Au Revoir Miss Snootie

Our local municpal elections were held on Sunday and the village was all a twitter with excitement. There were two lists up for election that represented very different concerns and opinions about what the focuses should be for our village.

It was a bit of a bummer for me not being able to vote (since I'm not a European citizen) but I decided to take on a the role of a UN election observer, i.e I opened a bottle of wine and watched all the people drive past the house on their way to the polls. Not a bad gig really!

In French local elections it is possible to vote for everyone on a list or pick and choose the people from each list you would like, not going over the stated number of positions available, in our case 11. If someone was elected with a clear majority of votes (over 50% of the overall votes) that person would be elected immediately. If not, there is a second round of voting scheduled for this Sunday to determine the final winners.

In a huge victory and a very rare occurance, the entire list we supported was elected in the first round. It's a great mix of people who are forward thinking, ready to explore all kinds of projects and options for the village. I'm personally very excited about the future and what it could mean for us and our children.

It's hard in any small town or village just before and after an election. We all know each other. Each others stories, gossips, aunts, cousins, friends and even animals. It's hard to vote against any of that. As much as we were thrilled with the results, I do feel a twinge of regret for a few of the non-elected.

That being said, I feel no regret for some of the others affected by this election, most notably Miss Snootie, the secretary at the mayor's office. Poor thing. Her current boss was not re-elected and the rumors have started flying that Miss Snootie will be seeking a new job elsewhere. I can't say I'm too sad about that one.

The irony is that she might be looking for a new job in the village where my friend Miss Tennessee 1975 lives. How fun for her to get to experience the joys of Miss Snootie too!

The newly elected mayor and his council will take office on Friday night. Hubster is planning on going with some of our friends to watch the ceremony. (I've been told it consists of handing the keys of the buildings over and that's about it!)

All in all, he will be a witness to the history of our village and then we can all start being a real part of it's future.

Wouldn't it be great if all this positive excitement could last for longer than just the elections?


The Resident Artist has updated his site. Enjoy!