It’s obvious, they didn’t plan to spend the end of year holidays together. It has now been several years since the mayor of Mouy Philippe Mauger and his first deputy Katia Breton attack on every possible point. The elected official no longer has delegations and is now more like the first opponent than the first deputy.
At the end of the year, the latent conflict evolved into public addresses. In November, Katia Breton presented in a long text denouncing “The failing financial management of the municipality of Mouy”. She presents “violations of rules on public procurement”, “negligence in the recovery of debts”, a “waste of public funds”, an “increase in the payroll” and “a lack of transparency and communication” .
Answer and answer and…
In December, Philippe Mauger provided a response, point by point, in the same form. The chief magistrate especially denounced “personal attacks” and “a lack of loyalty”. But Katia Breton is not giving up. Just before the holidays, she wrote a response to the response. For her, Philippe Mauger seeks above all to “divert attention”.
Below are the main points put forward by Katia Breton, first with the mayor’s explanation and then the response from his deputy. It should be noted that most of the criticisms relate to the internal kitchen at the town hall, principles of law, as well as a certain practice of power attributed to Philippe Mauger. But which are not necessarily found in the everyday life of the inhabitants of Mouy. Nor on their local taxes. At least for now.
“Violations of public procurement rules” on the photocopier fleet
“Before 2021, we had a fleet of 14 photocopiers with 9 different rental contracts and 9 different maintenance contracts. The CCAS has its own photocopier,” explains Philippe Mauger. “No public call for competition had been made. Several irregularities even appear. In 2021, we are starting to clarify things by reducing the number of contracts to four. » Philippe Mauger indicates that now, there is only one contract, without going through a public order. The saving is estimated at 9,000 euros.
But according to her own calculations, Katia Breton estimates that there is an additional cost of 14,500 euros per year since the start of the mandate. She insists that there should have been a call for competition, in accordance, according to her, with public procurement rules. The elected official also denounces the mayor’s “lack of evidence”.
“Negligence in debt recovery”
These “negligences” relate to the recovery of funds to be claimed from the neighboring town hall of Bury for the loan of an agent and to unpaid rent. Concerning the first case, Philippe Mauger explains that “an agreement is currently being validated with the town of Bury. Agreements on financial compensation are being studied.” Concerning rents, “a procedure is underway at the collection of Saint-Just-en-Chaussée. It would make sense to terminate this family’s lease after the winter break. However, I don’t think the city council would make the decision to evict a family in difficulty.”
Katia Breton responds with figures. 27,300 euros to be recovered from Bury. “What are the compensations?” she asks. For housing, it is 19,000 euros for three years of unpaid rent. She responds to the mayor of Mouy: “You are allowing yourself to stupidly attack me today because it is December! The problem is obviously not there. You like to “drown the fish”.
The “waste of public funds” on the purchase of LED lights
In 2023, the municipality has decided to replace public lighting with LED bulbs. “Decision voted unanimously, including Katia Breton,” breathes Philippe Mauger. “At the beginning of January 2024, the order for LEDs was placed. Ms. Breton also intervenes personally to inform us that the service provider wants a deposit. At this time neither she nor we know if we will get free LEDs. It’s a bit easy to accuse after the fact, when she largely supported this approach!”
The person concerned’s response: “You accuse me of having supported an approach which was unanimously validated. What you are hiding is that free alternatives existed via the Energy Saving Certificates (EEC) system. The failure to proactively pursue these alternatives constitutes a clear waste of public funds. Finally an order had been placed, the members of the municipal council were not informed of it on the day of the vote. And added: “We are impatiently awaiting the figures demonstrating the saving of 100,000 euros made” on energy consumption.
The increase in payroll
Philippe Mauger initially deplores that Katia Breton “constantly returns to the subject”. He then specifies: “we have developed our services since December 2021. This required the recruitment of 14 contract agents. These are mainly part-time agents. Today 3 of them benefit from a contract supported by the State. Philippe Mauger ensures that overtime use “is reduced to the strict minimum.” And deplores not being able to hire due to the opposition of Katia Breton.
“The payroll increased by 21%, or around 660,000 euros,” retorts the assistant. “This increase is partly explained by the increase in salary indices, the payment of bonuses, as well as the integration of CCAS and independent residence staff. However, around 40% of this increase results from the failure to monitor overtime and the frequent use of unsubsidized fixed-term contracts.” Here again she denounces the lack of quantified data to assess needs.
The “lack of transparency”
“There are no serious failings,” insists Philippe Mauger. “There is in fact only one desire: to harm my person! Its goal is to make people believe that the town hall is functioning poorly and that the agents are incompetent. His interventions, his untimely alert emails, only contribute to the disorganization of services. Although she has been called to order twice, the situation persists and does not allow the agents to work peacefully.”
“No need for my help (to do harm): you already excel in this art,” replies Katia Breton. “The increase in general charges of 66% between 2019 and 2023, or 739,000 euros, is an alarming figure. You mention price increases, but no precise monitoring of consumption has been presented to justify this increase. This lack of transparency is incompatible with the principles of responsible management and accountability (sic) to taxpayers.”
Next at the next municipal council…
