2023-11-26 00:08:39
His voice no longer resonates in the corridors of the city hall of Lyon (Rhône). But his memory will undoubtedly remain there forever. Because, like Édouard Herriot before him, Francisque Collomb – a namesake – or even Raymond Barre, Gérard Collomb, died this Saturday, November 25 at the age of 76, mayor of Lyon from 2001 until July 2017, then from return to local affairs between November 2018 and March 2020 (after an interim period at the Ministry of the Interior), left its mark on the city of Lyon.
Born in Chalon-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire) in 1947, son of a worker and a cleaning lady, associate professor of classics, Gérard Collomb entered Lyon political life at the end from the 1970s.
Close to the ideas of Pierre Mauroy, a figure of socialism, he was elected for the first time to the municipal council in March 1977. Glasses and a small mustache, shy or even introverted by nature, it is difficult to imagine this man as a future mayor for Lyon. However, Gérard Collomb already had clear ideas and strong ambition at the time. It took him twenty-four years, a long period of failures and successes (a deputy mandate between 1981 and 1988 and a senatorial seat from 1999), before achieving the goal he had set out to achieve. It was fixed: conquer the capital of Gaul.
Gérard Collomb between Pierre Mauroy (PS) and Georges Marchais (PCF) on January 11, 1989 in Paris. AFP/Patrick Hertzog
“I have a passion for this city”
An unsuccessful candidate in the municipal elections of 1989 and 1995, Gérard Collomb ended up being elected mayor of Lyon, by a hair, in 2001 under the noses of Michel Mercier (UDF) and Charles Millon (DLC). He will be confirmed in his functions in 2008 then 2014, this time acclaimed by the voters. Builder, Gérard Collomb was able to transform Lyon in three mandates at the head of the city.
The people of Lyon owe him in particular the development of the banks of the Rhône, the deployment of the Vélo’v self-service bicycle network from 2005, the rehabilitation of the Grand Hôtel-Dieu (the former hospital transformed into the Cité de la gastronomy, hotel and shopping gallery), the construction of numerous and imposing office buildings in the Part-Dieu and Gerland business districts, or the rebirth of the Confluence district: a 150 ha site located to the south of the peninsula symbol of the urban renewal of Lyon, undoubtedly the biggest project and the greatest success of the Collomb era.
Au Parisien – Today in France, the Lyon city councilor confided in 2018, after resigning from the Ministry of the Interior, all his impatience to return to his city of Lyon and his chair as mayor: “Lyon is essential for Me. I have a passion for this city that, in just a few years, we have transformed. With the industrial crisis of the 1970s and 1980s, certain districts of Lyon became real industrial wastelands. I focused on bringing businesses back, reviving these neighborhoods, revitalizing our economy by focusing on innovation. »
A return to the sources of “the prodigal son”, as he was once nicknamed, which however did not happen as he had imagined, with Lyon falling into the hands of elected environmentalists two years later.
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