In her Cultural Affairs office, from where she overlooks the bottom of Cours Lafayette on one side and faces the Frontale on the other, Laurence Masson-Dubroq admits it bluntly: behind her big smile, she is not comfortable with the exercise. Native of a very small village in the Cévennesa few kilometers from Lozère where the winters are harsh, the brand new Culture Assistant has retained a certain discretion and a lot of modesty from her childhood.
On these « terres de résistance, d’indépendance et d’austérité »she grows “In a loving family, where the value of work was important, she says. But I very quickly understood that I would need a balance between this rigor and elsewhere ». Young Laurence first found this balance in reading and dancing. But the need to leave is pressing. So at 17, with her baccalaureate in hand, she chose Bordeaux to do his studies there. A “Big city. And not Montpellier, because it was too close.”. She breathes. Forms in the social. Browse the exhibitions. And meets her husband, who swears by the Var.
This is how the couple arrives at Toulon in 1996with an infant. He will never leave, seduced by “the sea, the size of the city, the mix… details Laurence Masson-Dubroc. This crossroads of possibilities as a land of welcome and a land of departure. It is a city in its own right, with a strong identity, which deserves to be better known, more loved. »
There she quickly became director of the Var Information Center on Women and Family Law, a position she held for sixteen years. And there meet Josée Massi. “She was director of one association, I of another, she details. Instead of competing, we joined forces. He is someone with whom I had the pleasure of working, but also of traveling and going to exhibitions. She has become a true friend.”
When the current mayor decides to go on the campaign trail, it is quite natural that Laurence Masson-Dubroc agrees to accompany her. « Is shares its values and vision to be attentive to each Toulon resident, from children to seniors and in all neighborhoods. »
And even though she has never been involved in politics, the one that occupies today, 59 ansthe position of administrative and financial manager of the Departmental Center for Social Integration (Cedis), poses: “I have never been elected, but I have only worked in associations with missions of general interest. And in terms of retirement, maybe it’s a way to get involved differently. »
“Culture must be a right, a pride, a driving force for the future.”
As for the delegation entrusted to him, “It’s a fascinating challenge, because culture is what elevates, what connects and what makes territory, delivers this passion for contemporary art, dance and theater. You’re a bit social, but my balance has always come through culture. And I don’t want anyone to miss that. It must be a right, a source of pride and a driving force for the future.”
The new assistant, who describes herself as someone « about médiationof a certain sensibilité and a curiosité insatiable » also has a fairly well-defined idea of what she would like to implement. “Toulon has a strong heritage, interesting infrastructures, varied cultural events, current projects… does she list. There is a real artistic abundance. But we will have to go further, particularly in the neighborhoods. And involve residents. Not just consuming culture, but participating in it. » But, insists the one who prefers “working as a team, and in the shadowsâ€Â : “I make no claim to know everything. I learn every day. And I appreciate the task that falls to all of us.”
That his little Cévennes village seems far away… “I’m going back there with pleasure, comments the chosen one. But I couldn’t have stayed there, it was too cramped for me.” Far from the chestnut groves of the deep Gard, this life at 100 an hour is likely to accelerate even more for the woman who is also the grandmother of a little boy of 18 months. “But I have a retired husband who helps me a lot.”she appreciates. She stops. Smiled. Then, as if for herself, slips: “Who would have said that one day we would be here, Josée Massi like me… C’est quand meême an incredible destiny. »
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