The idea had already been mentioned at the municipal council last February, with everyone trying to take credit for this project. Still, this is now coming to fruition. During the council meeting this Thursday, June 20, the elected officials of Beauvais (Oise) voted for the establishment a participatory budget of €100,000.
Concretely, this budget will allow Beauvais residents over the age of 14 to carry out a project that is close to their hearts. Under certain conditions. “It must be linked to environmental protection or the preservation of biodiversity.notes Mayor Franck Pia. We want projects that respond to people’s daily lives.»
The composition of the jury is debated
From Monday June 24, each project leader will be able to submit their application on the website dedicated to participatory budgeting. The closing date for registrations will take place at the end of August. A jury will then meet in September to pre-select the most coherent projects. It will be chaired by the mayor and composed of six other elected officials, including one from the opposition. Method which made Roxane Lundy, opposition municipal councilor, jump out of her chair during the last council meeting. “You announce that the jury is open to all but there is only one place for the opposition, and it is the majority that choosesshe laments. That’s not the spirit at all. Claire Marais-Beuil does not at all have the same opinions as me, for example. I would have liked it to happen like in other commissions.»
Finally, and after voting, it is councilor Leila Dagdad who will represent the opposition in this jury. “You are therefore six elected from the majority» governed the opposition councilor Thierry Aury. To which the principal concerned affirmed that she remains an elected opposition official, despite certain differences.
Beauvais residents will vote for the project of their choice
Still, after the pre-selection of the jury of elected officials, it is the Beauvais residents who will then vote for the project(s) of their choice. Each user will be able to vote for a maximum of three projects. And the projects which receive the most votes can be financed by the city, within the limit of a budget of €100,000 for the whole. “This is not a grantnote Franck Pia. The projects will be implemented by our services.»
«Beyond the projects, it is a source of information to know what fellow citizens expect from the communitycontinues the mayor. I have a lot of hope on that.» The big winner(s) will be known next October.
