Besides the professional relationship I had with Jean-François Knecht, a friendship also existed and will always remain. I would like to pay tribute to a man who placed friendship and loyalty at the heart of his virtues. A politician with a capital P, he fought his battles until the end, and his adversaries lose as much as his comrades in arms, of which I hoped to be part.
It is indeed the heart, one of his qualities, that failed him, and the entire team at Nice Premium extends its condolences to the relatives and children of someone who will remain in the memory of many people from Nice.
Goodbye JFK!
REACTIONS
Dominique and Patrik Mottard (Municipal and General Councilors, PS):
Too saddened to organize thoughts, images, thoughts.
A man of the field and of files,
The activist was somewhat austere, but the private man loved the sweet life.
Fiercely combative, he deeply respected his opponents.
A self-taught person, he had become a recognized legal expert.
Not always very well-dressed, he had inner elegance.
A realist builder, we saw him build at least two houses.
At the center of blended families, he loved his children passionately and sometimes painfully.
Humanitarian work was recently an antidote to the harshness of politics.
Seemingly indestructible, he was fragile.
Relentless against injustice, he could give up in the face of mediocrity.
Local politics needed a man like him.
But he might not have been cut out for that kind of politics.
Rudy Salles (UDF Deputy):
I am deeply affected by the disappearance of Jean François Knecht who was General Councilor in the 11th district located in my constituency. He was a devoted elected official attentive to the needs of his constituents. He also had the merit of fighting financial misconduct with determination. We maintained a relationship built on mutual respect and we never hesitated, despite political differences, to work together on issues of general interest concerning the district and the city of Nice. The last time I met him was a few days ago for the creation of the Niçois journalists’ association in Paris. We talked a lot about Nice, a city that motivated our respective actions. His sudden passing is a loss for politics. I salute his memory and pay tribute to his passionate public service.
Christian Estrosi (President of the General Council of the Alpes Maritimes and UMP Minister):
The Alpes-Maritimes and the General Council have lost a greatly talented elected official, driven by a sense of public service.
A tireless worker, he was a man of convictions, open to dialogue.
He was especially an indefatigable campaigner for integrity and the proper use of public funds. He had even accepted the co-presidency of the commission for the evaluation and monitoring of the General Council’s public contracts.
Beyond our political battles, I believe we had become friends, especially during recent joint trips for peace to Lebanon and Israel.
I want to express my support and affection to his wife and his six children, and offer my sincere condolences to his family.
Patrick Allemand (First Federal Secretary 06 of the Socialist Party):
Jean-François has abruptly left us due to a heart attack. Just this morning he was at the office at the General Council, full of projects.
Above all, my thoughts at this painful time go to his six children, for whom their father has left far too soon.
For many people in Nice, for the microcosm, he had over time become “JFK”. He was our group president at the General Council of the Alpes Maritimes. He was also the main opponent of Jacques Peyrat. He sometimes kept the municipal majority awake at night.
I am not among those who praise the dead after having disagreed with them. I had disagreements with Jean François, differences in assessment, but I know the important place he occupied.
With his death, on the local political chessboard, the Socialist Party loses one of its key pieces and political life in general, one of its great animators.
Tonight, all the socialists are in mourning, and tomorrow the entire political class will pay tribute to him, including his opponents, because he was feared and had managed to earn their respect. Only the corrupt and the corrupters, lurking in the shadows, will be celebrating.
Jean-François was the man to turn to because he had an absolute notion of public commitment. He did not compromise with corruption, sometimes tended to see it everywhere but knew how to find it when it had passed through a public contract. He was not a man of compromise but a man of total commitment. Very sensitive, he sometimes felt misunderstood. A hard worker, he went to the end of himself, convinced of the rightness of his commitment. He had made it a principle of action that “to do politics is to serve others and not to serve oneself.”
This is the image he will leave with every socialist in the Alpes-Maritimes.
In the days and months to come, electoral deadlines that were close to his heart will come rushing back. I hope that we will be worthy of all the work he has accomplished and that he leaves us. He left with hopes that he leaves us the responsibility to realize.
Tonight, a bit like his children, much less of
