For residents who wish to get involved in city life, in addition to the creation of the Citizens’ Assembly, other new features are coming this fall 2024. Neighborhood workshops are replacing neighborhood councils. “The concept had aged”according to Sylvaine Borel, deputy for living democracy. “We wanted to keep this notion of meeting by district, underlines Pauline Salcedo. But before, there were a lot of obligations.” Neighborhood workshops will be more open. “They will allow participants to understand situations or to propose ideas.”
“From complaint to project”
Participants may be directed, if necessary, to the “participatory budget”, which since 2019 has allowed any citizen to submit a project to the plebiscite of the Blois residents, in order to obtain funding from the City. Another newly created mechanism may be recommended to them: citizen questioning. “If fifty people [soutiennent] the same idea, they necessarily get an appointment at the town hall”explains Pauline Salcedo.
All these changes should allow residents to “understand a little better how a city works”. It is also for the municipality of “feeding on the ideas of the inhabitants”says Maroin Khair, from the Local Democracy and Consultative Bodies department. “The idea is to move from complaint to project.”
The number of these neighborhood workshops is not defined. “We will launch the first workshops in the fall and winter, warns Sylvaine Borel. There will be at least one per district before March.” Interested parties are invited to participate in the local democracy meetings on Saturday, October 19, at the Jorge-Semprun space, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Already many volunteers
Another new feature, aimed here at residents who want to get involved in a more physical way: the network of committed volunteers. “We already have seventy-five people registered, including many former members of the council of elders [récemment supprimé]. »
Please note that other instances of citizen participation in political life are maintained. The Citizens’ Days (there will be five this year), the Youth Council and the Citizens’ Council (responsible for co-constructing the City Contract in the northern districts).
