Lyon (AFP)
The mayor of Lyon Gerard Collomb was under the fire of the critics of his opposition Monday in city council, where was presented a report of the regional Chamber of the accounts leaving doubts on the reality of the employment of his ex-companion At the mayor.
The Lyon public prosecutor took the case in February after being alerted by the magistrates of the Chamber of Accounts on the situation of this agent. Warned at the same time, Gerard Collomb has ordered an administrative investigation.
In this report formally presented on Monday, the Chamber claims that it has "no material evidence" of the employment of Meriem Nouri - with whom Mr. Collomb was in a relationship in the 1990s - between August 2015 and October 2017.
"Instead of presenting this report, it is rather an excuse that you should present to the Lyonnaises and Lyonnais because, to say it in political language, you did what is now called + a Penelope +" , attacked DVG mayor of the 1st arrondissement Nathalie Perrin-Gilbert, in reference to the Fillon affair that broke out before the 2017 presidential election.
"Your ex-companion has benefited from a job in the city of Lyon that the Regional Chamber of Accounts has trouble understanding, identify, follow," she continued.
The deputy delegate for human resources Gerard Claisse pointed out that the administrative inquiry commissioned by the town hall recognized a "regrettable administrative inertia" that did not clearly identify the activities of this person over the period.
But, he insisted, this inertia does not allow "to invoke a fictitious job", nor to impute this situation to the mayor of Lyon. And on the monthly package of 25 hours overtime granted to this person and pointed by the report, Mr. Claisse stressed that this situation was not exceptional, 94 agents currently benefit from this type of packages.
"At a minimum, as mayor, you are responsible for this administrative inertia which reflects, beyond this particular subject, your refusal to take these human resources issues head on," retorted the elected LR Laurence Balas , recalling that the report mentions that only four officers saw this person working during the period.
"Finally, what are we talking about?", Defended Gerard Collomb, "a period of blur (...) two years" while Ms. Nouri was tenured at the mayor in 2004.
"We will see what his activities were, but after questioning a number of people" the administrative investigation concludes that "the agent in question was showing a lot of activities - albeit sometimes disordered - with a certain number of services, "he assured.
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