"The shipwreck continues": reactions to the resignation of the first deputy mayor of Mont-de-Marsan

Hervé Bayard, first deputy mayor in charge of urban planning, announced his resignation from his position to his colleagues by email on Wednesday, May 14. He remains a municipal and community councilor.

The break between Hervé Bayard and the mayor, Charles Dayot, is now complete. The now former first deputy mayor is claiming a "breach of trust." Charles Dayot responded to this resignation with a press release on Wednesday, May 14. "I acknowledge Hervé Bayard's decision to leave his position as first deputy mayor," the mayor began in his statement.

For him, the choice of Hervé Bayard seems logical: "His decision is part of a context of gradual distancing linked to his new professional responsibilities in Charente-Maritime, which has led him to no longer fully exercise his functions for more than a year. He voted on the budget of the City and the Agglomeration last month, proof that he is in phase with the action that we are taking and that we will continue."

Not a word from the mayor of Mont-de-Marsan about the grievances leveled against him by Hervé Bayard. On the contrary, in conclusion, he wrote: "I thank him for these eight years spent by my side."

"It's continuing, the agents are mistreated, the elected officials are mistreated. On a human level, all of this is deeply sad. I am devastated by this human management," comments Geneviève Darrieussecq, the former mayor of Mont-de-Marsan who appointed Hervé Bayard as first deputy mayor in 2008, during his first election, and now an opposition municipal councilor.

This Wednesday evening, between two debate sessions at the National Assembly on the examination of proposed laws on end-of-life, the MP continued: "I have always worked very well with him. He has always been very loyal, and I think I have been loyal to him too. For me, it's the shipwreck that continues. I think Hervé Bayard has had to endure a lot and he doesn't want to endure any more. He has the courage to resign, where some are afraid to do so," she judges.

For Frédéric Dutin, who has been officially nominated by socialist activists to run for mayor in the 2026 municipal elections, and sits in the municipal opposition, he says: "I have no particular comment to make." Before continuing: "Apart from saying that, like many people in Mons probably, I am tired of this new B-series soap opera, a repetitive soap opera, of the Mons majority clearly in an end-of-reign mood."

In his eyes, this is a sign of a deeper dysfunction: "What bothers me is that it harms the proper functioning of the city. The majority spend more time settling scores than working and having ambition for Mont-de-Marsan."