Until then president of the festivals and leisure committee, Christian Manier was dismissed from his functions during an extraordinary general meeting which he did not attend.
There is some fuss at the Maignelay-Montigny Festival Committee. Christian Manier was until then president of the local association but an extraordinary general meeting was held on Friday November 15, 2024 to dismiss him from his functions.
An impossible agreement within the Festival Committee
According to the minutes of this meeting, this decision comes after several months of tension within the office. He is accused of, among other things, “verbal” and “physical attacks”, “acts affecting the smooth running of an event” and finally “absences from preparatory meetings”.
Facts that Christian Manier disputes outright: “It was a conspiracy against me. When I asked the reason for this decision, I was told that it was a group decision because I would have been aggressive towards one of the other volunteers when not at all. I am a peaceful person. The only meeting where I was absent was the general assembly because after the one in August, I had too many resentments. The other meeting that was held in October, they forgot to invite me,” coward
Christian Manier who also points the finger “an infernal trio” including a member of the office who would “rain and shine in the association”. “He is a person who scares others away. You have to be well placed in his esteem to be able to join the committee.”
If tensions already existed, the August meeting would seem to be the tipping point in this whole story. “I wanted to organize a lottery in September. I said it afterwards in the office because I wanted to make sure I had the party room. On August 2, the other members called me to tell me that it would not be possible because no one would be available that day, as luck would have it. So they played my lottery the day before the tea dance, Saturday October 19th. Then things got out of hand and I left.”
It would be precisely during this autumn tea dance that the acts of verbal and physical violence would have occurred, behind the bar counter. “That weekend, I didn’t speak to anyone. The only one I've talked with is a friend and we have a relationship that means we talk in this tone, but it's never aggressive.” According to Christian Manier, it is the accumulation of several “betrayals and backstabbing” which led him to resign. “I had planned to leave the presidency and I had sent a registered letter to the Prefecture on October 29.”
An unflattering portrait
Of course, on the office side, the story is completely different. There, the former president is described as a “pessimistic and impulsive man“. “The atmosphere was not good, there was animosity between certain people”indicates Christian Lephay, just elected vice-president of the committee who discusses the facts that occurred during the tea dance.
“Christian Manier pushed and insulted members of the committee because they were not moving fast enough for him. When it happens in front of customers, it's annoying. People already have difficulty coming to our demonstrations, if on top of that, they feel tensions within the organization, they will no longer come at all and that will be the end of the committee.”
According to Christian Lephay, this demonstration was the final straw leading to the decision to remove the president from office. The latter did not attend Friday's meeting. “What for, arguing with them? I am no longer president, I had no place there. It’s the worst association in Maignelay-Montigny.”he concludes with gravity after 6 years of presidency.
Despite this experience, Christian Manier decided to continue his voluntary commitment within Goût des autres, another club in the town.
Emeline Bertel
