Neither discouraged nor fatalistic.
Despite the increasingly difficult social reality that strikes his town, Philippe Rio does not give up even if he recognizes that "adversity is tough".
The mayor (PCF) of Grigny, a city ranked on the first step of the podium of the poorest in France according to the latest report from the Observatory of Inequalities, thus draws up an alarming report of the situation of its citizens.
The town has one of the poorest cities in France with the Grande Borne.
The Grigny 2 condominium, among the largest in Europe, is also one of the most degraded.
“The figures from the inequalities observatory simply reinforce the latest realities of accelerating poverty and misery,” confides the elected official.
More than any other, his municipality is paying a very heavy price for a health crisis which comes to press on an already painful wound.
RSA beneficiaries up 20%
At the start of the week, the mayor, alongside eight other of his colleagues, was also able to discuss with Prime Minister Jean Castex on this acceleration of inequalities caused by the Covid-19 epidemic.
Elected officials demand in particular that 1% of the recovery plan of 100 billion euros go to the poorest neighborhoods.
In Grigny, the RSA (Active Solidarity Income) application rate has, for example, jumped 20% since the start of the year.
As for requests for emergency food aid, they are exploding.
“We see people we had never seen in the line of the social grocery store, assures Philippe Rio.
As for the
regulars
, they come more often.
When a crisis hits, it hits popular towns more quickly.
And, when positive effects finally arrive, on the contrary, they take longer to reach our cities.
For the mayor of Grigny, it is above all national solidarity that is lacking and prevents his city from emerging from the rut.
“We have to change our solidarity software.
It takes a long time to gain confidence in someone who has been away from a job for a very long time, he claims.
The management of educational inequalities also.
We have to give time for things that work to last.
No miracle solution exists and we will not change the situation overnight.
"
