In Lyon, Bordeaux or Strasbourg, cities symbols of the ecological wave of the municipal elections of 2020, the mayors are working to print their green mark by dealing with the pitfalls of the reality of power.
Vegetation, transport, social measures: the new city councilors, who have decreed a “state of climate emergency”, boast mid-term of having launched some ambitious plans, despite criticism from opponents accusing them of dogmatism or denouncing the absence of major urban projects.
For three years, despite the Covid crisis and the rise in energy prices, construction sites have abounded: revegetation, new mobility and urban development policies, “appeasement” of city centers – pedestrianization of the peninsula in Lyon by 2030, 30 km/h in the city in Bordeaux-, urban farms, “100% organic and 50% local” food in Lyon school canteens, etc?
“The more we have to deal with a failing state on climate commitments, the more we will be expected on these grounds. We must not disappoint”, pleads lawyer Pierre Hurmic, 68 years old.
For this historical opponent of Alain Juppé, elected to everyone’s surprise in Bordeaux after 73 years of right-wing rule, “the municipal level is the most relevant for presenting innovative policies” in this area.
The EELV mayors are also committed to varying degrees to participatory democracy, inclusive policies for sport and culture, the social and solidarity economy, energy sobriety plans or rent control projects such as in Bordeaux and Lyons.
They advocate “the big policy of small jobs”, with rejuvenated and feminized teams.
The idea, in a tight budgetary context, is to act on daily life and convince, in particular by coordinating the action of “green” cities with the objective of re-election in 2026.
And to move the lines, they sometimes replace the State, like Jeanne Barseghian, the first ecologist to lead Strasbourg, who launched a free public transport program for those under 18 and wants to meet “social needs new ones brought about by climate change.
In Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic has created a “frugal building label”, for a more economical and local construction method. The metropolis of Lyon is experimenting with the “Youth solidarity income”, which supports 18-24 year olds without support or training.
But after the historic turning point of 2020 which also saw Annecy, Besançon, Poitiers or Tours switch to the Greens, the state of grace did not last.
Often neophytes, the mayors quickly came up against fierce opposition from some constituents, outgoing majorities and, sometimes, government officials questioning their legitimacy. Even if it means blowing on the embers of the controversies triggered by the words of applicants (Christmas tree qualified as a “dead tree” in Bordeaux, Tour de France deemed “macho and polluting” in Lyon, etc.).
“In Lyon after selling dreams, they divide people: the mayor (Grégory Doucet) has adopted a militant posture”, accuses opponent Yann Cucherat, heir to ex-mayor Gérard Collomb.
A 49-year-old former humanitarian executive, still politically unknown six months before his election, Grégory Doucet has since polished his exits.
“When you are a novice and you are dealing with political professionals (…) it takes time to assimilate the rules of the game”, notes Romain Meltz, political scientist and teacher at the University Lumière Lyon 2.
At the midpoint of the mandates, the detractors of the Greens especially deplore the absence of major emblematic projects. Nicolas Florian, the former mayor of Bordeaux who became the first opponent, thus denounces “a lot of incantations and behind few achievements”.
“In these municipalities we have seen few spectacular things, even from the point of view of ecology. This has not yet broken through at the national level”, observes Bruno Cautrès, from the Cevipof of Sciences Po.
“When we are going to fight against water leaks in the basement and other environmental policies or equipment, it is not necessarily visible”, but bicycles, green spaces and public transport works are multiplying, answers Bruno Bernard, environmentalist boss of the powerful metropolis of Lyon, who supports the municipality with its 3 billion euros budget.
“The time when we built a big tower saying: Here is my mandate signature, it’s over”, slice Jeanne Barseghian, 42 years old. “We first focus on everyday needs, it’s less spectacular but it transforms people’s lives”.
Grégory Doucet also wants to make Lyon “inspiring” through his climate commitment and his displayed creed of “accountability”, claiming in particular “the inversion of the artificialization of the city’s soils” (3 hectares reclaimed from the bitumen) and construction works. ‘appeasement’ around a third of schools.
The oppositions also accuse the Greens pell-mell of rising taxation and debt, traffic congestion or insufficient security policies.
The LR president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region Laurent Wauquiez and the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin thus accused Grégory Doucet of “inaction”, particularly in terms of video surveillance.
“The mayor is not there to replace the state, which ensures public safety when the mayor manages public tranquility”, recalls Pierre Hurmic, targeted by the same critics.
Schedule of the ZFE (low emission zone) relaxed in Lyon, construction of a new shopping street in Bordeaux initially promised to be abandoned, cancellation of the basic municipal income in Strasbourg or the cable car in Lyon: even when the Greens give up field, their opponents speak of failure. Elected officials require time.
On the crucial question of traffic difficulties, environmentalists assume to promote “soft” mobility, even if it means offending motorists as in Strasbourg, where the sharp rise in the price of parking is making people cringe.
“Air pollution prematurely kills thousands of our fellow citizens. The status quo cannot be an option,” Bruno Bernard recently said, praising the 10% reduction in car traffic in the Lyon metropolis between 2019 and 2022.
“A number of political choices that we have made are disturbing. Some see them as doctrinaire positions”, but “they correspond to the aspirations of the people who voted for us”, argues Grégory Doucet, already a candidate for his succession in 2026.
19/06/2023 12:51:16 – Lyon (AFP) © 2023 AFP