Val d’Oise. Bernard Jamet, mayor of Sannois: “I am rather proud of the way the city is developing”

Victorious in 2014 in the municipal elections of Sannois (Val-d’Oise), the former teacher and school director Bernard Jamet (Dvd), 67, put an end to 22 years of power of Yanick Paternotte.

The former youth deputy won with 48.20% of the votes in a triangular.

In 2020, he was re-elected with 47.8% and 422 votes ahead of Nicolas Ponchel (40.13%) in a triangular election arbitrated by Gilles Heurfin (Pcf) who obtained 12.06% of the votes.

What have you learned in ten years?

I learned that you learn from your mistakes. In 2014, the team was inexperienced and the mayor was in the making. We had a very difficult first mandate, like all first mandates… We lacked experience. It was therefore necessary to unite the team around a project. It was done in six years, but with difficulty. We started at 26, we finished at 20. I had a fierce opposition who for six years tried, by disrespectful means, to demolish the man. Since 2020, relations have improved.

What are the things you are most proud of?

First of all, it is the reduction of debt, by getting rid of toxic loans. We only have €400,000 left in toxic borrowing, compared to ten million at the start. And although we made very significant investments, we managed to reduce the debt by half, from €38 million to €19 million.

The second success is that the team came together in the face of adversity. We were fragile, we became rocks! Then in terms of projects, I would say the expansion of the Gambetta school with the leisure center and a playground that all of Val-d’Oise envy! Courtyards are very important living spaces.

But also, the new Samuel-Paty after-school catering building in Pasteur, the Fernand-Coutif stadium, the 100% Eac label (artistic and cultural education) like Taverny, the renovated Villa Ribot.

The cultural programming has been completely changed. We went from boulevard theater to high quality. The streets have been renovated. We improve public heritage to enrich everyone’s heritage. Finally, I don’t forget the urban area: the 100% LED allowing public lighting at night; the development of video protection; the shared police force which has allowed a police presence at night since 2017. With my first transport delegation, we have greatly improved the bus lines to open up the Moulin district.

Regrets, failures?

To have removed the trees when we redid Gambetta Boulevard to make cycle paths. It was a mistake I would never make again. It was a departmental project and politically I was stuck.

The overhaul of the Local Urban Plan caused a lot of discussion during the first mandate. Is Sannois evolving in the right direction?

Yes. This is an opportunity for the community. As we are not short of social housing, most of the housing being built is private. This brings in a rather wealthy population allowing Sannois to cross a societal and sociological milestone.

We have managed the construction shock rather well, geographically – real estate developments are on the main boulevards – and quantitatively: we have been able to say yes, but also been able to say no to developers. There’s a balance to the way the city is developing that I’m quite proud of.

You have been criticized for destroying several emblematic projects of the Paternotte era, the boxing museum, the Utrillo-Valadon museum. Was it justified or to turn the page on Paternotte?

No, it wasn’t to turn the page on Paternotte, it was justified. The boxing museum had nothing to do in Sannois even though there are very good boxing clubs. For the Utrillo-Valadon museum, we had to stop it because the building was in poor condition. We are going to renovate this Villa Rozée by installing municipal services, the wedding hall and putting back the Utrillo paintings.

But it’s true that I have always thought that culture should be oriented according to the needs of the population and that elitist museum policy did not correspond to the expectations of the population.

You announced that you would be a candidate in 2026 after saying that you would stop on October 31, 2024. Can you still change your mind within two years?

No. Impossible, it’s definitive. It is a reflection carried out as a family, with my wife, following the riots. If I am healthy, I will complete the term. But I make no guarantees about the 2032 election.

You support Éric Zemmour. Some people criticize you for this extreme right positioning.

First of all, I’m not a coach. But I have political consistency. Since 2002 I have presented myself as a sovereignist. I did the Chevènement campaign. I am very attentive to the independence of France. I am a Democrat.

