School turns to crowdfunding site
An internet fundraiser raised €44,000 – but mayor says she feels ashamed to have been forced to make use of it
THE MAYOR of a commune who turned to crowdfunding to pay for urgent school renovations says she feels “ashamed” to have sparked off a wave of interest from other parts of France.
“It’s horrible,” said Marième Tamata-Varin, the mayor of Yèbles, a village of 875 people in Seine-et-Marne. She is now receiving numerous calls from other mayors who want her advice after her fundraiser on MyMajorCompany.com raised €44,000 (plus another €3,000 so far from well-wishers sending in cheques).
She told Le Nouvel Observateur: “I did it because I had my back to the wall, but it’s not what’s supposed to happen.
“I’m very, very disappointed to have sparked off this innovative approach to financing, which in reality isn’t innovative because it is a step backwards in terms of a public service. It’s a bit like we’re saying to the state ‘listen, you can’t help and you’re causing us a lot of worry, but we’re going to deal with it’.
“It’s something that I hope never to have to do again and as an elected councillor I’m ashamed to have done it. The only positive thing about all this is the generosity people have shown.”
Mrs Tamata-Varin turned to crowdfunding – having first checked that it is legal for schools to use it - because she says the school is unable to cope after an influx of new pupils due to new building in the commune. The population has increased by 30% in three years, but numbers attending the school have increased from 50 to 125.
Problems include the older children having to be taught in a worn-out pre-fabricated building “with cracks, drafts, unreliable heating and asbestos”, having to use outside toilets and that the school yard is too small for all the children to play in at breaks and needs enlarging.
In total more than a million euros are needed and, having exhausted possible public sources of funds including a €50,000 Elysée grant and €115,000 of ‘parliamentary reserves’, they were still unable to start a first phase of work.
The commune’s own annual budget is around half a million and the mayor says she did not want to plug the hole by putting up local tax.
“What was I supposed to do – rob a bank?” she said.
Photo: sxc juhabee Juha Blomberg
