Isolated and in conflict with her municipal council, this mayor of Eure resigned

“I would like to apologize Aline Donnet-Mousseux which is prevented.” It is with this little sentence which could have gone unnoticed that the president of the Roumois Seine Community of Communes, Sylvain Bonenfant, justified, on January 13, 2025, during his greeting ceremony, the absence of his vice-president in responsible for mobility and ecological transition, also mayor of Étreville (Eure), near Pont-Audemer. In the audience, many elected officials are already informed. Two days earlier, Aline Donnet-Mousseux resigned from her position as mayormunicipal councilor, and therefore vice-president of Roumois Seine.

Contacted several times last week by The Awakening of Pont-Audemerto understand the reasons for her sudden withdrawal, the elected official in office since 2020 first seemed to agree to answer us, before finally sending us a very brief message on Sunday evening:

The decision to end my functions as mayor and municipal councilor follows a new direction in my personal life.

The chosen one will not say more.

Years of tension

It was his very first experience in politics. His first term as mayor. Back in 2020. At the time, outgoing mayor Monique Mouillière, at the helm of the town for 31 years, decided to hand over the reins. But there is no question of abandoning the tricolor scarf to any inhabitant of the village. She then decides to bring Aline Donnet-Mousseux, a political novice, to power.

The former secretary, aged 61 at the time, did not never been elected to a municipal council. Despite her inexperience, she can count on her list of elected officials already in place such as former deputies Sylvain Gallais and Laurent Levillain who were alongside Monique Mouillière. The former mayor also promises to support her from a distance if necessary, while waiting for her to definitively get her bearings.

Elected without difficulty in the municipal elections of March 2020, without the slightest opposition to her, Aline Donnet-Mousseux then took control of the municipality. But quickly, the first tensions are felt. So much so that over the months, she alienates many municipal councilors including his deputies Sylvain Gallais and Laurent Levillain who consider his method of governance authoritarian.

Two deputies deprived of their delegation

On January 25, 2024, the mayor even went so far as to withdraw their delegation from her two deputies. The first was in charge of the works, the second of the town planning files. A few days later, Aline Donnet-Mousseux brings together her municipal council so that elected officials can decide whether or not to maintain the deputy functions of Sylvain Gallais and Laurent Levillain. The majority votes against the mayor's decision. Result, Sylvain Gallais and Laurent Levillain remain deputies, but without delegationwithout compensation or power to sign the files for which they were responsible. “We have been progressively marginalized and voluntarily excluded from the decisions and directions of municipal management. Everything is decided in a very small committee by the Mayor,” declared to Awakening Laurent Levillain, in February 2024.

The situation continues to deteriorate. Aline Donnet-Mousseux seems increasingly isolated within its council : “I’m sorry about what’s happening. I'm ashamed, because I'm the one who set it up. I feel responsible. I made a mistake, I admit it. I would have preferred to have another mandate,” he even went so far as to confide Awakening Monique Mouillière.

Questioned in February 2024 about her conflictual relationships, Aline Donnet-Mousseux did not seem to be aware of the situation: “My goal is to continue working with complete serenity, to move forward on the municipality's projects and for the interest of the residents. . There are different opinions, that's normal. »

Sylvain Gallais elected mayor

According to our information, just a few days after her resignation, Aline Donnet-Mousseux had already returned the keys to the town hall and her professional computer. Last Saturday, the elected representatives of the municipal council met, without a mayor.

When a mayor resigns, the municipal council must meet within the following fifteen days in order to proceed with the election of a new mayor and his deputies (the resignation of the mayor leads to that of the deputies.). First deputy mayor, Sylvain Gallais was a candidate to succeed Aline Donnet-Mousseux. Municipal councilor Fabrice Masurier had also submitted his candidacy. Without much surprise, Sylvain Gallais was elected with 8 votes to 3 and a blank vote. Four deputy mayors were elected. They are Laurent Levillain, Chantal Navas, Rémi Tragin and Stéphanie Duval.

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