Le Figaro Lyon
“She voted for subsidies for associations with which she shares political struggles and for some which actively participated in her re-election
. ”
Opposition municipal councilor - elected on the list of Macronist deputy Yves Blein, but who sits as an independent - Farid Ben Moussa filed a complaint against the mayor of Vénissieux, Michèle Picard (PCF), for illegal taking of interests, Wednesday February 14th.
Already the author of a first complaint for similar facts in the fall, this time he points to an associative subsidy paid to an association close to the councilor, without the latter having withdrawn from the vote.
The Lyon prosecutor's office assures Le
Figaro
that it has opened an investigation following this complaint.
An envelope of 22,000 euros was in fact voted during the municipal council of February 5 in favor of the Voisin Malin association.
Created in 2010 and established in 22 cities, it presents itself as acting
“in working-class neighborhoods to strengthen the power of residents to act and recreate links between them and with institutions”
.
Problem for the opponent of Michèle Picard, the deputy general director for social cohesion in Vénissieux is also part of the board of directors of the association.
“He was president of the GPV (major city project) for around ten years, with the largest budget and the most visible mission in the city of Vénissieux
,” supports Farid Ben Moussa in his complaint.
Associations close to the mayor
Grievances that the opponent adds to those already mentioned in a previous complaint, for the same reasons.
In September, he pointed out possible illegal taking of Michèle Picard's interests in the vote on several other subsidies.
Notably that of 170,000 euros at the Boris Vian center,
“whose president was a member of its support committee in 2014, 2015 and 2020”.
Ditto for two other Venissian cultural associations, led by supporters of the mayor according to her opponent.
Another complaint was also filed by Aurélien Arnault, Les Républicains municipal councilor, and Quentin Taïeb, who works for the party in the sector.
It concerns an assistant who voted in 2018 for a grant in favor of a cultural association of which she was a member and now president.
The law requires that elected officials directly concerned withdraw from the vote that may concern them.
The president of the metropolis of Lyon, Bruno Bernard, was criticized last year during the election of his uncle at the head of an HLM office.
A second vote was carried out following the cancellation of the first by the administrative court.
The outcome was no different.
In Vénissieux, the PCF majority is largely strong enough to ensure the voting of subsidies to the associations of which its elected officials are members, however numerous they may be.
“When we point it out to them, they act like cowboys, they tell us that we will see it before the administrative court
,” laments Quentin Taïeb.
A funny municipal newspaper
Last January, this time it was magistrates, those of the regional chamber of accounts (CRC), who pointed out the
“irregular conditions”
of financing of the newspaper
Expression, les nouvelles de Vénissieux
.
It is not a classic municipal newspaper but a private media outlet, in theory independent.
It is in reality largely financed by the city, to the tune of 600,000 euros per year.
The publishing director was also the former first deputy of the communist councilor.
Several members of the board of directors are elected by the majority and voted for the grant.
They are the subject of another complaint from Farid Ben Moussa, again for illegal taking of interests.
“A city subsidizing a private municipal newspaper, only Vénissieux does so
,” points out the local section of the Anticor association at the origin of a report for embezzlement to the public prosecutor last month .
Analysis of the content of each issue shows that 80% of the newspaper is to the glory of the mayor and her team
.
Where municipal newspapers are governed by plurality rules.
“There, everything is controlled, there is nothing free, it’s Pravda
,” enrages Farid Ben Moussa.
The two LR opponents joined his complaint filed before the administrative court.
For its part, the town hall of Vénissieux did not respond to our requests.