“We have the impression that we are useless”

In front of the town hall with ocher stones of Quittebeuf, the mayor Benoît Hennart is again deprived of wishes. As in 2021, the mayor of this village in the Eure will not be able to address the 670 inhabitants during the traditional ceremony at the start of the year. “A double disappointment” for him : “I didn’t think that this year we were going to have to go through the same thing”.

Faced with the spread of the Omicron variant, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, wrote to the prefects on December 23, asking them to cancel the greeting ceremonies, urging local elected officials to do the same.

Benoît Hennart does not understand why the meetings of the presidential candidates are maintained, moreover without gauges, but not this strong time of the communes, in particular of the small ones.

“This is truly outrageous. Our wishes are as important as the political meetings.”

Benoît Hennart, mayor of the village of Quittebeuf

to franceinfo

“We have the impression that we are useless, we ‘little’. As if our wishes were not important”, laments the mayor of Quittebeuf. Residents are also very keen on this ceremony, like Denise. “Again this year, we won’t have it”, this 83-year-old resident despairs. “It’s a shame! We don’t live anymore, we don’t see anyone anymore, we each stay in our own little corner. We only go out once a week to do some shopping.”

In Quittebeuf, wishes have long been animated by Georges. During the twelve years of his tenure as First Deputy, he posted photo slideshows, provided music and even wrote skits. For him, the regret is even greater. He deplores a loss of link with the inhabitants of the village, “people [qu’il] no longer cross and [qu’il] only met on these occasions, or during events organized by associations. “

To overcome this lack of contact with its citizens, and maintain the link with them, the mayor of Daubeuf-la-Campagne, ten kilometers north of Quittebeuf, decided to distribute cards, and even chocolates to her 200 citizens, by going directly to their homes. This allows him to meet more, because ultimately wishes come only “10 to 15% of the inhabitants”, admits Laurence Bussière.

“I like going to people. I find it more intimate, and more interesting. We can talk about small personal problems.”

Laurence Bussière, mayor of Daubeuf-la-Campagne

to franceinfo

By going directly to see her constituents, she sometimes discovers that some “have difficulty filling out papers and have not gone to town hall.” Laurence Bussière wants to maintain this meeting and her visits, especially with the elderly, the most isolated in rural areas.