Yvan Mayeur resigns as Brussels mayor

Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur announced his resignation on Thursday just before 17.00, reports Bruzz. A meeting was planned later in the evening for the (former) mayor and Socialist Party member to further explain his resignation.

The decision does not come as a surprise, according to Bruzz, as it was exactly one month ago that the first stories came to light regarding the mayor's annual payment of €19,000 for his 'work' on the board of the Brussels homeless organisation Samusocial. The recently confirmed rumours proved fatal for Mayeur's political career.

The board of Samusocial, the non-profit that looks after the homeless in Brussels, collectively resigned over attendance fees paid to board members including Yvan Mayeur, the mayor of Brussels-City. In the meantime, the system of payments has been scrapped.

Payments for board members to attend board meetings are common, even in charities and other non-profits. When Mayeur became mayor of Brussels in 2013, he gave up his chair at Samusocial, as the two jobs cannot be held simultaneously. He appointed Pascale Peraïta, who succeeded him as head of the social agency OCMW, to chair Samusocial, but kept a seat on the board.

The board then decided to introduce a system of attendance fees, the bill for which came to €39,600 in 2014, rising to almost €60,000 a year in 2015 and 2016.

However, investigators sent in by the Brussels region found no evidence that the meetings claimed for took place. This week, speaking to the Brussels city council, Peraïta argued that the payments were in fact a fixed monthly sum rather than being tied to meetings. Again, inspectors could find no documentary evidence of the claim.

In the latest move, the board has said it will become a regional organisation rather than one under the auspices of Brussels-City. It will also amend its statutes to become a public non-profit rather than a private one, which it said would safeguard its social actions, in particular the winter plan, which provides shelter for the homeless. The organisation said it would co-operate fully with the Brussels Region’s enquiry.