The fact is rare enough to underline it and the public is not deceived. The municipal council room was full for this municipal council, described as historic for the city of Creil. Without much surprise in the vote, since supported by her majority, Sophie Dhoury Lehner becomes the first woman to register her name as first magistrate of this city of 35,000 inhabitants.
The spectator who enters the council room is surprised by the disposition of some of the municipal councilors. The opposition, more precisely the oppositions, take their respective places. The positioning of the majority advisors is more surprising. On either side of the room, in groups, the advisors sit face to face, a bit like in a commercial café, at a cabaret table.
Who asked this and why? No one really has an answer to give. “We don’t know, it happened naturally,” confides an elected member of the majority. On the opposition side, on the other hand, whether it is Sylvie Duchatelle or Noureddine Nachite, we wonder about the effective confidentiality of the vote. Would there be a divergence of point of view within the majority to the point of having to establish proximity between the municipal councilors?”, the opponents wonder suspiciously. The response was quick.
With 30 votes, Sophie Lehner was elected mayor of Creil. His scarf was given to him as officially as possible by the man who held the town hall all these years.
This is because less than an hour before, Jean-Claude Villemain, still mayor, read an end-of-term speech, a handover of around forty years of commitment and after having won three successive elections, it is above all by thanking the people of Creillo that the chief magistrate bows out. A poignant speech where the chief magistrate, for a few more minutes, looks back on the great achievements of his mandate, of his mandates.
There followed the call for candidacy for mayor. Adnane Akabli, on behalf of the Socialist Party group, presented the candidacy of Sophe Lehner, then first deputy. Noureddine Nachite, opposition municipal councilor, is also presenting his candidacy, “for form and for democracy”.
The moment of voting comes, solemn, where good humor and smiles dominate. For the elected representatives of the majority, there are no other possible outcomes, and it is indeed a mayor who is entrusted with the role of first magistrate. Passing the symbol of the woman at the head of the town hall is logically a more political discourse that Sophie Lehner begins. Addressing Jean-Claude Villemain as well as the audience where many elected officials from neighboring municipalities, from the Creil Sud Oise agglomeration, came to witness the “departure of the captain”.
“They are rare these days, political leaders who prepare for the future and support it as you did. You have devoted 41 years of your life to Creil so far. You got him through many crises. You have and continue to have an inspiring vision of the future for her. In many ways, you are not an elected official like the others and I believe that deep down, that is surely what is disturbing. At your side, I learned the responsibilities that such a position implies,” assures Madam Mayor who announces having asked the prefect of Oise to honor it for Jean-Claude Villemain. “The prefect granted the request. You become honorary mayor of Creil.
So yes, there is still work to do. Make your place, your own identity, your own signature. She will be able to count on this former mayor and this new honorary mayor to support her in her action. Alexandre Ouizille, senator and boss of the PS in Oise, came to support the one in whom he carries the hopes of the left for Creil.
Sophie Lehner put together a team. Eleven deputies who are exactly the same as before, at different functions and levels. But the unity of the municipal team is also part of this condition. With the scarves on and the photo taken, it’s time to work. It is true that on Monday, December 16, Mayor Lehner’s first municipal council meeting will be held. Nearly sixty points are on the agenda! (Sic!) It is true that the first assistant has always been an elected official at the forefront of issues.
