It was both a campaign promise and, also a bit, a response to the #SaccageParis movement. The Parisian Proximity Pact adopted by the Paris Council on November 17 thus responded to the will of a territorial “big bang” of the Mayor of Paris. Clearly, leave more leeway to borough mayors in terms of cleanliness, which interests us here, but also safety, the animation of local life, etc. The goal, in the case of cleanliness, is to allow mayors “to act more effectively, thanks to their knowledge of the territories, and to prioritize interventions according to the neighborhoods that need it the most”, according to the statement of the municipality.
Concretely, the mayors have “territorial roadmaps which allow them to manage the human, material and financial means”, explains the town hall of Paris. They can also request “territorialized” cleaning operations. “These operations thus make it possible to accumulate over one or two days the cleaning of tags, wild posting, and other dirt on the ground in the same street or the same district”, specifies the municipality. The latter cites the concrete example of garbage cans: “Three types of garbage cans will continue to be deployed throughout Paris. But each mayor can decide where he wants to install them and what type of bins he wants to prioritize. “Finally, adds the town hall of Paris, “an additional budgetary envelope of 12 million euros was created in the 2022 budget to allow the mayors of the districts to order cleaning and maintenance services. »
For Geoffroy Boulard, LR mayor of the 17th arrondissement and very keen on cleanliness, this does not go far enough. In the magazine of the 17th of January-February, he split an editorial entitled “Cleanliness in Paris: the phantom reform”, preceding an incriminating article. “The big bang of territorialization did not take place, it is a smokescreen, explains the mayor of north-west Paris. The borough mayors are supposed to lead the cleanliness action, but everything is in the hands of the Town Hall. »
The uniqueness of public service
Rather than simply informing the city services of the places to be cleaned, Geoffroy Boulard is demanding, in the name of greater efficiency, control over the cleanliness budget of his territory and over the management of the agents. “We could take the example of the school fund in charge of school catering, which is managed by the district town halls. Why not do the same with cleanliness? “Because” the City of Paris remains the guarantor of equal access to public service, of equal treatment between the inhabitants and inhabitants”, affirms the last line of the press release. To explain, the town hall fears that by entrusting the entire responsibility for cleaning services to the boroughs, there will be strong differences in terms of dirtiness between the boroughs. Moreover, “it is unthinkable that there are different recruitment and working conditions depending on the arrondissements”, specifies the town hall of Paris. And incidentally, it also allows not to give too much power to the mayors, especially if they are in the opposition. “The idea is not to attack the uniqueness of the capital”, defends Geoffroy Boulard.
The reform therefore finds itself torn between the desire for greater efficiency and the refusal to lose control over cleanliness, which results in a somewhat wobbly system. It would not be the first time, but Olivier Hoch, secretary general of Unsa Paris, fears that the agents will pay the piper. “The agents will find themselves stuck between the demands of the mayors and the hierarchical authority of their management depending on the central town hall”, estimates the trade unionist who recalls that Unsa, with other unions voted against the Proximity Pact in technical committee. “We are not opposed to territorialisation, but there is a gap between saying that the district mayors will be pilots and the organization of work which remains very centralized”, he adds before highlighting guard: “We must keep this public service unit. The town hall of Paris sweeps away these fears and assures that “the reform will allow the City to simplify things by putting decisions in the right place”.
But in the eyes of Parisians, the reform is struggling to translate for the moment. “It has not really improved and cleanliness in Paris is still poor, judge Florence, 51, crossed place des Ternes (17th arrondissement). I even have the impression that it deteriorates over the years, but perhaps with age we become more demanding. Perched on his scooter near the Secrétan market (19th arrondissement), Philippe, 47, believes that the results of the reform are not “obvious”. “It depends on the places, in the 7th where I work, it’s perfect, but in the northern arrondissements, we feel that it’s less cleaned. “Just returning from Martinique, he assures us that the Caribbean island is much cleaner than Paris, “not a cigarette end is lying on the ground”. Not far away, a trio of college students also assures that “it has not improved”. Finally, 44-year-old Florent, on a Vélib and who has just come out of a big mess with a utility near Stalingrad, does not see the immediate effects of the Pact of proximity either. Above all, he calls for “renovating the infrastructure so that the inhabitants are more inclined to keep the city clean”.