Toulouse. “The mayor killed me”: who is this man planted in front of the Capitol for years and what does he want?
By Guillaume Laurent
Published on
Five years. Five years that he regularly crashes at the foot of the Capitol, on his stool, for hours. Under the windows of the Hôtel de Ville, and the office of the chief magistrate, Serge Giulani appears tirelessly and conspicuously, with a sign in each hand and another around his neck. And he regularly carries the same shocking message: “The mayor killed me”.
What do these signs say?
In one hand, the senior holds a sign, where he says he has been “mistreated” for “more than five and a half years”. He denounces “lies”, “manipulations” and “indignities” in town planning. In the other hand, he brandishes a second sign, with the famous message “The mayor killed me”.
And around the neck, a third small panel, on which is stapled a piece of tricolor ribbon. He alludes to several victims of squatted houses in Toulouse, in recent years: “Roland, Georges… and Serge… SOS”.
Who is Serge Giuliani?
Serge Giuliani, 73, lives Barrière district of Paris, in a house located… near the future Fondeyre stationon the 3e underground line. This former leader of a “goods rescue” company, now retired, has been demonstrating in front of the Capitol since 2017 to “save (s) his freedom” and to indicate what he considers to be “psychological violence” to meet him. His method? “I stay outside, always on the public highway, and I inform”.
“The mayor killed me”, he says, because “he killed my freedoms”
If he openly targets the mayor of Toulouse in such strong terms, it is because he believes, he explains, that the city councilor endorses “deviant practices in relation to the application of the town planning regulations, with antecedents that are Roland’s house and that of George, two octogenarians whose properties had both been occupied by squatters, unlike his own. “Like them, I would have the possibility of going to live in an apartment, while waiting for the destruction of my house for which I obtained a demolition permit, but if I release it, it will be squatted in the following month, and it will be over for me”. Hence his slogan “the mayor killed me”.
“I assume it: he killed my freedoms, as he killed those of Roland who sold his house for two cents, when he was able to sell it twice as much to finance the place of his wife and his own. in Ehpad”.
This Toulousain considers himself in the same situation as this retiree who had hit the headlines, after the sulphurous and tense squat of his house in Toulouse : “For years, Roland had concluded an agreement with a promoter to sell his plot. The town hall opposed this project irregularly because they had other ambitions… On arrival, he sold it for half its value”.
Committed “with a major promoter”
Serge Giuliani sees himself in the same boat. “start Since 2017, I want to sell my plot of land, with a very big house on it. The town hall of Toulouse opposes it and asks me to wait, claiming massive investments to come with the 3e metro line, which will lead to the construction of taller buildings”.
“But today I live on my own, I have a very big house and I spend my time cutting the grass, I’m tired of it. Since 2017, I’ve seen around 15 promoters demoted to me. have made proposals, adapted to this plot of 1,800 m2. I am now engaged with a major promoter in Toulouse, who offers me a significant figure for a plot of this size”.
What is Serge Giuliani’s project?
According to him, this developer has filed “a preliminary project for a building of R+1 with 24 apartments and underground car parks, for a footprint of 600 to 700 m2“. But he says he is “now blocked” by the town hall, which “is trying in every way to dissuade me”. However, he maintains, “as long as this preliminary project is not validated, no promoter files a building permit, for fear of getting angry with the elect, even if he can do it very well”.
Serge Giuliani, he believes that this program is well dimensioned: “It’s a nice project, respectful of neighbors who still live in houses here, and comply with the rules, since it is in the nails of the PLU of 2012, restored by the administrative court of appeal which canceled the PLUiH of the Metropolis”, even then, he observes, “the new planning document will not come into force for several years”.
“But for the town hall, this project is not high enough, except that at the same time, in the absence of the PLUiH, the current regulations prohibit making buildings higher. We are walking on our heads… I want to do what the law authorizes me to do. And then, I don’t want to wait years for the arrival of the new town planning document, I am not a speculator.”
In a document thatToulouse news was able to consult, the town hall considers that the owner must “wait for the return of studies on the development of the sector”, but also raises that “the road service is insufficient for a project of this importance”.
A complaint closed without follow-up
In a letter dated 2019 and sent to Toulouse news, Annette Laigneau and Maxim Boyertwo deputies of Jean-Luc Moudenc, deplored that Serge Giuliani “refuses to modify (his) project to meet the provisions common to all the areas of the PLUIH” (which has therefore been canceled by the courts since, editor’s note). And they wrote: “Insofar as you refuse to modify your project to respond to the recommendations requested, we have asked the services of the City of Toulouse and Toulouse Métropole to no longer accept appointments, telephone calls or informal exchanges with you “. Before inviting him to “solicit us only by means of a written letter”.
Following this missive, Serge Giuliani filed a complaint in 2020 – closed without further action – for ” discrimination “ and “psychological violence” towards a senior, against two elected officials whom he accuses of having taken decisions “contrary to freedoms”. Considering that this is an “attack on democracy”, he simply calls for “their dismissal”.
The town hall concerned with “the integration of projects into their environment”
Contacted by Toulouse news, the town hall refuses to comment on its position vis-à-vis the specific case of Serge Giuliani, but recalls the town planning procedures in force: “All collective real estate projects are subject to project review presentation.
“This preliminary working body with the promoters makes it possible to define the framework of the orientations and the recommendations on these projects allowing their integration in their environment as well as a good quality of use and urban”.
The town hall adds: “Each project study is the subject of a report of the orientations transmitted to the promoter who has approached the community, once a promise to purchase has been signed with the owner of the land. The promoter then has the possibility of sharing this report with the owner”.
He had already tried to arrest Jean Castex
Two years ago, on the occasion of The room of John Castex in the Pink City to announce the granting of additional police officers and magistrates, this Toulousain was there, in front of the Capitol, installed for hours.
“I have a message for the Prime Minister”, he slipped then, with the (vain) hope of challenging the tenant of Matignon for “more local democracy in Toulouse”. But unsurprisingly, in the end he had not been able to exchange with the one who has just been appointed boss of the RATP.
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