The village annual newsletter (La vie commumnal) has just been hand delivered by the Marie’s deputy. Each year we receive a newsletter (small book !!) which details everything that has been achieved by the commune (the Marie !!) and a summary of the commune’s expenditure, right down to how many envelopes have been purchased !!.
Our Marie is up for re-election in 2008, so this years’ newsletter is even longer and more upbeat than usual, but to be fair he has achieved a great deal in the last 4 years. It is a small commune, of 300 people, and this supports a Marie, two deputies, a secretary and a small school.
The Marie is very proactive, he has changed the circulation of a very major road which runs through the middle of the village, by introducing a huge roundabout which has successfully slowed down the traffic, introduced mains drainage to the houses in the centre of the village and released significant chunks of commune land for housing.
As well as organising and co-ordinating these major projects, the Marie is responsible for settling minor disagreements between rivalling families which have been rumbling on for generations, land disputes (of which there are numerous !!) and all other feuds that exist in a small community.
Not a job for the weak hearted and I hope that he is successful in becoming re-elected later this year.
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