His azure blue eyes have faded forever, but they will never stop scanning the future: Alain Philippe died this Wednesday, at the age of 88.
Elected mayor of Audun-le-Tiche in 1965, at the age of 28, this son of a railway worker maintains the record for longevity at the head of the city since the post-war period. First city councilor for 18 years, winner of elections four times, he could have claimed to extend his stay at city hall without the stab inflicted by the local communist section in 1983.
Removed from PC
Candidate for the fourth time that year, at the head of the only list in the running, he was finally disowned by the elected communists who preferred his secretary, Angel Filippetti. Denouncing a “coup de force”, and supported by hundreds of voters who symbolically returned their cards, Alain Philippe was finally removed from the PC. He immediately resigned from the municipal council. He would have been criticized for being too independent of mind from the party line, which in particular favored a certain proximity with Right-wing sympathizers.
A reformer, the former mayor of Audun-le-Tiche is behind the creation of a water treatment station in Bétiel, the water tower in Katzenberg, and the breakthrough of avenue Paul- Roef, the MJC in place of the old court, the Emile-Zola college and several sports complexes. On the other hand, he was unable to do anything to prevent the gradual dismantling of the Micheville factory, which was completed in 1984.
Elected in 1965 at the age of 28, Alain Philippe remained mayor for 18 years.
-“A remarkable man”
A communist activist since 1952, Alain Philippe was also a CGT union activist from 1954 then a railway workers' staff delegate. He worked all his life at the SNCF, notably in the stations of Thiaucourt, Aumetz, Audun-le-Tiche, Mont-Saint-Martin and Pagny-sur-Moselle.
He ran twice in the cantonal elections, in 1973 and 1985. Each time, he was defeated by Denis Schitz, the current mayor of Tressange. The latter remembers a political opponent “who never betrayed his convictions”. Praising the qualities of a “remarkable and friendly” man, he remembers an elected official who was “appreciated and respected”. “On a human level, we were good friends despite our differences of opinion. He did not deserve what happened to him in 1983,” he whispers.
With his disappearance, Audun-le-Tiche only has one former mayor still alive, in the person of Lucien Piovano.
