After the merger, the new municipality of Saint-Denis invests its mayor and his deputies

With its long tables adorned with white tablecloths in the wedding hall, the installation council of the new commune of Saint-Denis had all the appearance of a wedding. “It is neither a partnership, nor a marriage, nor a republican baptism. Today, it is indeed a question of noting a birth, that of a union (…) and through it that of more than 149,000 citizens“, began Mathieu Hanotin, just elected mayor of the new community with 73 votes out of a total of 81 voters (only eight blank or invalid votes). A year and a half after the surprise announcement of the merger between Saint-Denis and Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, the 94 elected officials from the two municipalities were summoned, this Saturday, January 5, for the first time together for this election.

Read also: Saint-Denis – Pierrefitte merger: what changes on January 1, 2025

“You betrayed those who elected you“

The only small failure in this well-oiled mechanism is Michel Fourcade, the new deputy mayor of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, forgotten by Mathieu Hanotin, in a hurry to give voice to political groups. “I thought I was the deputy mayor“, mocked Farid Aid, Pierrefittois opposition MP (PCF). “Today, this merger presented as a modern and effective solution is in reality a threat to our local democracy, our identity and our daily lives.“, he lashed out, speaking again. “We were elected for six years on the basis of a municipal program which did not mention this project. We do not accept this Macronist method. You betrayed those who elected you“, insisted Farid Aïd who made his own the ambition to “restablish the autonomy of Pierrefitte by giving residents a voice again through a referendum.”

In fact, the lack of consultation with the population has come back to the heart of the battles between the majority and the opposition. “This lack of transparency has left a bitter taste among many residents.“, noted Pascal Kouppé de K. Martin, elected opposition member (UDI) in Pierrefitte. “We will not say the building mayor or the unifying mayor. We will say, the mayor who sold Pierrefitte “, he told Michel Fourcade who announced his withdrawal from political life. A tirade which forced Mathieu Hanotin to intervene, inviting elected officials “to avoid ad hominem attacks“.

“It's not a merger, it's an absorption“

“Act rather than suffer“, defended, for his part, Kader Chibane, elected (EELV) of the majority in Saint-Denis. Addressing the opposition: “Your political position is yours, but it goes against the grain of the history of our territory. The only argument used for a year and a half is the consultation of residents. But it is scheduled since it will take place in March 2026.”

Free canteen, summer camps, lower property taxes are all arguments for the merger. Reasons considered “marketing” by Farid Aïd, or who poorly hide the financial reality for Sofia Boutrih, opposition elected official (PCF) in Saint-Denis who deplored “public services that are becoming empty of meaning“. “It's not a merger, it's an absorption“, she said. The chosen one has done her calculations. According to her, despite 1.8 million euros in additional allocations expected in 2025 (5.4 million euros by 2028), “tax revenues will fall given the alignment of the tax rates of Pierrefittois with those of Dyonisiens. The new municipality will also have to deal with 2.3 million euros less in revenue compared to the sum of tax revenue that the two municipalities would have accumulated. Until 2028, there is a loss of revenue of 11 million euros“, she says.

“A historic union”

Basically, it is the very objective of the merger which remains misunderstood by the opposition. Sofia Boutrih sums it up as “a political calculation aimed at preserving a majority in difficulty as municipal deadlines approach“. “The mayors, by playing Dr. Frankenstein of politics, have given birth to a capitalist, liberal monster, the opposite of our values ​​in terms of local democracy. This merger falls under the paradigm of metropolization. Bigger, stronger to be better considered by the State and institutions, but to the detriment of other municipalities. In short, competition between local authorities“, asserted Romain Potel for his part. The Pierrefittois elected official announced that his group, “Rassembled to change Pierrefitte”, would sit in the new assembly with the elected officials of Seine-Saint-Denis at the heart.

“What contempt for the inhabitants“, was indignant Katie Bontynck who boasted “a titanic project carried out in an Olympic year“, a “historic union”and the desire to “build balanced, attractive and sustainable cities through left-wing projects and with concrete actions“.

A municipal council reduced to 16 deputies for the new municipality

Until the next municipal elections, the municipal council of the new commune of Saint-Denis will be made up of 16 deputies to the mayor, elected this Saturday, including Michel Fourcade who has automatically become the first deputy. Each delegated municipality will have its own deputies: 16 in Saint-Denis and 11 in Pierrefitte, a little less than before. The district deputies will be designated later, once the perimeter of the districts of the new municipality has been redefined.

The 16 deputies of the new commune of Saint-Denis

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