6 years under Bertrand Delanoë’s control; has Paris gone any better?

France’s upcoming city elections are planned for March ’08. Just like any politicians, mayors are already preparing themselves to this event. French citizens consider these elections extremely important and, sooner or later, city elections will be making headlines (medias will mainly draw attention to France’s agglomerations such as Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille...).

Let’s focus our attention on the city of Paris. It is most likely the most important part of those city elections taking place all over France. For the past 6 years, the city of Paris was governed by Bertrand Delanoë, a liberal politician, who’s ideas weren’t so much oriented in socialism but in quality of life and ecology. His mandate is drawing to a close and it’s probably time to draw a conclusion to his 6-years term in office.

Throughout his career as mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë has taken some good initiatives and some poor ones. He’s a socialist, and he belongs to the new generation of socialism in France. Over the summer, he’s gathered around his party (the PS) to discuss of a way to “renovate” their party. He is a respected man, even though he has a lot of noticeable drawbacks.

First, let’s talk traffic in Paris. Parisians have been going mad with traffic and heavy circulation in the capital. They understand that, just like any important agglomerations, traffic and heavy rush hours are unavoidable in today’s world. However, Parisians believe Delanoë has worsened traffic and circulation in Paris. How? For the past 6 years, Delanoë has been widening the city’s public bus and taxi lanes. He has also added bike lanes. Obviously, this reduces the space for cars to pass and it has caused major traffic. No doubt, it drives the Parisians crazy. But, widening bus lanes has its reasons; Delanoë has oriented his political strategy in ecology. Pollution in Paris has been, for the past decades, a major issue. In the vain hope of putting an end to personal car use, he caused major traffic in Paris believing that the Parisians will, one day, get fed up with “impossible” driving and finally hop on a bus to get to their destination. Unfortunately for him, his popularity went down. To be honest, his ecological plan was harsh. He should have found another way to make us breath cleaner air.

Second, let’s talk Olympic games. As we all know, Paris was a candidate for the 2012’s Olympic games. We also know that Paris lost the bid, and Parisians were very disappointed by the loss. Rumors say that our friend, Bertrand, filed a candidacy in order to gain a better reputation (back then, his popularity was low). He worked hard, built had prepared, with his team, a high quality file. To Parisian’s surprise, they lost the bid. After all, their file was terrific; great public transportation, an important budget for the Olympics, and a fantastic city. Yet, his efforts had been very appreciated by the Parisians. It was a failure, but the efforts and the hard work Delanoë had put in this bid hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Third, Paris isn’t a well-maintained city. Budget cuts on city maintenance have been noticed by Parisians - the famous “décrotters” (poop cleaners) are now gone. In other words, you’re chances of walking in dog poop are very high. This isn’t just Bertrand’s fault. Indeed, it’s mainly because of the Parisians. It would never come up to their mind to pick up their dog’s waste. Therefore, it’s more of a mentality problem that a political one. Yet, Delanoë isn’t completely innocent of this situation. Budget cuts on maintenance came from him. While he cuts the budgets on maintenance, tourists and residents are forced to look down - making sure they’re not stepping on dog waste - and have no time to look up and discover what Paris has to offer.

Fourth, let’s talk bicycles. Many of us know about the latest arrival of “Vélib”. Created by “JCDecaux”, they have set up a bicycle-rental service. More than 750 stations citywide, 10 000 bikes, and they are planning on expanding. Launched in mid-July 2007, “Vélib” has been very successful and it’s just a start. For a cheap cost, any Parisians can ride anywhere in Paris with their bikes. The concept is innovative, original, and it has a lot of potential. Rumors say Delanoë created this service so he wins the upcoming city elections. Whether it’s true or not, “Vélib” makes the Parisians happy. Good job Delanoë!

Delanoë has been a fine mayor. He won’t mark history, but he won’t be considered as a terrible mayor. He was an active politician, opened to ideas, a reformist, and he tried his hardest to manage the city. The quality of life has somehow improved, security was reinforced. He has had major failures but Delanoë will remain a respected man (as the mayor of Paris).