Jean-Claude Gaudin

On 5 November 2018, two buildings collapsed on rue d'Aubagne, killing eight people and exposing the scale of substandard housing in Marseille. Gaudin's municipality was accused of failing to respond sufficiently early to recurring warnings about dangerous and unsanitary buildings in the city centre.

State of the evidence

Documented

The National Financial Prosecutor's Office investigation into municipal employees' working time uncovered annual hours well below the legal minimum and fixed or unworked overtime in several departments. Jean-Claude Gaudin accepted a guilty plea procedure (CRPC).

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Personally implicated

From 2015–2016, numerous reports, parent groups and audits documented the poor condition of some Marseille public schools: leaks, damaged ceilings, faulty heating and buildings requiring major repairs. The issue became a central element in assessments of Jean-Claude Gaudin's record.

State of the evidence

Documented

To address the condition of schools, Gaudin's majority adopted a public-private partnership worth over €1 billion to rebuild or renovate 34 schools. Architects, small businesses, unions and taxpayers challenged an arrangement considered costly and favourable to major companies.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The Stade-Vélodrome renovation for Euro 2016 was carried out through a public-private partnership with Arema. The Regional Audit Chamber estimated the total bill at approximately €550 million and criticised the allocation of risks and rent charged to Olympique de Marseille.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

In its reports published in 2019, the Regional Audit Chamber described a heavily indebted city lacking a sufficiently clear financial strategy, borrowing in particular to finance debt repayments and failing to assess adequately the performance of numerous public policies.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The Regional Audit Chamber also separately criticised Marseille's property management: buildings rented at high cost to the city, poorly collected rental income, building sales without a clear strategy, transactions at prices considered insufficient and retention of certain mayoral associates beyond retirement age under unusual remuneration terms.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

During Jean-Claude Gaudin's terms in office, Marseille's northern districts remained substantially less well served by major mass transit infrastructure than the city centre and south. The situation was regularly denounced as contributing to inequalities in access to employment and public services.

State of the evidence

Documented

Gaudin's municipality granted a 99-year long lease at a very low rent to enable construction of a grand mosque in Marseille. The Administrative Court annulled the first council resolution, finding in particular that the low rent constituted an unlawful subsidy under the 1905 law and that the municipal council had been insufficiently informed.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

In 1986, Jean-Claude Gaudin became president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Council with votes from Front national representatives, who also obtained vice-presidencies. Described as a 'technical' agreement, it became one of the earliest major examples of an administrative alliance between the mainstream right and far right.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility