This Sunday marks a week since we voted. The municipal and provincial councils will be installed in December. Until then, the outgoing agents continue to act until they are replaced… but their role is limited to handling current affairs.
Paul-Olivier Delanois is the outgoing mayor of the commune of Tournai. Its role is now limited to the management of public and daily affairs and emergency matters. “This means, for example, taking care of someone who should be legally domiciled, or someone who would be deregistered. But also other decisions in terms of planning permission, in terms of sport, in terms of room rental. Really everything that concerns a municipality can be seen at the college and at that moment, when the decision is made, I obviously sign it“, explains the now ex-mayor of Tournai.
Even if a mayor is disappointed not to be part of the new majority, it is not possible for him to sabotage it. “We have built a swimming pool, we are obviously waiting for all that to be done. But if I had the idea to say I don’t want the next majority to benefit from it, it would hardly be possible to block this kind of work… and that is certainly not my intentions“.
The room for maneuver of an outgoing mayor is limited. He cannot incur new expenses for new projects and everything is monitored by the director of the municipal administration. “He must draw the attention of the municipal college when he considers that a decision does not respect legality or for example in this case where a decision would bind the future majority and that therefore falls outside the competence of a college or of advice that is in current affairs“, notes Pierre-Yves Maystadt, director general of the municipal administration of Tournai.
Even in the event of a change of majority, this has very little influence on municipal staff since the administration remains neutral. “The administration has no political color and therefore there are changes of majority, this happens in many municipalities, it is part of our mode of operation but that does not prevent the municipality from functioning”explains the general manager.
The new municipal councils will take office on December 2, it will be December 6 for the provincial councils.
mayors municipal elections
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