Sunday, December 22, 98.56% of participants in a citizen vote organized in the Gard city voted in favor of maintaining this Christmas nativity scene in the hall of the town hall, described as “Provençal” by Nelson Chaudon, the mayor of the municipality. A crèche which the courts are now demanding be removed, subject to a fine of 1000 euros per day of additional exposure.
Like all Beaucairois registered by name on this file at the town hall, Alain Castellani (opponent of the municipality of Beaucaire), expressly had his personal telephone details mentioned there for obvious security reasons. “Our city is exposed to the risk of flooding on the Rhône. The population alert system, set up by the previous municipality in order to widely disseminate the necessary information in the event of a major risk, is therefore just as useful as it is legitimate!”greeted the Beaucairois contacted by telephone yesterday.
A flood? No, a nursery
But this Saturday, December 21, Alain Castellani laughed when he could only note that the use of this alert system had been, according to him, quite simply “diverted” of its initial purpose by the municipality in place. “It’s not one, not two, not three, but four calls in a row – two on my landline, two on my mobile – that I received from the town hall. Not to notify me of a new flood of the river and even less to ask me to evacuate urgently But to invite me to come and vote, the next morning, for the maintenance of the crèche installed in the hall of the town hall!he says, finally overcome by anger.
The evening before, Friday December 20, the summary judge of the administrative court of Nîmes had ordered the mayor of Beaucaire, Nelson Chaudon, to remove within 48 hours the Christmas nativity scene installed a few weeks earlier under the main staircase of the town hall.
An exhibition initiated in violation of several fundamental legal principles including secularism and the neutrality of public services, according to the Human Rights League, at the origin of this summary suspension filed on December 10.
Instead of complying with this court decision (non-suspensive and immediately subject to an appeal for cassation by the town hall), the councilor, who defends a “cultural, artistic and festive exhibition of Provençal nativity scenes” had instead decided to immediately organize a referendum, to seek the opinion of its citizens on the advisability of exhibiting, within the town hall itself, this nativity scene where the Nativity scene will be installed by the City on the night of December 24 to 25.
€1,000 per additional day of exposure
Sunday December 22, and according to information provided by the municipal team in the evening, 98.56% of the 1,675 participants in this citizen vote1 would have spoken out in favor of maintaining the crèche in their town hall. A voting procedure carried out, however, without prior declaration to the prefecture (a formality which is nevertheless obligatory, in application of the general code of local authorities) and – above all – without impact on the city's obligation to remove the crèche.
Indeed, in application of the executive order of the summary judge on Friday, the mayor of Beaucaire had precisely until Monday, December 23 to remove it from the enclosure of the public building.
This deadline has now expired, Nelson Chaudon is therefore exposed, still in application of this court decision, to the payment of a penalty of 1000 euros, for each additional day of exposure. The fact that 15% of its citizens voted in favor of maintaining it changes absolutely nothing.
The nursery: this legal battle of the city
The court decisions unfavorable to the town of Beaucaire can no longer be counted, with regard to this case which has become recurrent before the administrative courts, of a Christmas nativity scene displayed in the town hall in violation of the legal principle of neutrality of public services and buildings. In 2021, the municipality was notably ordered to pay the State a sum of €40,000, in respect of the liquidation of the penalty previously pronounced by the judge in summary proceedings of the court. A judge who, like here, had ordered the municipality to remove the crèche from the grounds of its town hall within a maximum period of two days.
