Vincent Labarthe re-elected as President of Grand Figeac

Candidate against Philippe Landrein and Jean-Paul Monthioux, Vincent Labarthe retains the presidency of Grand Figeac. Community leaders gathered on Tuesday in Figeac for the installation of the new executive.

The long-awaited meeting of the new community council opened with the election of the president on Tuesday, April 7 in Figeac. Not surprisingly, the outgoing president, Vincent Labarthe, and the new mayor of Figeac, Philippe Landrein, declared their candidacies. A third voice was heard, that of Jean-Paul Monthioux, the new mayor of Capdenac-le-Haut, who wanted to present symbolically to advocate for a different way of functioning. “We absolutely need to change governance,” the elected official requested.

Following his victory in the municipal elections, Philippe Landrein positioned himself in favor of “a new stage.” “I am not a candidate to renew a system,” emphasized the mayor of Figeac, who advocated for a balance between municipalities. “I make a simple commitment: no municipality will be left behind. I do not come with a catalog of measures, I believe in collective work,” he specified.

E-voting with “secret ballot”

A similar state of mind for Vincent Labarthe, who emphasized his motto: “do together and do better together.” The outgoing president defended a method based on “exchange and openness,” extending an olive branch to the new municipal majorities of Figeac, Capdenac-Gare, and Capdenac-le-Haut. The elected official proposed to include in the agenda of the next community council meeting, the governance pact, the fiscal and financial pact, and the territorial project. Counting on proximity and new open bodies for municipal councilors, Vincent Labarthe defended “a rethought governance.”

These arguments convinced a large majority of the present community councilors who voted electronically with a secret ballot. In the first round, the outgoing president received 75 votes, representing more than 60% of the votes of the 124 assembled officials. After shaking hands with Philippe Landrein, Vincent Labarthe thanked the assembly “for the trust and acknowledgment of the work done.” Subsequently, he requested a thirty-minute suspension of the session to meet with the teams of Philippe Landrein and Christophe Pourcel. “I am fully aware of the magnitude of the task and the need to compose differently. I am sure that collective intelligence will prevail so that this territory can move forward,” he concluded.

Read also: Grand Figeac: tensions rise ahead of the installation of the new community council

Read also: INTERVIEW. “We must always rethink and not lack ambition”: Vincent Labarthe seeks a new mandate at the head of the Grand Figeac Community

Read also: INTERVIEW. The new mayor of Figeac, Philippe Landrein, aims for the presidency of Grand Figeac: “I want to change the governance model”