•Written by Jack Turner• ••Saturday•, 22 •November• 2008 05:25•
When the Pays de Gex was hit last year by a plethora of armed robberies, the mayors of this neighbouring French region had little idea what was going on. They also refused to take part in a public meeting in Grilly with over 100 concerned citizens from at least 12 communes from both sides of the border. The gendarmerie, too, did not consider it the business of the local citizenry to find out what was going on - or what to do. In the end, it was up to a private French security firm and two United Nations specialists more used to dealing with war situations around the world to provide advice. With the recent kidnapping scare in the Pays de Gex, the Mayor of Thoiry seems to be perpetuating the tradition of failing to keep his constituents informed. - and to keep priorities straight. Jack Turner sent us this dispatch.
There is a school of thought that we will miss George W Bush - not for his policies and personnel, God knows, but for his acrobatics with the English language. I read with dismay that he is having a hard time finding a publisher for his memoirs, though apparently the publishers are lining up to hear from Laura. So we residents of Thoiry are lucky to have our mayor who is, in his provincial way, a reminder of what an elected official can be.
As with Bush, it is the prose that seduces. A letter from Monsieur le Maire can soar to the heights of bureaucratic baroque. When the mood takes him he can attain a kind of grandeur. We had a missive today that was among his very best. Dated the 16th of October, it arrived on the 21st of November, which should give you a clue about how things move in the mayor’s office. They certainly have their work cut out.
A week ago there was an attempted abduction of a 9 year-old girl in the village. She was walking back from school when two men tried to seize her. There had been another attempted abduction the previous afternoon, down the road in the village of St Jean de Gonville, the day before. These are strange and alarming times in a fairly sleepy, medium-sized village, but since then the mayor has been keeping mum. There was no letter from the mairie, no effort at communication.
Requests for information met with puzzlement, a sense of bemusement that you were bothering them. The website of le Dauphiné was the sole source of information. It was a full school week after the attempt that the school eventually sent out a circular, by which time parents were in a state of complete confusion. Then, today, this letter, from the mayor. Aha, I thought, some communication. He writes that he has paid a number of visits to the school canteen and found the atmosphere ‘far from peaceful.’ The kids are making far too much noise! This is not at all suitable for a lunchtime environment.
There follows a little paragraph on the value of peace and tranquility for a child’s upbringing, then a threat, expressing the hope that the municipality will not have to take unspecified measures. Parents are requested to inculcate the importance of proper table manners among their children, or measures will be taken. Perhaps, if they are abducted, they will charm their abductors.
Besides producing this sort of edifying circular I often wonder what, exactly, the mayor does. Since taking office several months ago the only sign of his presence has been the removal of a speed barrier immediately outside our house. The barrier was the fruit of many months’ hard lobbying by the residents of this quarter. This he did on the morning of his very first day in office, certainly without the consultation of the residents, and apparently without any consultation among the mayor’s own team.
The official responsible for security seemed as baffled as we were. Now the cars and trucks and buses can whizz past unperturbed. When the police conducted speed tests they measured two hundred vehicles going one way, another two hundred going the other way, and found that every single one was speeding, many of them 30 kilometers per hour over the limit.
Not long after the barriers were removed someone crashed into our stone wall. There is no footpath to impede them, a fact that make a walk to the shops no less exciting an event than a letter from the mayor. With accidents and would-be abductors what is a resident to do? We have approached the mairie for help with the speeding but we are, apparently, on our own. When a chunk of the wall fell down, a policemen immediately appeared on our door and demanded we fix it. It would help, I protested, if people weren’t speeding past and crashing into it. But this is our problem. As, evidently, is the behavior of our children in the canteen.
I can’t wait for the next letter. Heckuvajob, Monsieur le Maire. Je vous prie de croire….
Jack Turner is an Australian writer and journalist based out of Thoiry, France. He writes about food for Gourmet Magazine and other major publications.
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written by mpanchard, November 25, 2008
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written by samrenkin, November 25, 2008
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written by Jbernard, November 25, 2008
Les fameux médias anglo-saxon, tellement remarquables pour manipuler l’opinion durant la guerre en Irak... NON merci.
Il ne suffit pas de payer des taxes pour posséder une légitimité à critiquer. Il faut aussi participer à la démocratie locale. La citoyenneté ce n’est pas seulement comme vous dites, mais c’est aussi participer à un projet. Quand le projet défendu consiste à gagner de l’argent à Genève et à passer la frontière pour augmenter ses bénéfices côté français, on ne possède pas la légitimité pour donner des leçons à ceux qui essaient de faire évoluer leur commune.
