settling of accounts at the town hall’s social works committee
Suspicious loans, car with driver, disappearance of movie theaters. The Toulouse City Hall (Haute-Garonne) Social Works Committee is facing revelations concerning its management. A “political settling of scores” according to its former president, Stéphane Piquemal.
The Cosat, Committee of social works of the town hall of Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), knows again, for a few months, significant turbulence. The first upheavals were brought to light by the autonomous union. In a video published by his secretary, Benoît Fontanilles reveals the remarks made by Jean-Paul Bouche, delegated municipal councilor, on June 16 during a general meeting of Costa.
In an almost lunar explanation, the elected municipal official evokes the financial scandal, says Dit-Cadet case, having touched the Committee in the course of the 1990s, to discuss the current situation.
There are habits that were taken in 1995, and that were not lost. There was an audit in 2019 (in reality in 2017) on which there was a benevolent reading of the Collectivity and despite this, the situation persisted. (…) Obviously, we are not in the magnitude of what had happened at the level of the diversions which had been supposed by Mr. Dit-Cadet, in correctional. (…) When you get a loan of 500,000 euros (actually 9,500 euros) for your daughter without respecting the procedures of the Board of Directors, you are not going to tell me that this is normal. (…) 9,000 euros and repayable over 50 years.
More than 12,000 euros of missing cinema venues
Jean-Paul Bouche designates by name the treasurer of Cosat, Michèle Steckel. The city councilor also emphasizes that the latter had “a private driver within the structure, an employee who would pick up Madame in the morning and bring her back in the evening, without road costs, within the framework of working hours“.
On July 12, during an extraordinary Board of Directors, other revelations were released. A complaint was filed, concerning Mrs. Steckel and an employee of the Social Works Committee, after the disappearance of cinema venues for an amount of 12,285 euros and documents containing personal data of Cosat members.
Stupor and tremors within the Committee, regularly shaken by this type of business for more than 20 years.
A political settling of scores
Stéphane Piquemal (UNSA), former president of Cosat a few weeks ago, gives explanations without batting an eyelid. “We had an audit carried out for the years 2012 to 2015. He revealed that Mrs Steckel had indeed granted loans to her daughter and to certain members of a union without respecting the procedures. We had organized a reimbursement of these sums. But the current municipal majority seized on this pretext to “cut off my head”. I paid my support to Franck Biasotto in the last municipal elections. It’s a political settlement. “
Because in the wake of these disclosures, Stéphane Piquemal is outvoted and disembarked from its presidents in favor of André Falba of Force Ouvrière. “FO is the mayor’s union, denounces the former director UNSA. They took over the Costat with the blessing of the municipality. It was a real pusch!“.
The case is all the more “gossip” that Michèle Steckel is currently still administrator of the Committee of social works, despite these accusations. Solicited by France 3 Occitanie, the new president, André Falba (FO) is right in his boots. “We made a vote of no confidence in the office against the former team of Mr. Piquemal. She is no longer a member of the board and is no longer treasurer. They were abducted as members of the office.“
Radio silence at the town hall
The reasons for this vote? The political settling of scores? André Falba dodges the subject. On the other hand, he unvarnished his new mission: “The order I got from the town hall and from Monsieur Bouche was to find out what happened within Cosat. We are conducting an internal investigation, because the things that have been said (concerning Madame Steckel) are relatively serious.“
The story may seem trivial, but with its budget of 7 million euros and its 25,000 members, the Toulouse City Hall Social Works Committee is a formidable union and political tool, having already experienced many abuses in the past.
Contacted, Jean-Paul Bouche refuses to answer questions, referring any journalist to the communication service of the town hall. On the Capitol side, the position also adopted is that of “without comment”. No answer either from Michèle Steckel who “has no time to waste“Stéphane Piquemal, he does not intend to stop there. A request before the administrative court has been filed to cancel his ouster from the head of Costat.