Le Figaro Bordeaux
Like a feeling of déjà vu.
This Friday, February 9, the 92 members of the Citizens' Convention presented their opinion, not to the President of the Republic, visiting Bordeaux, but to the mayor of the city, Pierre Hurmic.
During five sessions, gathered between October 2023 and February 2024, these randomly selected citizens were tasked with answering the question
“In Bordeaux, how can we better act collectively to adapt to the climate emergency?”
The result is a collection of measures, which pushes the environmentalist municipality to act stronger in favor of the climate, at the risk of being singled out.
“It is up to us to take over
,” announced Pierre Hurmic during the presentation of the work of this Convention, however admitting
“similarities”
with part of his electoral program.
A coincidence that Nicolas Florian, former mayor of Bordeaux (Les Républicains) and fierce critic of the policy pursued by his successor since 2020, did not fail to note:
“A year of “great citizen dialogue” to achieve the program for which Pierre Hurmic was elected in 2020!
It is time to move away from the time of diagnosis and incantation in Bordeaux.”
Read alsoCitizen participation in Bordeaux: the opposition denounces “a spectacular democratic decline”
A double-edged promise
Ignoring criticism of the similarities between the proposed measures and their program, the ecological municipal elected official Harmonie Lecerf Meunier prefers to see it as a sign that
"Pierre Hurmic is not elected by chance"
, and that
"citizens want more ecology, solidarity and appeasement of the city
.
Two years before the next municipal elections, the environmentalist majority is struggling with a participatory approach which was part of its program, but which will force it to be held accountable.
On Friday, the mayor committed to
“submit proposals falling within the city’s jurisdiction to the municipal council”
.
A promise that could harm him if it is not kept.
Among the measures resulting from the
"citizen's opinion"
written by these hundred Bordelais - representative of the different age groups of the population and coming from all districts of the city - there is in fact revegetation, which should be
" strengthen"
, the de-waterproofing of soils, support for cycling, better sharing of the road or even the solar ring road project, of which Pierre Hurmic was the herald, which should according to the Convention be associated
"with a consultation system ambitious"
.
So many salient points of the action of environmentalists, but which citizens want to take further.
Also read: Bordeaux: fewer and fewer cars and more and more bicycles in the metropolis
“We won’t let you go!”
Among the measures to be put in place, however, other proposals are more radical, such as experimenting with a universal income or the implementation of the four-day week.
Citizens are also asking for free public transport and want to make Bordeaux a
“pioneer city in terms of eliminating waste”
, a subject on which the right regularly criticizes the town hall.
So many measures which depend not only on the goodwill of the city, but also on the State, the metropolis, and even the operator of the public transport network Keolis.
At the conclusion of their 72-page opinion, the Bordelaises drawn by lot, however, end with a warning:
“We are committed beyond our mandate, we are ready to continue, we are ready to roll up our sleeves, You came for us, now we won’t let you go!”
An incentive to do better, which has already turned around like Emmanuel Macron in 2020. A year earlier, the head of state had promised to take up
“without filter”
what would come out of the Citizens' Climate Convention.
However, a majority of the measures have since been buried or unraveled, such as reducing speed on motorways or banning the sale of new vehicles that emit high amounts of CO2 from 2025.