The EELV mayor of Grenoble is suspected of favoritism in the awarding of a public contract in 2015 and 2016. This Monday, Éric Piolle, said he was “serene”, before the opening of his trial before the criminal court of Valence . “I am comfortable with the decision taken by the city services. Sometimes we can say to ourselves, looking back at a past decision: “perhaps we shouldn’t have done it like that”, but here I am calm, ”confided the mayor to the press on his arrival at the Valencia court. , where the case was disoriented.
During these two days of hearing, initially scheduled for March, the Drôme jurisdiction must examine alleged facts “of granting unjustified advantages” on the part of the ecologist councilor and former territorial agents of the city. , including its former director general of services François Langlois. Justice suspects the municipality of having awarded twice, and without competition, the organization of part of the “Feast of the tiles” to the association “Fusées”, close to the municipal majority.
“Artistic” or “service” service
The town hall considers that in this specific case it was a public contract with an adapted procedure (MAPA) for an artistic performance not requiring competition for this popular festival organized each year since 2014 on one of the main city arteries. “There is a technical debate to know which line of public procurement” should be respected, assured Eric Piolle before the opening of the hearing.
“For a performance to be considered artistic, it must be original and unique, which is not the case. It is service delivery and any similar structure could have offered it. It was therefore necessary to open it to the market, ”retorted Thierry Aldeguer, lawyer for the municipal opposition of Grenoble led by former mayor Alain Carignon, who filed a civil action.
An association that would have campaigned for his election
For the lawyer, “the dismissal of the elevator is easy to understand” between Eric Piolle and this association which, according to him, campaigned for his election in 2014. On June 1, 2021, Éric Piolle had been placed in police custody and heard by the financial brigade of the judicial police of Valence, after a preliminary investigation opened in 2018 following a report from the Regional Chamber of Accounts (CRC).
The latter had then suspected “several significant irregularities” in its annual report, mentioning this allocation, carried out in particular against the advice of its public procurement department, in favor of the association close to the municipal majority.