Divergences within the majority in the municipal council, interview with Dominique Voynet who attacks the PS, tensions at the national level between different members of the NFP… Funny time to announce your candidacy, right?
I tend to think that the public wonders about many things but not the political start. They are a bit obliged with oppositions who constantly talk about it. I didn't sign up for this, but now it's done and I confirm it.
Is this announcement a way of pulling the rug out from under another potential candidate who would like to embody the left in Besançon?
It's not as dry as that, we had to respond clearly to requests. In 2018 I announced very early on that our project had a long-term ecological approach. In our view, the climate crisis is closely linked to the social crisis and economic crisis. There are changes to be made, our model of society is running out of steam. It is urgent to change it. In Besançon, our strength is to do this with concrete actions, perspectives and solutions for the future. The worst thing would be to present policies to residents who think they are credible by ensuring that the city is in bad shape, that nothing is moving forward. We still have to work on it to respond to it and that requires a real break. I follow this logic, and I always will.
Does that mean that part of the PS, according to you, has abandoned this idea?
It's difficult to speak on behalf of a political party but we can clearly see that the PS is experiencing deep questioning about its model, like society. We are also waiting for their congress to see their political line, at the national level. In front of me I have different representatives. In my team I have socialists who are not all on the same model, like ours.
We talk a lot about tensions with Nicolas Bodin but you also have a 1is deputy (Abdel Ghezali) and PS elected officials in other key positions…
Abdel Ghezali is a loyal politician and works constructively. These two characteristics are essential. Sometimes we don't agree, we can even argue! However, its objective, like mine, is to always remain in the general interest. I never said we would have a team that thinks the same way, a society is made up of many different ways of thinking and life paths. Let's see what we can converge on and how to do it with a common program. Successive crises and wars have pushed our majority to constantly readjust the program. However, the main lines remain left-wing: the social dimension, education, the development of public space for the future, a culture more open to priority neighborhoods, better supported schools.
And the economy with economic activity zones for example?
I always told Nicolas Bodin that we had to share the idea that at a given moment, we would no longer have available land and that we had to prepare ourselves for a way of saying no and on what criterion(s). We must not wait to postpone the subject in 5 years or 10 years, it is today. I wanted to anticipate an inevitable situation and we didn't agree on that. Today the future arrival of the SCOT (Territorial Coherence Scheme) makes it possible to establish planning discussed collectively and not just through the thoughts of one or the other.
A first mandate to build this idea, a second to consolidate the bases, therefore. What do we do when we are totally or almost dependent on the money that the State wants to redistribute to the community?
We are already in the process of recalculating the planning of our investments in relation to the announced savings. Behind, we will also have questions about the functioning of the City. Reviewing the priority of projects does not mean abandoning others, they will simply be smoothed out over time.
This means that in the event of re-election, the transformation of the City of Besançon would intensify?
For example, when we decided to spend €10 million per year for the transformation of schools, the evolution of costs linked to inflation and the price of materials pushed our team to smooth this transformation, that does not mean say that we are abandoning an essential idea. In our future directions, we must continue to transform public space, plant trees, consider a more open culture in priority neighborhoods, develop cycle paths… We are always in a participatory approach with the population, from this point of view -there it is much more democratic and nothing prevents this orientation. However, the potentially restricted budget inevitably limits its scope. Cycle paths are requested in all cities, by thousands of residents. Sharing public space between all types of mobility is a decision that some people have difficulty understanding.
Conversely, in the Battant district for example, many people would have liked to see a faster, stronger improvement in security?
We held meetings, spoke with the people concerned. Keeping the public safe from car traffic responded to the population's demand. The residents of Battant are very happy with the changes. Businesses too, even if not all speak to the press. The work continues with the other strata of the State to provide quality of life. The closure of grocery stores at night after 10 p.m. was welcomed. It’s in-depth work, we don’t show up with the police to clean up and say “it’s settled”. There will not be an additional camera in Battant. We take a problem in a systemic way to change it. This requires acting on all levers with relevant stakeholders.
It also requires human and financial support from the State…
With Mr. the Prefect, we realize that the action of the State is not proportional to the needs in Besançon. For example, when ministers visit the CCUB (Friday October 25, editor's note), they find this example brilliant, I am delighted, because it builds on the work of associations like ASEP. If we can no longer support this association while it is in difficulty, it will disappear. On this subject in passing, the absence of a minister dedicated to priority neighborhoods is already a bad signal. That being said, we are now fortunate to have a Prefect concerned with our territory and its issues.
You have reduced tax levers but which have not yet been increased. Will it stay like this for the next term?
I can't know, if I'm asked for savings that jeopardize our services, we'll have to look. There are national elected officials who are provocative by selling their heritage but others clearly say that with the savings announced, their community will only act on the skills for which it is responsible. We are against this idea, but in Besançon this way of thinking could affect extracurriculars. The City has no particular obligation to provide this service. However, we know that families need this time, it is essential. It’s a societal trajectory and if tomorrow we have to refocus investments on our skills, that could lead to this kind of simplistic reasoning. It can happen with the conditions of this government.
All your opponents in the 2026 municipal race have commented on your candidacy announcement, how do you see this?
Perhaps they see that their mayor is determined and knows where she is going with her competent team. Having different opinions within the same team is a good thing, fortunately, otherwise it would be a dictatorship. What remains important is loyalty and the line we want to defend. If our team falls apart, it will be dramatic.
What place will you give to France Insoumise and how have these two camps moved in six years from a lack of agreement to a desire to work together?
Many things, a common interest of rupture around a society which needs to regenerate itself because it is no longer able to meet the needs of the inhabitants. But this desire is also shared by other people on the left who are not LFI! We want a united society. Between a social democrat and an LFI, there is a range of solutions, which is an opportunity that environmentalists can support. The city is a place of social innovation, let’s go for it! This will translate into our future program.
You repeat that you are a different candidate, who did not have political training. Don't you feel like you've been trapped by a world you can't control?
Trapped, I don't know, but I refuse to attack the opposition as they do. I didn't decide to be a politician like they are. I did not want to be part of this kind of political conformism which must constantly attack others, beyond ideas. In the political crisis we are going through, residents may have the impression that showing some form of virility is a sign of strength, but that is absolutely not the case for me. I am a determined woman, I will remain so and I am sure that this is more useful than shouting loudly and attacking constantly. We nevertheless need to make our actions better known to residents and especially the skills that we manage. Society, fueled by overconsumption, has convinced itself that communities should have more services with fewer and fewer taxes. A city is like a home, when there is no more money, we refocus on the essentials. If choices must be made, they will have to be shared.
Do you have the ambition to be more than a mayor?
I never thought about being mayor, that's already good! I always believed that a deputy was a man who worked the law, the rules, in a deep and meticulous manner. Since the start of my mandate I have realized that it could be a fairly simplistic position. You meet someone who has a problem, you write a letter to the town hall, and you don't fail to say it afterwards to show that you are taking action. I never imagined it would be so easy to be an MP! So it reassures me to see Dominique Voynet, because I know that she will do the opposite and immerse herself fully in her files, her career speaks for her. With Dominique, I finally have a real contact, like I have a real prefect today. I need people who work, not those who write letters to find out whether we need to plug holes in the sidewalks. When I ask Mr. Fagaut or Mr. Croizier for solutions, I have little or no concrete answers. Today I want to act for my city and personally, since I became a grandmother, it's a bit basic, but I cannot stay without doing anything to offer my grandson a future with quality of life on a healthy planet.
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