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written by edgirardet, November 25, 2008
The Essential Edge would like to run more stories or pointers on your local communes, whether in France or Switzerland. So let us know what you consider to be lack of transparency, abuses of power or corruption, and issues in need of greater public attention with your mairies. We are seeking credible stories and information that can be verified. And don't be afraid of not writing well. The Essential Edge editors can help clean up the text to make it presentable. The main thing is to express yourself.
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written by Josette, November 25, 2008
nous habitons une magnifique région encore française, malgré les plus de 130 nationalités qui règnent sur les terre gessiennes et qui créeent ce "melting pot" tout à la fois intéressant mais qui tend à se poser des questions. POurquoi ne proposez-vous pas des idées par le biais de vos associations, réunions de quartiers, sous des écoles... au lieu de critiquer sans cesse les pouvoirs publics français. Vous avez accepté de venir vous installer en France pour travailler en Suisse et je crois que quand on change de pays, on essaye de s'adapter. Et de là à faire de la politique, c'est encore autre chose !
Vos enfants sont bien scolarisés dans les écoles communales? oui ! Vos enfants vont à la crèche? vous profitez des commerces, du marché? Oui! vous habitez et payez vos impôts? Oui ! C'est bien grace au pouvoir local que vous profitez des équipements publics. Déja, vous interessez-vous réellement au pouvoir local et savez-vous vraiment comment fonctionnent nos institutions. Les élus sont pour la plupart bénévoles, et ce sont quand même eux qui font vivre nos communes. Le mandat venant de commencer, laissons-les travailler, vous les jugerez dans 5 ans pour leur bilan !
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written by JF, November 25, 2008
Vous critiquez les institutions françaises mais quelle légitimité avez vous pour celà ?
La plupart des étrangers, dont de nombreux suisses, qui habitent le Pays de Gex, se déclarent en résidence secondaire pour ne pas payer d'impôts locaux, d'autres sont fonctionnaires internationaux et ne paient pas d'impôts sur le revenu, et toutes ces personnes sont les premières à mettre leurs enfants dans les crêches, à utiliser les services publics qu ils ne financent pas, ou si peu. Quant aux Suisses, ils n'ont pas le droit de vote aux élections locales en France, ils ne veulent pas faire partie de la communauté européenne mais veulent décider des orientations politiques des communes des autres pays... critiquez plutôt vos élus qui ne vous construisent pas de logement et qui vous obligent à venir habiter dans des communes que vous détestez tant..
Arretez l'hypocrisie, nos élus gessiens font du bon boulot.
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written by Jean-Pierre Turbot, November 25, 2008
I also do not agree with my countrymen that foreigners resident in France should not have a say. Everyone should have a say. We are all living in a new Europe and hopefully we will see an end to this bigotry about foreigners being different and glad to live in France. I am French, live in England and feel quite at home.I return to France regularly and consider myself a new Euroepan. I am free to criticize aspects of life in England and everyone accepts this. It is healthy for democracy. And anyway, the Pays de Gex is the land of Voltaire who would have supported anyone with the wish to criticize openly.
Why not try and improve the communities in which we live by looking where things are not working or how we can make them better. This means open debate. Finally, as I understand, the UN burocrats do pay taxes which are taken off before their salaries are issued. These taxes are shared by the Swiss and the French if they live in France.
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written by Jack Turner, November 26, 2008
Take a deep breath and consider the issues, not my profession.
The point I was making was that on the issue of security the mayor has a curious sense of priorities, as revealed by his reaction to an attempted kidnap, and security on the roads. Concerning the kidnapping: in a week in which a young Thoirisienne narrowly escaped abduction, the mayor took not a single step to reassure or inform residents of events or measures that were being taken. Instead, he wrote a letter about behaviour in the restaurant scolaire. 2. Road security: In removing a chicane that was installed to curb speeding, the mayor has made it easier, not harder, to speed. This seems the exact reverse of what a mayor should be doing. As a result the road is more dangerous and, as a result, and to make that (surely not very complicated?) point, I mention that people keep crashing into our wall. While I am naturally upset about my wall I raise the anecdote to make a larger point: these accidents are occuring because people are driving too fast. And while the the mayor has done nothing to improve security - he has in fact made it worse, by removing the chicane - we have an immediate visit from the police as soon as the wall is damaged. In this sense the sorry story of our wall illustrates my earlier point about the mayor's skewed sense of security.
