Serratore declines as mayor of Jacurso, the Court of Lamezia: “He contracted out the work to his brother”

Ferdinando Serratore, mayor of Jacurso

by STEFANIA PAPALEO

The mayor of Jacurso is incompatible. Opposition councilors have been supporting this for years. But today it was officially decreed by the Civil Court of Lamezia Terme which, in collegial composition (president: Giovanni Garofalo; speakers: Teresa Valeria Grieco and Lucia Vidoz), ordered the forfeiture of Ferdinando Serratore as mayor, accepting the appeal proposed in this sense by the Minority Council Group, represented by Marco Catozzo, Gianluca De Vito and Salvatore Vonella. And the Municipality of Jacurso did nothing to defend the mayor. The judges did not consider it “a necessary part of the present proceedings, with
consequent declaration of lack of legitimacy of the entity”.

At the center of the appeal, dozens of direct assignments by the mayor to his brother Vincenzo Giovanni. In particular, “out of forty-two overall decisions taken by the Municipality of Jacurso from the year 2016 to 2021 (mandate of the Mayor pt Serratore) for the repair and maintenance of municipal vehicles, only ten tasks would have been distributed among five other different companies and as many as thirty-two to company Ciessegi snc, 50% owned by Serratore Giovanni Vincenzo, owner of Mr. Serratore Ferdinando, which is not even based in the municipal territory, but in the different municipality of Maida”, we read in the ruling of the Tribunal, which rejects the entire line the mayor’s defense, referring to the provision of the TUEL which establishes, in paragraph 1 bis, the following hypothesis of incompatibility: “1-bis. Those who have ascendants or descendants or relatives or in-laws up to the second degree who hold the position of contractor of works or municipal or provincial services or in any way their guarantor in their respective administrations cannot hold the office of Mayor or president of the province.”.

Violation which, in the opinion of the defendant, would have been committed “through the attribution of systematic direct assignments of vehicle repair tasks by the Municipality of Jacurso to the company of Mr. Serratore Giovanni Vincenzo”. Hence the conclusion of the Court according to which “Serratore Ferdinando finds himself in a situation of incompatibility, having contracted municipal works to a relative within the second degree in the current council”.

Below is the note issued by the minority advisory group following the outcome of the sentence

“Dear fellow citizens,
with order dated 22.02.2024, published on 17.04.2024, the Collegiate Court of Lamezia Terme, single civil section, accepted the appeal presented by this Minority Council Group and declared Ferdinando Serratore REFUSED from the office of mayor of the Municipality of Jacurso, for INCOMPATIBILITY. Justice, as always, has taken its course and established the truth of the facts, which we have always supported, punishing the illegal conduct of those who, ignoring our repeated reports, thought they could act with impunity in the public sphere.

In fact, despite this Minority Group having reported the situation of patent illegality, by convening an ad hoc City Council, offering the possibility of removing the conditions of incompatibility, the mayor, irresponsibly, intended to remain deaf to our requests, dragging into the abyss his entire majority.

Finally the Serratore administration has a reason to be written down in the annals: the ignominy of having been kicked out of the office of mayor for having violated the law, and having put himself before the good of the community. Those who have often placed themselves, unworthily and arrogantly, on a pedestal as an example of morality, ready to tarnish and discredit others, should now just humbly take note of the reality of the facts.

A new phase is now opening for our beloved country, free from those who irresponsibly and arrogantly have precluded the prospects of possible development”