His burial took place on Monday December 23. The current mayor, Eric Phétisson, paid tribute to him by retracing his journey. Gérard Sautel joined Pierre Constant’s municipal team in the mid-1980s as first deputy and as the latter was ill, he took over the interim role. He was then elected mayor of Visan in 1989, then re-elected in 2001. It was at that time that Eric Phétisson became 1st deputy and worked alongside him.
“A visionary”
“You were a visionary. You have always worked for your village and its inhabitants with passion, without counting your hours and always ready to be of service. You knew which door to knock on to obtain grants, and your tenacity made more than one person fall for it. In addition, you had that peasant common sense which means that you don’t spend a euro if you don’t have two in your pocket.”indicated the current first city councilor.
And to add: “The list of your achievements is impressive. I will cite the town’s rainwater network and sewerage, the lighting of the bowling alleys, the football changing rooms, the tennis clubhouse, the services workshop technical, the nursery school, the association center and the media library, the fire station The highlight will remain the socio-cultural and sports center, this multi-purpose hall which has made many neighboring communities jealous, sometimes much larger than ours.“.
Mayor in turn in 2014, Eric Phétisson decided with his team to give the name of Gérard Sautel to this multipurpose room, so that he can benefit from this tribute during his lifetime. His numerous mandates allowed him to attain the title of Honorary Mayor of Visan when he decided to hand over in 2008.
He hosted “La Ferme Célébrités” 20 years ago
April 2004: Gérard Sautel welcomes a strange barnum to his town. Yes, it is indeed in Visan that TF1 decided to install the false structure of “La Ferme Célébrités”, its new reality TV show.
In a few weeks, imposing film studios were built to accommodate personalities who, a priori, do not have a green thumb. Christophe Dechavanne and Patrice Carmouze host the show, the launch of which will be watched by 8.5 million viewers.
At the time, the Peasant Confederation ordered TF1 to stop this parody of an agricultural show, while Pascal Olmeta won the first season, which was followed by a second, gleaned by Jordi.
The mayor, Gérard Sautel, is immediately put in the spotlight by TF1, but also attracts the wrath of real farmers, annoyed to see this display of bad taste and beautifully draped emptiness, so far from their daily work .
