“When you have two bad apples in a basket, you throw them away.” The sentence is dropped by one of the members of the board of directors of Sepanso Dordogne, at the end of a general meeting of the stormy association, at the multipurpose hall of Lalinde. This Saturday, March 12, after five hours of meeting, the largest association for the defense of the environment in the Dordogne has decided to oust its former president, Michel Andréand his partner Josiane André, from the Board of Directors.
A sign “excluded” around the neck
Emblematic chairman of Sepanso from 2010 to 2021, Michel André made an impression in the Dordogne with his fights against the Bourdeilles bypass project, the Servanches clay pigeon shooting, and of course the Beynac diversion. He had let go of the presidency in the summer of 2021, because he was moving to Loire-Atlantique, while remaining on the board of directors with his partner.
But for several months, conflicts have multiplied with the rest of the association. “Authoritarians”, “nitpickers”the André spouses resent the board of directors, who accuse them of waging a war of egos. So much so that the other members threatened to resign collectively if Josiane and Michel André continued to sit there.. In response, Michel André arrived at the general meeting with a sign marked “excluded” around his neck, his little dog under his arm.
“They ransacked this general assembly”
Throughout the meeting, the former president and his companion multiplied the interruptions and the blows of brilliance. “It’s a really sad sight”gets angry a member, “they ransacked this general assembly”. “If we want Sepanso to leave in a good atmosphere, there is no other solution than to exclude them. We can no longer work with them”, summarizes another. In the course of the invectives, we understand that the André spouses are also accused of risky management of the association’s money, an accusation which they refute.
“They want to oust us because our way of acting does not please”replies Michel André. He denounces the lack of combativeness of Sepanso, since Gérard Charollois took over the presidency and new members arrived : “We are people on the ground, and those who prefer to fight with press releases do not like it. On the deviation from Beynac, if we had not moved, we would have lost. And today, the department wants to relaunch the site. My fear is that the demolition will not take place. Because they know that the active militants are no longer there. And we were one of those people”.
Opposition of styles
Between the former president Michel André and his successor Gérard Charollois, the members recognize an opposition of styles. Two visions of the fight. On the one hand, the former CGT at Airbus in Nantes, a specialist in the event. Michel André had not hesitated to organize rallies even in front of the home of Germinal Peiro, or to support the zadists who came to protest against the deviation from Beynac. On the other, the former magistrate Gérard Charollois, always precise in his statements, and for whom it is not the demonstrations but the court decisions that make the difference.
Michel André remains a member of Sepanso, even if he will no longer sit on the board of directors. “We are going to continue, on the substance in agreement with what Michel André did because we are in total agreement on the substance. But of course with a different style, because the style is the man”, summarizes Gérard Charollois. As a good former family court judge, he proposed “Amicable Divorce”. A post of honorary president for Michel André, with which he could devote himself to subjects that are close to his heart, as a consolation prize for his ousting from the board of directors. In the assembly, some members say to themselves that it may be time to make room for a new generation, while the association will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year.