It was not Gaël Perdriau, but his first vice-president and mayor of Saint-Chamond, Hervé Reynaud, who chaired the meeting of the metropolitan council on Thursday September 29. Splattered by the scandal of possible blackmail on intimate video at the town hall of Saint-Étienne, the president of the metropolis retired on Thursday, September 22. Insufficient for some of the elected representatives present: before attacking the agenda, several mayors of other municipalities in the Saint-Etienne metropolis asked for his total resignation.
The trust being broken, Mr. Perdriau must leave his place
Eric Berlivet, the mayor of Roche-la-Molière, Denis Chambe, deputy mayor in Saint-Étienne or even Gerard Tardy, the mayor of Lorette, are all asking for the same thing. The pure and simple departure of the president of the SEM. The Loretto councilor does not mince his words: “The presumption of innocence is very good. I respect it. But there are limits. Trust being broken, Mr. Perdriau must leave his place”.
I do not accept that the Saint-jeandaires taxpayers pay part of a severance indemnity to a gentleman who behaved like a boor!
Maintaining Gaël Perdriau in his post is not the only concern. Some elected officials like Marc Chavanne, mayor of Saint-Jean-Bonnefonds, do not accept that the dismissal of the chief of staff of the town hall and the metropolis Pierre Gauttieri is a dismissal for “loss of confidence” and not a dismissal for “misconduct”, given the content of his remarks in the recordings revealed by Médiapart. This reason would have made it possible not to pay him compensation. “It is not a loss of confidence that I have, that we have with Mr. Gauttieri. […] I do not accept that the Saint-jeandaires taxpayers pay part of a severance indemnity to a gentleman who behaved like a boor!” Applause in the room.
A difficult step
Faced with this vehemence, the first vice-president Hervé Reynaud half-acknowledges his impotence, replying that it is not necessarily easy to access this approach either. It is the responsibility of the president.