As for participating in the life of the commune, and with all due respect for your experience, I have 2 small children who attend school here in Thoiry. A third has a maman du jour so we are, in this sense, providing employment to the commune, in addition to our taxes. In spite of your regrettable experience with outsiders, and your assumptions about my work and commuting habits - which could not, by the way, be further from the truth - we are very much involved in the life of the commnte. Am I alone in finding your prejudices extraordinary?
If however the points of my article were made insufficiently clearly for you to comprehend, you have my most sincere apologies. If on the other hand you consider the mayor's behaviour to be competent or responsible administration, you have my wonderment!
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written by alice, November 26, 2008
J'habite Thoiry et je fais partie de ces gens qui comme M Turner sont excédés du laxisme de nos élus et des préjugés qui règnent sur les étrangers. Je milite depuis longtemps pour faire bouger les choses sur cette commune sans succès. Je peux vous assurer que les étrangers participent plus qu'activement à la vie de cette commune. J'ai toujours été impressionnée de leur implication dans la vie communale et dans les associations. Avant de les critiquer, prenez vous le temps d'apprendre à les connaître. Ils payent des impôts comme vous et ne voient rien en contrepartie. A Thoiry, il n'y a pas de crêche, la halte garderie est pleine, les écoles sont saturées. Le maire ne fait rien et se fout des revendications de ses citoyens. Je peux vous montrer plusieurs courriers qui sont restés sans réponse à ce jour (sur des sujets graves tels que la sécurité
. M Turner, your article is just perfect. Hope the mayor will have a look at it and try to take it into account!!
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written by K Mikluha, November 27, 2008
Fortunately my wife, children, or me myself haven't had any accidents here yet, but we've seen a poor fellow hitting those chicanes with his motorcycle while speeding heavily. He came down the hill very fast, close to a hundred like many many times before, and he couldn't see those new obstacles in time. So he ended up lying on our grass and drinking our coca cola while we were organizing him a transportation to a hospital.
I guess, the motocyclist trusted too much that there was no-one crossing the road and there was nothing on his way behing that curve like never before. And I guess this is a common thought among drivers of Thoiry, because almost every day when I returned home from work those chicanes were hit by someone. It was their luck that those chicanes were filled with sand and not congrete.
Perhaps mr mayor got too many angry calls from the bikers and drivers of Thoiry, that he was finally forced to show his skills of making priorities. I guess his idea was to prevent poor motocyclists from getting hurt in future, and poor citizen's of Thoiry from loosing their coca cola's?
Go and figure...
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written by elektra, November 27, 2008
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written by JF, November 28, 2008
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written by alice, December 02, 2008
Il est désolant de voir que vos propos se limitent à de la haine envers ceux qui ne sont pas comme vous. Vous n'avez toujours pas fait d'intervention sur le contenu de l'article. Mais quand je vois que vous vous plaignez des dos d'ânes, je comprends mieux. Seules les personnes irrespectueuses des règles de la route et désireuses de faire des excès de vitesse en pleine ville sont contre les dos d'ânes.
Quand à l'impact économique des personnes travaillant à Genève, vous ne pouvez nier qu'il est positif. D'ailleurs plusieurs élus de cette commune travaillent ou ont travaillé en Suisse.
Pour ce qui est de l'investissement des gens, sachez qu'une personne a monté une crêche privée à St Genis. Oui monsieur, une personne s'est démenée comme une folle pour mener à bien ce projet. Et elle n'a bénéficié du soutien d'aucun élu ! Alors non seulement les structures d'accueil font défaut mais en plus les personnes qui se lancent dans l'aventure ne sont pas soutenues! Comment voulez vous créer une dynamique si à chaque fois les portes des élus restent fermées ??
Notre municipalité aurait pu participer un minimum. Non.
Quant aux commerces du centre, je ne pense personnellement pas que le manque de fréquentation soit lié au dos d'âne. Les rues de Saint Genis sont bien plus difficiles d'accès et de stationnement et les boulangeries et boucheries sont toujours pleines à craquer.
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Je trouve pitoyable les raccourcis que vous faites entre le drame que représente deux tentatives de kidnapping de deux petites filles et le différend que vous avez avec votre Maire au sujet d’un morceau de votre mur tombé sur la route. Vous vous prétendez journaliste, mais quand on peut lire , à propos d’éventuels pédophiles, on se demande quel canard autre qu’un magazine culinaire accepterait de publier des propos aussi indigestes.
Je suis moi-même habitant de Thoiry, et je remarque que les thoirisiens qui sont à Thoiry uniquement pour dormir et critiquer n’apporte rien à la vie de la commune.