Philippe Leonelli: 'Being mayor for all Cavalairois, without exclusion' Following this...

Like in recent years, I did not participate in this meeting. This choice is deliberate, assumed, and I wish to explain it once again in all transparency to all Cavalairoises and Cavalairois. I have always been convinced that a mayor must address all the citizens of their municipality. This is why I prefer public meetings, neighborhood meetings, meetings at residents' homes or in cafes, thematic office hours, and the mayor's appointments where everyone can ask their questions and express their expectations, without going through the filter of an association machine that is politically committed due to its President. I note, moreover, that the president of the Comité de Sauvegarde de la Baie – Mr. Henri Bonhomme - has never attended any of these meetings open to all, nor taken part in the discussions that I regularly lead there. This is his right. But this choice raises questions when one claims to want to understand and debate major municipal projects.

POLITICAL POSITIONS

I say it bluntly: I have a lot of respect for all the supporters of this association who sincerely work for the environmental interest of our municipality. But I also say it again: the Comité de Sauvegarde de la Baie must not be a political body. Yet, it is clear that its president Mr. Bonhomme, while claiming the opposite, repeatedly takes explicitly partisan positions, going as far as publicly supporting my declared opponent. One only has to look at his Facebook page or read the emails he regularly sends to the members of his association (and even beyond), to those who are not members of his association, or to Cavalaire associations without even having their permission. Many of them, moreover, have shared with us their dissatisfaction at not being removed from the files of this association despite having made the request directly to Mr. Bonhomme. One also only has to remember the figures sitting or having sat alongside him on the board of his association: Mr. Philippe Langfelder, former running mate of Mrs. Napoleon in 2020, or Mrs. Ariane Chodkiewiz, also a member of the association's board and municipal councilor during Mrs. Napoléon's term and, in her day, a candidate in the municipal elections supported by Mr. Bonhomme like Mr. Langfelder. I could also mention Mr. Jacomet, owner of numerous plots of land, also running mate of Mrs. Napoléon during the 2020 municipal elections, freshly reappointed member of the Board of Directors of the Comité de sauvegarde de la Baie and still supported by Mr. Bonhomme. Yet, Mr. Jacomet, let me remind you, enabled – after the sale of one of his lands to a developer – the construction of the Castel Panorama residence, a residence comprising 56 housing units! We knew the expression "preach the opposite of what you practice" but here, I think we are approaching a masterpiece. When ecology meets concrete... or when planting trees is shamelessly replaced by planting cranes, there is still a surprising little gap.

LEGITIMACY

Apolitique, did you say apolitical? I do not have to comment on these choices. I simply observe them. But I believe they delegitimize the idea of associative neutrality, especially when calling a General Assembly in August with the ambition of presenting declared programs... programs that can in no way be finalized 8 months before the municipal elections and consequently could not have been presented to the entire population. As an aside, the timing of an election campaign is a precise time whose schedule meets criteria that Mr. Bonhomme obviously does not know. Second question: What is Mr. Bonhomme's legitimacy to convene, or challenge as he so well writes in his emails, the candidates to his general assembly? This invitation amounts to turning an association meeting into a targeted political platform, and that is not the role of a general meeting of a 1901 law association. It is for this reason – and because, for several years now, these meetings have taken the form of a prosecution trial, where municipal action is systematically denigrated, without any desire for understanding or listening – that I made the decision, four years ago now, to no longer participate. But make no mistake: I will continue to answer, as I have always done, all questions of general interest. I will continue to defend our urban projects, our commitment to the environment with the reintroduction of nature in the city, our PLU, our vision of the balanced development of Cavalaire, its future and the future of our children. And I invite all members of the Committee, if they wish to talk, to come and meet me during public meetings, to take part in urban walks, in neighborhood councils, to come and meet me at the town hall, or simply to participate in any event where I express myself with transparency and respect. For me, there will always be a space for dialogue with the Cavalairois and all the members of the CSBC, but not with this biased president. I walk every day in the town, I am and I will remain accessible to each and every citizen of our municipality whom I love more than anything, of which I know every street, every path, every maritime space, every business, every plot of land, and every inhabitant. Where others only have easy criticism, I will continue to defend projects and I invite all those who want to understand them to come and meet me at the town hall or elsewhere in any meeting, event, or assembly that I organize. This is where the debate takes place. This is where the future of Cavalaire is built, in mutual listening and respect for opinions. For my part, I will not yield to systematic controversy or political exploitation. My only party is Cavalaire. My only program is the future shared with you, dear Cavalairoises, dear Cavalairois, dear members of the Comité de sauvegarde de la Baie, dear secondary residents!

SPEAKING TO ALL

Being mayor does not mean choosing your interlocutors. It means speaking to all. But it also means knowing how to say no to the drift of a biased debate. My commitment remains entire: to serve Cavalaire, without exclusion, without clan, and with a single compass: the general interest. I say it again with strength: I am and I will remain a mayor committed to a harmonious development, respectful of the environment, attentive to the living environment and identity of our town, and committed to building its future.