these mayors who live under pressure

It is the image of a bruised, haggard mayor, in front of his burnt house, on March 22. The photo caused a stir in the National Assembly, the European Parliament and in the small towns of France. The mayor (DG) of Cénac (Gironde), Catherine Veyssy, was very shocked by his resignation. On the morning of Friday May 12, she returned her tricolor scarf to Emmanuel Macron, as a symbol. “It upset me. Resignation of mayor for a difficulty in exercising his mission, it is really the failure of the Republic”he said.

1,293 resignations since 2020

Since 2020, 1,293 mayors have resigned, or around 40 elected per month. Some cling on out of passion and dedication. Last year, the mayor (SE) of Janvry (Essonne), Christian Schoettl, was violently threatened. “There is a gentleman with a chainsaw who proposed to me by the prophet to cut off my head, because I was stopping a wild rodeo with my first deputy”, he says. After another attack, his wife had a camera installed in his car. In Carquefou (Loire-Atlantique), the mayor has been the victim of moral harassment for seven years.