Rural French mayors’ pride in sash frays at edges
Since the Revolution, they have been the democratic glue that binds France together. After 1789, it was decreed there should be a mayor everywhere there was a church steeple, even if only a smattering of houses surrounded it.
But this quintessential face of French village life, one whom locals but also British expatriates and homeowners turn to for administrative help, could be under threat.
A study published this week found that half of France’s 35,357 mayors want to throw in the towel in 2020, with many saying they have lost too much power and status to meet citizens’ increasingly exacting demands.
“Honestly, I think we’ve reached the end of the road when it comes to small-town, rural mayors,” said Alain Hébert, 64, the mayor of Saintecolombe-la-commanderie in Normandy, population 870.
Mr Hébert, along with thousands like him, will not be running for re-election in two years after two terms in office and 25 years playing a municipal role.
Standing in his tricolor sash, Mr Hébert lifted a red, white and blue shield inscribed with the Republican values of liberty, equality, fraternity to hang over the front door.
“The mayor is the last link with inhabitants and we deal with everything face-to-face,” he said.
“Yet we’re asphyxiated financially, and personally I don’t feel I have the backing of those above me when I ask for help. If anything, they make me feel I’m bothering their peace and quiet. We are pretty much left to fend for ourselves,” he said.
A boulangerie and the cries of children in the neighbouring school playground offer encouraging signs of vibrancy. But the last café shut three years ago and a “for sale” sign hangs outside a restaurant called Nowhere Else. “At every level, we’re being asked to do more, but less and less interesting tasks. We’re stuck dealing with rows between neighbours, stray dogs and cats but also expected to have technical expertise that is above our heads,” he said.
When it comes to mayors, no other country comes close to France, which accounts for up to 40per cent of all such local officials within the EU.
In 2014, in the last mayoral elections, 60per cent of incumbent mayors were re-elected. Four years later, half want to “abandon all elected office”, according to a study for the Local Democracy Watchdog. A third said they did not have “the financial means” to carry out their mission while 36per cent said they were fed up with “increasingly individualistic and consumerist” residents who lack deference and respect.
Mr Hébert agreed. “Relations are increasingly strained,” he said. “The other day, a woman parked on the dotted line here by the main road. I told her: ‘Madame, it’s dangerous to park there.’ She literally told me to p--- off.”
Some 150 mayors have already resigned this year alone.
The departures reflect a wider clash between Emmanuel Macron’s desire to shake up France’s sometimes creaky institutions and a way of life that may no longer be sustainable.
Many mayors are furious at his plan to cut housing tax for 80per cent of the population – a major source of local funding. The state has promised to make up the shortfall but mayors remain sceptical and many are furious.
Mr Hébert’s town hall stands next to the straight main road once a “royal route” from Paris to the coast and used by aristocrats fleeing the guillotine for England.
In a sign of rising tensions, Mr Macron – seen by many as the figurehead of affluent, urban France – has pulled out of next week’s annual congress of the Association of Mayors of France, AMF.
Today, the president is facing a different revolt with thousands of angry French blocking roads around the country against petrol and diesel fuel hikes. The emblem of the protest is the high-visibility jacket. Many could be seen on dashboards outside the town hall.
The apolitical movement has turned into wider anger against rising living costs in peri-urban and provincial France. Police say they have no idea how big or disruptive it will be.
Mr Hébert said he understood their anger even though he backed Mr Macron in general.
“He’s right to reform but I’m not sure he’s aware just how these play out at grassroots level,’ he said.
“Many of my residents are really suffering and feel they can’t make ends meet. The benefits of his reforms are not yet being felt. Parisian politicians’ view of us provincial folk is just not good enough.”
‘We’re stuck dealing with rows between neighbours, stray dogs and cats but also expected to have technical expertise that is above our heads’