Next Saturday and Sunday we will vote for the choice of the future mayor of Cesena and for the renewal of the city council. The interviews begin today CesenaToday to the four mayoral candidates. We start with the civic citizen Marco Giangrandi, mayoral candidate of the ‘Cittadini al Centro’ coalition, supported by Cesena Noi, Cambiamo and Italia Viva.
Why did Marco Giangrandi run for office?
“I ran because I believe so much in civility, as the Holy Father said, we need to stop speaking out. Politics needs civility for all those citizens who in these five years have not felt represented by politics”
How would you present ‘Citizens at the Center’, the coalition you lead in this election, to voters?
“It is the coalition that has the best program with detailed points. But first of all we want to change the method even before the merit. We need long-term planning, we are not interested in doing 6– jobs. We need to lay the foundations for projects which perhaps will need four mayors to be achieved. In Cesena, yes, but could we live even better”
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You defined the civic center that supports your candidacy as a “loose cannon” in these elections in Cesena, why?
“Because we are talking about the most unpredictable coalition, we can reach 4% or 18% of votes. Citizens must understand that we are equidistant, we can draw on the votes of those who are not convinced by Casali, but we can also welcome those who are disappointed by 64 uninterrupted years of Pd government. We strongly believe in the value of alternation, I feel that the atmosphere is changing, there are mechanisms that have become corrupted”
There would be an alleged gap in competence and experience, what do you say to the outgoing mayor Lattuca who defined the opposition as “not ready to govern”?
“I say that if anything the gap is the opposite, the oppositions are more ready to govern because they have a broader vision than those in government of the city. I had also proposed a public meeting between the teams, between the future councilors. I have not received a response, evidently there is a lot of talk and little action. Ours is certainly a beautiful team with a higher level of competence than the flat one of the PD leaders.”
Three proposals for the city of Cesena?
“The dream is a converted Hippodrome Park which is truly the aggregation and social hub of the city. It can be used for large events, even concerts. Secondly, absolute priority must be given to new living. There are around 4 thousand vacant properties, the Municipality must engage with the owners for the renovations, at least 10% of these properties could be put back into circulation. The Novello is a great failure which demonstrates that those who govern us have a poor vision, as in a company one should not have bet everything on one. single project, the risk of failure had to be ‘spread’ across multiple tracks. Thirdly, the hospital area must be redesigned. We want a proximity healthcare model, I proposed the health homes in Cesena and others have also woken up to this theme”.
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This city experienced the flood, how do you judge the Municipality’s actions in this emergency? What would you do the next day after becoming mayor?
“I would define the Municipality’s performance during the emergency as poor, but it’s not so much what worries me because I can understand that whoever was governing may have found himself unprepared in the face of such a drama. Even if there was a problem with alerts and there is still a judicial investigation for manslaughter. It worries me a lot that one year after the flood (the third global catastrophe) there is still no new emergency plan. There is still Paolo Lucchi’s plan clear emergencies with the neighborhoods. I would exploit, paying them, the artisans, I would explore what the role of the army could be, what that of the Local Police could be. I would do a disaster simulation once a year, this should be the ABC of a post drama”
The environment has always been a strong theme for Cesena Sì Noi, the political movement in which it has been involved for many years. What do you propose in this regard?
We must first intervene on mobility, local public transport is at an all-time low. We need to create a new mobility, consider that bus timetables are stuck at 25 years ago, this says a lot. It is not true that it is not the responsibility of the Municipality because the mobility agency is headed by Francesca Lucchi’s department. We need to re-study integrated mobility by promoting the use of electric bikes and other “last mile” vehicles, coordinating them with local public transport. Furthermore, we want the management of public green spaces to pass to the Municipality.”
Culture, we are often divided on this topic. What is your ‘recipe’?
“Culture in Cesena is managed as property maintenance. We need to triple investments in culture. I respect Carlo Verona as a person, but I was disappointed by his department. We need to promote culture starting from events and involve those who create culture”
In your program there is no shortage of innovative projects, there is also a ‘happiness district’, what does it consist of in detail?
“It’s a project ‘copied’ from San Mauro Pascoli but obviously in Cesena there are different needs. We need to find a way to reconcile work time and private life time. How? For example with a short week, or with ‘extension of school time which we are in favor of’
Is safety a problem for you in Cesena?
“Cesena is not Caracas, but we need to pay attention to sensitive places like the station. We propose a canine unit to combat drug dealing where our kids meet. This is our proposal, we do not agree with the idea of a fixed garrison in the police station, but we want more municipal officers in the area, and fewer in the offices, those who commit crimes would be less calm even in the suburbs. Furthermore, drones could be used for specific purposes as is already happening in several cities. I think of environmental crimes or missing people.”
Infrastructure, what are your priorities?
“Certainly Lotto Zero of the Secante, they promised us that it will be done. We are always in favor of the vast area of Romagna especially in terms of infrastructure. We need to create a network for example on the Forlì airport. Bologna, as a metropolitan city, has reached incredible results having the same population as a united Romagna”.
And finally an appeal to the people of Cesena to vote
“Read the programs, evaluate the candidates carefully. Ours is a civic project which for the city government really wants to start from the neighborhoods. Something that has never been done, in five years we have only seen so many ‘marketing’ projects. We want a policy of doing and transparency
