Until the end of February, La Rochelle is experimenting with a unique system: “living a day in the shoes of an elected official”.
The idea?
Propel “volunteer” citizens to the heart of municipal mysteries alongside the deputy mayors of the majority.
The operation, called “live my life as elected officials”, aims to establish an exchange as much as to discover their activities and their constraints.
“Few people know how a municipality works or what the responsibilities of elected officials are.
And it’s always interesting to confront the vision of our fellow citizens,” explains Pascal Daunit, deputy mayor responsible – among other things – for public security and urban cleanliness.
“Evenings and weekends”
Business manager, this elected official is serving his first mandate and has just shared his daily life with Valentine De Lanouvelle who came “out of intellectual curiosity”.
This thirty-year-old mother was able to visit the green spaces department before attending a meeting of the municipal majority.
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Employed in the reintegration sector, she also hopes to discover the other side of the municipal police.
“I understand the organization of the city better.
An elected mandate is a real job in its own right, even a vocation.
I didn’t imagine it would take so long, including evenings and weekends,” she says.
By committing to his city, Pascal Daunit did not imagine it either: “I made sacrifices to the detriment of my professional activity”.
A commitment that he does not regret in any way.
“Showing our motivation will perhaps give rise to vocations,” hopes this elected official.