“A pathetic accusation,” Here is how Boris Dilliès (MR), mayor of Uccle, qualifies the remarks of the opposition. The three group leaders, Emmanuel De Bock (Défi), Marc Cools (Uccle en avant) and Bernard Hayette (PS) noted attendance at meetings using the municipality’s annual report from 2019 to 2021. As a result, the mayor participated at 75% of the 171 College meetings over these three years. “MPs see their salaries cut if they don’t attend 80% of meetings and are deprived of 10% of their income. It is urgent to apply the same rules for mayors, aldermen and Presidents of CPAS and to link their remuneration to their attendance rate at the meetings of the official bodies of which they are members,” claims the opposition in a joint press release.
Members of Parliament have indeed obligations of presence. If they are not respected, they can lose part of their salary. We can go up to 60% retention if the attendance rate drops below 50%. The Uccle opposition would therefore like to apply this system to the municipal executive. “With the exception of personal reasons, we are wondering regarding the attendance rate or rather the absence rate of the Mayor of Uccle, Boris Dilliès, we are calling for a modification of the rules. […] “Who actually runs the municipality of Uccle: the Mayor or his first Alderman Ecolo (Thibaud Wyngaard Ed.) ? “The three group leaders also accuse the mayor of over-delegating wedding celebrations.
The mayor judges the attack “pitiful. It’s public, I had health problems and I also just had a daughter. There is a third point. I happen to attend meetings of the Regional Security Council (CORES) and that these meetings sometimes take place on Tuesdays, at the same time as the college. With all that, 75% is already a very good thing. Remove one of these items and I go to 80% presence largely. I am also one of those who have decumulated (the mandates) before the obligation to devote myself to the municipality and today, I no longer sit in the intermunicipal. During covid I was 24 hours on deck. I am perfectly comfortable with my attendance rate.”
”A full-time president”
The opposition also points to the attendance rate of Stefan Cornelis (Open VLD), president of the CPAS: “While we welcome the fact that he regularly attends meetings of the CPAS Council (16 attendances out of 17 meetings in 2021), he is, on the other hand, absent from almost half of the meetings of the Special Committee for Aid Social, which takes individual decisions on the granting of social assistance, of which he is the Chairman and where he was present at 56 out of 103 Committee meetings in 2021.
For the principal concerned, “it is deplorable to treat the policy of the CPAS as a simple municipal policy.” “The whole council is trying to move forward and all the councillors, even those in the opposition, have complained regarding the increase in meetings and the workload. With the Covid and Ukrainian crises, it more than doubled. We do our job. I am a happy president because our CPAS is freeing up budgets and moving forward despite all the crises that we have been in the face.” The groups Défi, Uccle en avant and the socialists conclude their press release by demanding “for Uccle, a full-time mayor and President of the CPAS.” It should be noted that Stefan Cornelis is, in addition to being president of the CPAS, director of the cabinet of the Brussels minister Sven Gatz.
By its calculations, the opposition also highlighted the good students of the college: in third position we find Daniel Hublet (Les Engagés) with 95% attendance in college between 2019 and 2021. He is slightly ahead of Maëlle de Brouwer (Ecolo) with 96. The most consistent was Carine Gol Lescot (MR) with 97%.