The municipal councils could have directly taken the decision whether or not to merge the municipalities of Dornes and Saint-Parize-en-Viry. But, for democratic reasons, the elected officials insisted on organizing a citizen consultation last Sunday, announcing that if one of the two partners was against, the marriage would not take place.
If the inhabitants of Dornes who spoke were mainly in favour, this was not the case in Saint-Parize-en-Viry where the no vote prevailed.
In order to ratify the decision, the municipal councils met on Monday in each municipality and voted against this project. (read elsewhere).
For the mayor of Dornes, Jean-Luc Gauthier, it is, of course, regrettable since the Dornese were for it and, ultimately, it is only a few votes which, on the side of Saint-Parize-en-Viry, are tipping the final decision. “I’m obviously a little disappointed, but I have no regrets. It’s true that we had worked a lot, with the services of the prefecture, La Poste, etc., to bring together the elements and present them to the population during public meetings… This merger would have made it possible to have more financial resources. But the impact is more important, I think, for the inhabitants of Saint-Parize who could have benefited from more services, in terms of the opening days of the town hall, fishing… But it is the no which ‘took away. It’s democracy! »
The mayor of Saint-Parize-en-Viry, Bastien Jayot, also thinks that the inhabitants of his commune lose by not joining a larger commune like that of Dornes. “Of course the final result is a little disappointing because there are only a few votes difference between yes and no. In this type of case, it is also natural that the people against move around more than the others. But we wanted to consult the citizens and that’s how it is! »
The elected official has no regrets either: “This work was necessary to move things forward. However, he is not lost. It could, in fact, be taken over if the merger is considered again later. A subject on which candidates for the next municipal elections could potentially position themselves in their profession of faith…”.
For now, the merger project has been effectively abandoned. It will be necessary to wait at least three years before considering it again, the merger being impossible one year before and after a municipal election [la prochaine prévue en 2026].
Results. Citizen consultation: in Dornes, 260 voters out of 1,079 registered, 158 yes, 99 no and 3 invalid ballots; in Saint-Parize-en-Viry, 60 voters out of 116 registered: 25 yes, 32 no, 2 invalid ballots, 1 blank. Vote in the municipal council: in Dornes, unanimous vote of elected officials following the mayor’s voting instructions in view of the results in Saint-Parize-en-Viry; in Saint-Parize-en-Viry (secret ballot without voting instructions from the mayor): 4 yes and 4 no. Faced with this scenario, the mayor contacted the prefecture who clarified that in this case the no prevailed.
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