Every third mayor is a victim of threats or insults

More than a third of mayors say they have already been the victim of threats or insults, a figure that is rising sharply, according to a study by Cevipof presented at the French Congress of Mayors on Monday.

According to the Sciences Po research center, which received responses from 3,700 of the country’s nearly 35,000 mayors, 39% said they had received threats, either verbally or in writing, up 11 points from 2020. They also scored 37%. abuse or insults with 8 points.

63.1% of mayors were victims of dishonesty

And 63.1% say they are victimsimmoralityGrouping of facts from rudeness to aggression, 10 points more than in 2020.These figures, certainly declarative and therefore different from the complaints filed, confirm the difficulty of community leaders in enforcing the law, but even more so in finding countermeasures against disrespect for authority.writes the author of the study, professor Martial Foucault.

Senators on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at allowing associations of elected officials to file civil lawsuits to support elected officials who are victims of assaults.

Concern about energy prices

Also, when asked about the increase in energy prices, the mayors expressed strong concern on this topic. The most widely thought-out actions to counteract this are the reduction of public lighting and heating in public buildings.

Mayors are less likely to consider reducing heating in schools and kindergartens (49%), using municipal service vehicles (34%) or limiting the hours of sports equipment (30%).

Due to the impact of inflation on local finances”an energy crisis begets another energy crisis“Martial Foucault states that 46% of mayors are considering abandoning energy transition projects due to lack of budget. They also have 40% considering scrapping recruitment, 33% want to cut travel costs and 18% want to increase local taxes.