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Did Christian Estrosi want to put the dots back on the “i”?
Last Friday, the mayor of Nice and president of the metropolis invited the press for an improvised conference to defend his 2023 budget. The city councilor redid the accounts.
On February 9, the day before the debate, the announcement of the tax increase had annoyed.
Before his vote, he took the lead.
The financial situation of the city and the metropolis has been a sensitive subject since the beginning of the year.
“We are tired of having to justify ourselves by forgetting the substance of our work”
, slips a close friend of Christian Estrosi.
So here is the mayor, speaking faster than usual, insisting on his desire to continue his march forward.
“I believe that it is in a period of marked crisis that we must support the economy and the investment policy
, he assumes.
I confirm that there will be no tax increase.
Monday, a budget of 340 million euros of investment was voted.
Increases of two points in the household waste collection tax and the creation of a Gemapi tax as well.
Read alsoChristian Estrosi: “I am one of the communities in France which can continue to invest”
"Empty Chair Policy"
During its development, Christian Estrosi also did not miss a subtle opportunity to attack the general council of the Alpes-Maritimes, and therefore Éric Ciotti, who chairs the finance commission.
He deplored
"the growing disengagement of the department for nearly ten years"
taking the examples of transport, urban renewal (
"non-compliance with contractual commitments of 21 million euros"
), road maintenance,
“a drop of 10 million euros on housing”
and in general,
“support for our projects”
.
Without naming him, the city councilor of Nice thought very hard of his best enemy.
"Only those who hate public action and fall into a demagogic and Poujadist discourse can affirm that we must develop more police, more mediators, more public services while spending less", launched the first magistrate
.
Failing to speak to each other, Christian Estrosi and Éric Ciotti continue their correspondence.
In the wake of the vote on the budget, the president of the Republicans posted yet another missive from Paris.
Subject: request
“for an independent audit on the management of the metropolis”
.
Reason:
“catastrophic state of finances”
.
By targeting the department, the “estrosist” camp is therefore sketching out a counter-offensive.
In a letter obtained by
Le Figaro
, Anthony Borré, the first deputy, and Jennifer Salles-Barbosa, assistant to Solidarity, more specifically target the president of the departmental council Charles-Ange Ginésy, a very close friend of Éric Ciotti, for his disengagement from social policies.
The department would like the failure of our projects to fuel the political ambition of its thinking head
Support from Christian Estrosi
Despite a contract signed between the institutions,
“the department abandoned the precarious neighborhoods without even having had the honesty to tell the partners.
Since 2015, the department has been practicing an empty chair policy
,” they write.
They insist a few lines later:
“despite an increase in the general budget, the department still refuses to implement a proactive social policy.
You keep bragging about your good financial management.
But the reality is that the decisions taken by your majority demonstrate above all a generalized disengagement”.
The two elected officials pin down the reductions in aid for the elderly, credits allocated to the RSA or
“the dismantling of the Young Future Plan 06 which provided for 14 million”
.
“The department is in a state of brain death”
, tackled Gaël Nofri, deputy for Transport, on March 17 on the
Nice-Matin
plateau .
Ribbon and plate
On the side of the “CD06”, we would almost have fun with these remarks.
“They confuse everything and delegitimize themselves by forgetting the transfer of skills within the framework of the law”
, explains an adviser, who recalls that a territorial contract runs until 2028 for projects.
Another goes further:
“Today, they only have this bone to gnaw.
But the department has money unlike them.
Let them ask and we'll see!"
The metropolis, which does not hide
"its search for external funding"
, did not fail to quote the departmental council in its list with Europe and the State.
But the evils are political.
Cutting a ribbon or laying a plaque next to each other for a new project is like making a deal with the devil.
Everyone wants to lead them down their lane as much as possible.
An “estrosist” collaborator does not fail to recall the episode of a joint inauguration where Éric Ciotti refused to shake hands with Christian Estrosi.
"But Ciotti is the first to jostle to be in the photos as for the inauguration of the tram"
.
“It is a clear decision of no action
, adds support from the mayor.
The department leaves no record, it would like the failure of our projects to fuel the political ambition of its thinking head.
One of the deputy's relatives retorts and summarizes:
“debt is the sinews of war”
.
