“You have to know how to say stop at a given moment”

See my news
Follow The Republican Chronicle

“I am a young elected officialit's a strength because I don't feel weareven if everything is not rose and wonderful. » Since his election in 2020, Emmanuel Houdus has managed Val-Couesnon, near Fougères (Ille-et-Vilaine), with “ enthusiasm and determination.” If he is aware of difficulties that this locality passes through, it strives to carry out a program on the long termein the daily life of which he finds the satisfaction to “put oneself at the service of [s]a commune” and to see it move forward.

A complicated sector

The councilor deplores, like his colleagues, “ impatience and the litigious side of certain inhabitants” and adds to have the feeling that some “have forgotten the meaning of the general interest ».

“Another problem concerns small incivility everyday life: illegal dumping of garbage, dog droppings, deterioration urban equipment… We are losing energy and time to manage these incivilities,” emphasizes Emmanuel Houdus. “But we are lucky to have some of the residents who shoulderfor example during calls for witnesses, because they have a good sense of the collective. »

AIM, a painful file

Added to the difficulties of a sector rural who “lost both habitants and businesses”, in recent years.

A situation that closing of several public facilities, such as the gendarmerie and the treasury, has not arranged. “This causes, in the minds of residents, the feeling that the State is disengaging. And even if France Services has taken over, the mayor remains the interlocutor, the representative of the Republic. »

Without forgetting the closure of the AIM slaughterhouse, after several complicated months. “It is a file which saddens me a lot and who is painful for the municipality, even if we are not at the origin,” pleads the mayor. Between the “ social coffers “, “financial repercussions” and “impact on l’image of the commune”, the situation is not encouraging for the elected official.

Patience and personal life

But all these observations are also what gives Emmanuel Houdus desire to get involved. And faced with difficulties, he has some techniques to move forward. “A mandate is like a marathonit requires not grilling all our cartridges from the beginning,” he smiles. “It’s a question d’endurance and we will not waver from our objective”, he adds, specifying that “if there is a lesson that I learned as an elected official, it is that of patience ».

The councilor also attaches importance to his personal lifewhich the Amarok Observatory study lists as one of the main “satisfying elements”.

“It is important to find a balancebecause being mayor involves a sum of work daily, but also a lot of representationduring municipal or association events,” underlines the elected official.

This requires constant vigilance and you have to know how to say stop at a given moment. I have children and a wife and I have to make time for my family life.

Another way to resolve the problems affecting mayors: “I think it is important to bring back simplicity and common sense, to get out of straitjackets normative and administrative. This would allow us to focus on the essential and this would facilitate the exercise of the mandate, by making it possible to keep a spirit conqueror. »

Et 2026 ?

As for his candidature in 2026, Emmanuel Houdus does not want to comment for the moment. “I stay concentrate on my work. We built the projects of the previous team and we are in the process of delivering part of our programme. There is more than enough work to consider that this could be done beyond a year and a half, but everything in its time. The mandate must end well and we must feel membership. »

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.