- After the first round of the municipal elections on March 15, there are still three candidates for mayor of Nice: the outgoing mayor (LR), Philippe Vardon (RN) and Jean-Marc Governatori for the Nice ecological list.
- Arriving in 2nd position with 16.69% of the votes cast, Philippe Vardon is an outsider.
- He details for 20 Minutes his priority, security, and his economic program, validated he says, by the first conclusions drawn from the health crisis.
He passes the balance sheet of Christian Estrosi to the sulphate. Second of the first round (16.69%) of the municipal elections in Nice, the candidate of the National Rally Philippe Vardon is all but tender with the outgoing mayor, who came far ahead (47.62%).
It also details its priority, security, and its economic program, validated, he says, by the first conclusions drawn from the current health crisis.
Was it necessary to organize this second round on June 28, three months after the first?
It is especially the vote and the result of the first round that we can question. Only 28% of voters in Nice went to vote. The election is biased. But now there has to be a democratic life and communities can function normally.
How do you view the action of the outgoing mayor during the crisis?
He struggled a lot, even agitated. But, in reality, it did pretty much what all of the mayors did. Some did a little more, others a little less. Some earlier, others later. In Fréjus, the mayor RN David Rachline quickly tested the municipal officials. In Nice, it was done almost a month later. The reality is that Christian Estrosi mainly occupied the columns of newspapers and the antenna of TVs and radios. When he does something, he can talk about it for ten days. It's a lot of communication, even theater. But, beyond this agitation, this crisis especially highlighted the problems of the city, with the riots in the Mills and the compromises of the town hall with radical Islam since there was a call to prayer imposed on all Bon voyage district by a mosque installed in municipal premises.
What conclusions do you draw from his two terms as head of the city?
This assessment, we can do it simply: it is 8,000 inhabitants who left Nice in ten years, 52% increase in property tax or neighborhoods abandoned to dealers with the price of drug trafficking displayed on some walls. This is unheard of.
Results in the Alpes-Maritimes
Nothing finds grace in your eyes?
I am like many from Nice, I no longer recognize my city.
What is your opinion on the two new tram lines?
They work and it's very good. But if we had followed what was originally planned by Jacques Peyrat [the predecessor of Christian Estrosi], we would have paid them 700 million less and we would have had them seven years earlier.
What is your priority?
As the mayor of Nice or as a member or leader of the opposition, the emergency will be security. I want to install eight municipal police stations. There is none left. It is necessary in all the districts, including one on Jean-Médecin since 40% of delinquency in Nice is concentrated in the hypercentre. You need a field police. I prefer to see bruises in the city rather than being seen by cameras.
The next mayors will also be those of economic recovery after the crisis linked to the new coronavirus. What do you offer in this area?
The project that I have been defending since June 2019 is only reinforced by this episode. The health crisis gives reason to my economic program and validates everything that we defend with my political family since, today, everyone starts talking about sovereignty, relocation, reindustrialisation. I have been defending localism for years: that is to say the idea that we must consume as close as possible, reduce distances. The Var plain must once again become the granary of the metropolis instead of this concrete construction which was to bring back jobs and which is a total failure. I want to promote downtown commerce by creating a parking account that is linked to consumption in stores: one euro spent equals one free minute. I also want local businesses to be favored in tenders.
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"Hunting for cars"
The candidate of the National Rally wants to put an end to the "hunt for motorists", which is engaged in Nice, he says. “With the deconfinement, the outgoing went even further in the 'Estrosidalgo' syndrome with cycle paths installed without any consultation and which create traffic jams and pollution. A third of the inhabitants live on the hills and they need their car. We must not forget them. "
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