CREMONA – For the presentation of the list, the candidates of ‘Making new Cremona active’ chose the setting of the Colonie Padane park«a highly symbolic place – explains the president Enrico Manfredini -. Here are our roots but also our future, a future that talks about continuing urban regeneration projects like the one that this splendid park gave us.”
A choice that is not accidental in a place that the administration considers exemplary of the results of ten years of city government, as evidenced by the mayor’s greetings Gianluca Galimberti who vindicates the path taken: «How can I not be happy and enthusiastic about these ten years? I am enthusiastic and proud of the journey I have made: my adventure began with civic spirit and has led to many satisfactions. The park we are in is just one example of the extraordinary collaboration between public and private that we have managed to foster.”
And the outgoing mayor reiterated his support for his deputy Andrew Virgil: «I’m also happy because I know that there are still a lot of things to do, there is a change in the city that must continue and it will be the splendid and competent people on this list and our candidate for mayor who will do it. Andrea is a man of institutions, pragmatic and capable, who has brought millions of euros to the area for the benefit of our community.” And after the mayor’s greetings, the word passes to the candidates: among the 26 names there are many members of the neighborhood committees, some councilors of the council in office and several young faces.
«We are many, with different professional and life experiences, but what unites us is the enthusiasm and the desire to get involved for the city – says the young man Giulio Villa -. We aim for a community that focuses on the person and their relationships, an active community that contributes to well-being and leaves no one behind». The list program was developed with specific working groups which, as he explains Francis Puerari«saw the participation of experts from the sectors involved: work, school, sustainable tourism, environment, care for people and listening».
Enrico Manfredini
But the distinctive feature of the list remains civility as he explains Paul the Roommember of the Boschetto neighborhood committee: «I am also a ‘new entry’ and in recent days I have found myself having to explain the reasons for my candidacy several times in a civic list: in recent years I have seen party politics move away from citizens while there are groups of people who are active, who want to put themselves at the service of their city through community initiatives, through the value of social enterprise. Many of these people are alongside me on this list.”
Among these is Francesca Romagnoli, president of the Villetta neighborhood committee which focuses on the centrality of relationships: «A civic list like ours is also a meeting point between many experiences who have had the opportunity to get to know each other and collaborate for the well-being of our community. Each of us must work hard in this sense and our candidate Andrea Virgilio is an example of this: during the years of administration he worked behind the scenes to change the face of our city and today that change must continue.”
In the end, the mayoral candidate himself takes the floor and says «honored for this responsibility” and claims civility as “the strength that distinguishes the center-left». An added value that is often “difficult to define but looking at the candidates’ faces I see stories, connections, a desire for participation and also necessary conflicts with the administration, useful for defining the priorities for the city together” In closing the tones are heating up, a sign of an electoral campaign that is coming to life and in which the first rags are starting to fly: «This morning very serious words were uttered: beyond the fact that I believe that certain statements qualify people, I challenge Portesani to declare publicly where the exchanges of favor he talks about would have been. We like good politics, concrete politics, not playing at making sensational declarations: now let him take on his responsibilities.”
