In its report in September, the regional audit chamber focused on the administrative management of the city of Besançon (Doubs) and of one employee in particular. Alexandra Cordier, member of the cabinet of former mayor Jean-Louis Fousseret (LREM) was fired in January 2020, three months before the end of her contract, and the municipal elections where she was a dissident candidate.
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Fire this employee, rather than making her resign. Was the choice the right one for the town hall's finances? Like a boomerang, the 2020 municipal elections in Besançon are being talked about again in the report of the regional chamber of accounts, which controls the public accounts. The chamber did the calculation, the dismissal of Alexandra Cordier, the mayor's collaborator, then in charge of communications, will have cost the community nearly 100,000 euros.
This decision had significant financial consequences for the municipality of Besançon.
Regional Chamber of Accounts
A little flashback. Summer 2019. The investiture commission of the République en Marche nominates former environmentalist Eric Alauzet to run for mayor of Besançon and defend the colors of Emmanuel Macron's presidential majority. Alexandra Cordier, then a member of the mayor's cabinet and “En Marche” referent in the Doubs department, was therefore dismissed.
But, this close friend of Jean-Louis Fousseret for years, finally launched into the campaign in December 2019 with a dissident list which included… Jean-Louis Fousseret, outgoing mayor, also a Macronist, and from the very beginning. This list led by Alexandra Cordier will only obtain 4.57% of the votes in the first round. Anne Vignot, ecologist, ultimately wins the Bisontine town hall, in a triangular with LR and the official candidate LREM.
“In order to be able to be a candidate in the municipal elections, this agent (Alexandra Cordier, editor's note) should no longer be in office as an employee of the city of Besançon on the day of the election. Rather than a resignation of the person concerned, the choice of The community was therefore to dismiss him less than three months before the end of his contract. This decision had significant financial consequences for the municipality of Besançon. sums up the room.
Cost borne by the community 82,755 euros and €11,381.75 in paid vacation compensation.
The reason for the dismissal is linked to the particular situation of this agent, specifically his plan to run for municipal elections. The chamber notes that the incompatibility between the agent's position as a municipal employee and his candidacy was not the fault of the municipality which did not have to manage the consequences, particularly financial, of this particular situation.
Regional Chamber of Accounts
Contacted on Wednesday November 13 by France 3 Franche-Comté, Alexandra Cordier ensures that she did not ask to be fired and that this is the choice made by the municipality to “protect the community” and be transparent.
“My first idea was to resign, but the community, with the HR department, discussed all the reasons, including dismissal, which I accepted. I did what I was told to find a clear end of contract for my campaign objectives, clear in relation to the campaign accounts which have also been validated. They were examined more than the others, because I had Mr. Fousseret on my list. explains Alexandra Cordier.
In the appendix to the report of the regional chamber of accounts, Jean-Louis Fousseret, explains that “said employee not wanting to resign, since he had the possibility legally to remain a member of my cabinet until the day before the 1st round, March 15 dismissal was therefore the only way to be certain that the links between the City and the person concerned are definitively terminated on this precise date of January 1.
Contacted on November 13 by France 3, the former socialist, mayor of Besançon for 19 years, ensures that he made the right choice for the community during this electoral campaign period.
What I wanted was for things to be as clear as possible. I chose for her to be fired, because for me and my teams, it was the cleanest way to cut all ties between her and the municipality before her candidacy for the municipal elections, from January 1, 2020.
Jean-Louis Fousseret, former mayor of Besançon, Doubs (LREM)
“For the resignation, she was not obliged to accept. And she did not clearly communicate her intention to resign. So it was unclear, and I wanted to be sure that she was not affiliated with the municipality during the elections” completes the former first magistrate of the city.
“I have always cited resignation as the first reason for leaving. It is false to say that I did not want to resign. My first idea was to assert my leave rights, take three months of leave before the election and resign at the end of my contract” retorts today Alexandra Cordier.
Alexandra Cordier was recruited in November 2008, her contract in the mayor's office would have ended at the end of March 2020, at the time of the change of municipality.
With a dismissal recorded on January 1, 2020, Alexandra Cordier will have received compensation from the city, as well as unemployment compensation, as any dismissed employee is entitled to. “The choice of the dismissal procedure allowed the agent to benefit from advantages which he would not have been able to claim in the event of resignation” concludes the regional chamber of accounts.
The public prosecutor of Besançon Etienne Manteaux indicated that the prosecution had been contacted. by the regional chamber of accounts. A preliminary investigation is underway on the grounds of embezzlement of public funds.
