2026 Municipal Elections in Ancerville: Jean-Noël Fournier Ready to Launch
Politics. Seven months before the 2026 municipal elections, candidates seeking to succeed Jean-Louis Canova are beginning to prepare their weapons. The current mayor announced in the August municipal bulletin that he intends to renounce his mandate as mayor. Jean-Noël Fournier, a municipal official since March 2001, is running. Jhm Quotidien went to meet him.
Jhm Daily: What is driving you to enter the electoral battle?
Jean-Noël Fournier: "To tell the truth, I thought Jean-Louis Canova was going to run again. With 24 years of experience as a municipal councillor, including one term with the previous mayor Yvon Vannerot and three terms with the current mayor, I would have run as deputy mayor. But two years ago, Jean-Louis hinted that he was giving up, so I had time to think about my decision and make it when the time came, not without asking my wife for her opinion. In addition, I was approached by outgoing councillors who wanted to run again on the condition that I lead a list."
Jhm Daily: Why didn't you run for deputy before?
JNF: "I would have liked to have done so during the last term, but it wasn't possible because previously elected deputies were running for re-election and because of parity. This didn't stop me from getting involved in several bodies: within the municipal council, I'm a member of all the committees. I'm a community advisor at the Codecom des Portes-de-Meuse and vice-president of the PETR du Pays Barrois, which brings together three inter-municipalities: the Bar-le-Duc agglomeration, Copary (Revigny), and Portes de Meuse."
Jhm Daily: Why specifically these instances?
JNF: "Because they have specific skills. The Pays Barrois, for example, deals with ecology, housing, and the SCOT (Territorial Coherence Plan), among other things; its office brings together seven to eight elected officials, which simplifies communication. I also connect to the Elus pour Agir website, a network that provides city officials with its expertise on the ecological and energy transition, which ranges from cemetery maintenance to housing renovation and water management, via webinar training."
Jhm Daily: Is your list complete yet?
JNF: "Yes, it's made up of candidates, each with their own unique background, to build a cohesive and synergistic team. My running mates are of all ages and professions, some retired, others working, manual workers, and administrators. What they have in common is that they're already involved in community life. Above all, I want to count on elected officials who are committed, not only within the municipal council but also in the committees."
Jhm Daily: Does this list have a name?
JNF: “The name isn’t final yet, we’ll choose one from four or five proposals, but above all it’s an apolitical list, we’re staying within the municipal management that applies to so many areas, from the most complex to the simplest. To identify the problems, at the time, Yvon Vannerot advised me to “walk in Ancerville and observe everything.” As a result, I recorded 1,000 km of walking per year in the village on my phone!
Jhm Daily: Do you have any plans?
JNF: "Of course! But they are still in the making. Furthermore, when we return from vacation, my running mates and I will have "co-construction" meetings, to use the fashionable word. These will be an opportunity for us to exchange ideas on different themes and finalize our program."
Jhm Daily: What message do you want to convey?
JNF: "For me, a municipal council is not a mayor who decides everything, on the contrary, it is a united, committed team, a shared effort to offer the people of Ancerville a pleasant living environment, to care about their well-being, to continue to promote the community network and to make Ancerville an ever more attractive village in all areas."
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Le Journal de la Haute-Marne