In my team, people don’t think like me politically. My list remains miscellaneous straight and unlabeled. But I am transparent, I say things and for me it is the opposite of contempt, of fascism.

I attended the meeting (for the European elections) of the Nouveau Center with Gilles Mentré.

We discussed with a lot of mutual respect despite our differences. When I listen to Gabriel Attal who talks about sovereignty and the danger of Sharia law in schools, I tell myself that at some point, the artificial borders will have to fall.

“The village spirit has been destroyed by construction”

Nicolas Ponchel (center right), elected in 2014 on Bernard Jamet’s list, who joined the opposition in 2015, believes that it is “the quality of life” which has suffered the most over the last ten years.

“The debt is less but the town is getting poorer,” says the leader of the À l’Unison group with Sannois at the heart, who believes that “the village spirit has been ravaged by construction, which is being done without new services, nor new roads or schools. We are saturated at every level. Sannois has become a dormitory town.”

For the elected official, the fact that Bernard Jamet joined Éric Zemmour constitutes

“an embarrassing far-right marker for the city, while we were a list without a label in 2014”.

Finally, he believes that “participatory democracy is non-existent or very limited” in Sannois. He criticizes the mayor for “cutting off the microphone” in council. “That’s why I don’t go to meetings and why I focus on the field.” Nicolas Ponchel intends to run again in 2026. He says he is optimistic. “In 2020, we only lost by 422 votes.”

“An extremist position”

Célia Jacquet-Léger, 44, elected (centrist) in the opposition for eight months, was in the majority for almost ten years. “The first mandate was difficult,” recalls the former second deputy, who recalls “moments of friction, with five or six departures, but we remained united, despite a very difficult end of mandate with Covid” .

But in 2022, Bernard Jamet operated, according to her,

“by supporting Éric Zemmour in the presidential election, a blatant turnaround. A personal decision which was not shared by his team, which was not informed of it. I had felt these extreme positions rising. There was a break at that point and his behavior became more and more authoritarian.”

Célia Jacquet, who does not “regret [son] work” accomplished during all these years with Bernard Jamet, today denounces a

“management which is not in favor of the people of Sannois: the health center, postponed four times! We’ve been talking about it since 2016-2017. The first stone was to be laid in 2020. There is also the lack of correct management of Villa Rozée. We should have gone looking for subsidies, put a nice spin on it, but Mr. Bernard Jamet didn’t see the point in doing that.”

Célia Jacquet mentions “the absence of development of the social center”, the poor maintenance of the road and a local urban plan “much criticized, with homes that are too high and too close to the roads. I spoke about it at the time, but no one listened to me.”

Gilles Heurfin (Pcf), 70 years old, leader of the group Avec vous – Sannois pour tous – Ecological and supportive, elected since 2014, estimates that with “more than 17 million euros in surpluses in 2023”, the majority would have more had to act in the social field, “generalize the family quotient, lower the municipal rate of property tax”.

The absence of new social housing criticized by the left

“With his Plu,” continues the opponent, “ [le maire] made Sannois available to promoters. We will reach 2,000 new housing units. I am not against building, but it is almost exclusively about home ownership, under the pretext that the City has its 25% social housing, while there are 1,000 requests for housing. There are sometimes three generations per dwelling. Elected officials are not working on this issue. I told the mayor: “you don’t care about working-class neighborhoods.” “

Gilles Heurfin proposes that the management of social housing be transferred to the agglomeration. Out of the question for Bernard Jamet to lose this prerogative.

The elected official also criticizes the health center project in the former central kitchen (next to the Oss tennis court), the first stone of which must be laid in September 2025, according to Bernard Jamet.

“We will have to demolish this central kitchen which cost us a lot of money. It is bullshit “. Finally on the political level: “ [Bernard Jamet] said he was leaving city hall in 2024. Then he announced he was running again in 2026. He is not reliable. If he stays, it has nothing to do with the riots: he is not Zorro! It was Zemmour who had to ask him to remain mayor. »

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