The inhabitants of Fare were to vote this Sunday, November 24 for or against the merger with Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur. The consultation was finally canceled following the resignation this Thursday of mayor Jérôme Roux and the five remaining members of the municipal office, jeopardizing the merger project.
The town hall of Fare-en-Champsaur (Hautes-Alpes) was very silent on Sunday November 24. In the morning, several residents came to cast their ballot in vain for the consultation on a merger project with the merger with Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur.
But voters only found closed doors and a poster posted at the entrance: “Consultation not held following the resignation of the mayor.”
Many tensions
This news was greeted with some relief by most residents who did not want a merger at such short notice.
“I'm not necessarily against the merger,” says a resident to BFM DICI, “but not like that. We only had two meetings and one consultation… Why do it if it's already decided in advance?”
The consultation actually crystallized the tensions. Latest episode to date: the desire to establish a quota of 153 votes on a population of just over 400 inhabitants, to force the implementation of the merger.
A decision which resulted in the resignation this Thursday, November 21, of the mayor of Fare-en-Champsaur Jérôme Roux, dissatisfied with the organization of the ballot, followed by the 5 remaining members of his municipal office.
“My choice was to resign before the vote in relation to this calculation of the voting method and in relation to the legitimacy of voting at 5 or 6 on a fairly important project, estimates the resigning mayor. The last aspect is perhaps to represent Saint-Bonnet with 5 or 6 councilors I no longer found it legitimate.
The merger project canceled for the moment
On the other side of the Drac, the situation does not suit the neighboring town of Saint-Bonnet. Contacted by BFM DICI, the mayor of Saint-Bonnet Laurent Daumark takes note.
“We are suffering from the situation, it’s a shame because it remains a great project for the future. We can’t do this merger alone,” he declares.
Because the failure to hold the consultation at Fare for the moment buries the proposed merger of the two municipalities, which should have been carried out on January 1, 2025.
In the meantime, the emergency is the holding at the beginning of the year of full by-elections in Fare, before the municipal elections in 2026. We will therefore have to wait a little more than a year before knowing whether or not it There will indeed be a merger between Saint-Bonnet and La Fare.
