While he was on vacation, the city councilor Michel Thomas died at the age of 72 following a road trip on Tuesday August 23. The prognosis of his wife, present in the vehicle, is engaged. This brutal death moves the local political world which already shows its support for his family and loved ones.
The elected officials of Val-d’Oise are in shock. This Tuesday, August 23, the mayor (SE) of the commune of Roissy-en-France, Michel Thomas, died following a road accident while he was on vacation in the Var department. The tragedy occurred around 4:30 p.m. near Saint-Cyr, on departmental road 559 towards the town of Bandol. Accompanied by his wife and a third person, the city councilor drove a convertible car of collection which was not equipped with safety belts.
A road trip involving only his vehicle is the cause of the accident. Ejected from the car, his head would have hit a rock. When the Var firefighters and rescue teams arrived, Michel Thomas was in cardio-respiratory arrest. Despite attempts at resuscitation, he “dies on the spot”indicates the SDIS 83. Seriously injured, his wife was evacuated by helicopter “in the hour following the accident for more speed”. Its vital prognosis is still engaged today. The third passenger was taken to hospital in less serious condition. “It’s so sudden and dramatic. There is nothing more stupid than an accident”deplores the president of the agglomeration of Roissy Pays in France, Pascal Doll, who knew him well.
“He was a jovial person with a strong and direct character, who did not dither with his ideas and fought for his city and his community”, regrets Pascal Doll, president of the Roissy Pays-de-France agglomeration.
After having sat for more than 20 years within the majority, Michel Thomas became mayor of this eponymous village of 3000 souls in 2020, taking the place of André Toulouse who did not wish to represent himself. Already in his seventies, he was exercising his first municipal mandate, making him “a young mayor even if he wasn’t a kid!” », likes to think the Republican Pascal Doll, affected by the news. But his career was not confined only to political life since he was also president of a logistics company and the Roissy handball club, or even a magistrate at the Pontoise commercial court.
“Our whole territory is in mourning”
“He was a very dynamic person” says Pascal Doll, who was also vice-president of the agglomeration in charge of sport and sports equipment. “He took care of his delegation very well, so much so that he is at the origin of the pass’agglo sport. And it is thanks to him that an ice rink was created in the Mesnil-Amelot sports complex., illustrates the chosen one. Beyond his professional skills, Pascal Doll remembers a man “jovial with a strong and direct character, who did not hesitate with his ideas and fought for his city and his community”.
Far from being the only one to speak of Michel Thomas in glowing terms, the testimonies are already beginning to rain on social networks. The socialist mayor of Cergy, Jean-Paul Jeandon quickly showed his support and sent his condolences to his family and loved ones. The leftist recognizes “attachment to one’s territory” of this aedile without a label. Equally amazed, the departmental opposition councilor, Cédric Sabouret attests to the dedication of the latter “to his chosen task”. A sentence shared by the rebellious Carlos Martens Bilongo, deputy in the east of Val-d’Oise, who writes his support for the “Bereaved Roisséens”. For her part, Zivka Park, former MP for the 9th constituency, does not hide her sadness either: “He was a remarkable elected official with whom I had the pleasure of working and discussing. But it was above all a friend who left. […] Our whole territory is in mourning”.
