why this proposal?
The observation is simple: we expect a very strong increase in train travel, especially for ecological reasons. It is therefore necessary to think of absorbing the coming flow of travelers by new infrastructures. However, it is impossible to do this in existing stations. Because we cannot add routes in Paris. This is why I am proposing the construction of a new metropolitan station, for example Porte de la Villette. Absolutely nothing will change for metro and RER travelers.
And therefore a large park in place of the Gare de l'Est?
Yes. But we will not destroy the historic building. We will make a big call for projects to define its future. Then, on the 30 hectares of railways that will no longer be used, green spaces. We must do away with hyper-densification.
Is it really achievable?
I will submit this project to a referendum in 2022. It is a technically and financially feasible project. If the referendum is approved, it will be spread over ten years, therefore two terms, without any disruption for travelers.
VIDEO. Relocating the Gare de l'Est station: "Anything big!" "
HOUSING
Many Parisians can no longer find accommodation, or sometimes in poor conditions. What should be done ?
There are several problems. Too many Parisians live in unsanitary conditions, in humidity, sometimes even with bedbugs. So I want to create a municipal pest control brigade. We will also do the essential renovation work in the common areas of social landlords.
Have you costed this project?
We will double the budget for the renovation and add ten million euros per year to secure the common parts of social housing.
And for the middle classes, what do you do?
We must help them become owners. In Paris, when you don't have a contribution, you can't buy. It is the worst inequality. You have to try new things! I propose that the city of Paris create an organization that will provide up to 100,000 euros for a purchase in a main residence. It is the equivalent of a room for a growing family.
With a zero rate?
It is not a loan, but a contribution. And at the time of resale, the city will take a share of the capital gain which will be capped around 20% of the price of the property. Of course, to be eligible, this will be subject to income limits, and we will not target homes of 300 m2. This arrangement could be made for around 20,000 homes during the mandate. This will correspond to an investment of 2 billion euros.
The other problem is also the many empty dwellings ...
Today there are approximately 100,000 vacant homes. It is an aberration. Owners are often afraid to rent. So we are going to offer them something very simple: it is the City of Paris that will take up rental. And behind it, she will take care of subletting to those who need it. Like that, we will cover the risk for them. I don't see a better guarantee for them!
THE CLEANLINESS
How do you plan to improve cleanliness, one of the main concerns of Parisians?
By very concrete measures and a new organization. We are going to privatize the collection of waste to allow city officials who previously dealt with it to devote themselves to cleaning streets 100%. Second change: schedules. Today, we stop cleaning the streets at 5 p.m., which makes the streets very quickly dirty in the late afternoon and evening. I will extend the hours at least until 8 p.m. to adapt to the pace of Parisians. I also want to create a new job: that of street manager. They will be 1000, by internal redeployment. Everyone will be in charge of a block of five or six streets and will help solve the problems of public space: a damaged sidewalk, a hole in the roadway, a broken lamppost ... Easily identifiable, they will be in direct contact with the mayors of districts to which I want to decentralize cleanliness, roads and green spaces. Finally, I will triple the budget for the fight against rats, including a pest control brigade. I want anti-rat bins, because the current plastic bags are open-air buffets for rodents, and the new bins will offer selective sorting.
FINANCES
How do you judge the management of the city's finances by the outgoing majority?
The City of Paris has not been managed seriously. It's irresponsible! The situation is alarming. Take debt. It officially went from 4 to 6 billion over the mandate. But in truth, there is also an additional billion hidden debt, the result of rent advances - called "capitalized rents" - requested by the mayor and denounced by the Regional Chamber of Accounts. And I'm not talking about time bombs like the Autolib 'scandal with possibly more than 100 million euros in litigation, which have not been provisioned, which is unlikely. Basically, when we tell Parisians that the city's budget is 9 billion, they answer: we don't get our money's worth. And that's true.
So what will you do if you are elected mayor?
When I arrive, I will ask for a full financial audit of the City and all of its operators: social landlords, mixed economy companies, etc. This will be a truthful operation. And I ask that no building permit be signed in a hurry before the election on major projects because it involves the finances of the City.
But how are you going to finance your program?
I agree to the Parisians not to increase either their taxes or the debt of the City. But to save money. Each additional euro spent will come from one euro saved. Depending on the audit, we may have to make choices in our projects, but we will not make Parisians pay.
So are you going to make budget cuts?
I want to make 300 million savings per year in operation. First example, I would like to entrust the private collection of waste in all the boroughs (today, this is the case in half). I will also put an end to the expenses of another time, by selling the 500 official vehicles of the City of Paris. As in most administrations or companies, we will use public transport and clean taxis, including the mayor.
This will also concern the agents of the City?
Yes. I want us to be able to arrive at the 35 hours for the agents of the City, which today are not carried out: it's 60 to 70 million euros in savings. I will also halve the plethora of cabinet staff. We will also reduce the number of staff in the communications department and among the many mission managers in the City. This will represent around 400 to 500 positions cut at the top of the pyramid.
Aren't you afraid of hitting staff?
I will ask for efforts from the top of the Paris administration, obviously not from the nursery, kindergarten or public space agents. Besides, the day after the election, I will launch the Estates General of the agents of the City of Paris to free speech. Because there is a lot of suffering at work. Because the agents that we meet say it is difficult to convey our ideas to the great leaders . This is not surprising, because from the person who cleans the street to the mayor of Paris, you have eleven levels. Result: the current mayor is disconnected from the land, she has lost direct contact with the city.
How many positions will you cut?
This set of measures will result in around 5,000 non-replaced retirements over the duration of the mandate, of course modulated according to the services. This implies a change in the organization of the City. I will thus draw on the experience of Bruno Parent who decided to join our lists. He is the former director general of public finances, the highest civil servant of Bercy. And it was the man who succeeded with the withholding tax, which was said to be impossible to do. It is a pledge of seriousness on budgetary questions and on the management of change. He will occupy an important place in my team to implement it.
