The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi.

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LAURENT VU / SIPA

The mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi on Friday defended the right to surround himself with the “best” in response to criticism from the opposition and the regional chamber of accounts on the “abusive use” for the metropolis of advisers from higher spheres of State.

"I will not apologize, I assume", declared Christian Estrosi during a debate in the metropolitan council devoted to the report of the regional chamber of accounts (CRC) on the management of the Nice Côte d'Azur metropolis since its creation in 2012.

The report, revealed Wednesday evening by Mediapart, notes "irregular practices in the field of human resources management including the abusive use of temporary contracts or the payment of ancillary indemnities not legally founded", but does not specifically cite the employees in question.

In this report, the chamber also welcomed the "controlled evolution of personnel costs" while stressing that "the pooling of services between the metropolis and the city of Nice has not led to a drop in staff".

Sarkozy's former com adviser, Franck Louvrier, in the viewfinder

Even if no name is mentioned in the report, the name of the former communications advisor to President Nicolas Sarkozy, now LR mayor of La Baule, Franck Louvrier nevertheless returned several times in session.

He worked in particular for the metropolis and Christian Estrosi at the Maison de la Métropole in Paris from May 2018, as project manager then as director of communication and institutional relations.

He had to write notes, prepare for meetings, etc.

Paid with a senior administrator grade, this contractual project manager position ended in September.

The chamber, which deplores "purely formal job vacancy declarations" with regard to it, considers in passing that the activity and impact of the Maison de la Métropole in Paris are "difficult to measure and not tracked" despite an annual cost of 500,000 euros.

The report also points to the case of a judge, an "important magistrate" according to Christian Estrosi, recruited when he retired, and that of a former prefect that Christian Estrosi had hired as director general of services at the town hall and kept. as a “temporary research and development advisor” when he asserted his retirement rights.

The metropolis will file a complaint against Mediapart

For the first, the chamber notes that he received from 4.508 to 5.940 euros per month for 45 to 72 hours of work and that "it is impossible to ensure that this one accomplished a precise task, punctual and limited to the execution of specific acts ”.

He told Mediapart that he had ended his activity after the CRC audit.

For the second, the Chamber deplores having "no details on the nature of the services and acts which give rise to the payment of holidays", despite "many trips in France and abroad as part of his duties", paid 5,413 euros gross for 71 to 72 hours per month between November 2017 and June 2019.

The metropolis has also announced that it wants to file a complaint against Mediapart for defamation and against X for disclosure of the report before the meeting.

Nice

A critical report on the Nice metropolis is making waves even before its presentation

Justice

Convicted of "defamation" against Estrosi, the opponent denounces an injustice

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