The sense of team, the desire to administer Latina by obtaining results and to be remembered for having done good things, the imprint to give to the administration which combines the need to dream of a different city but also the concreteness of keeping the ordinary decent. Mayor Matilde Celentano yesterday put the first year of her mandate on these lines, told from her point of view together with the seven councilors (two absent for institutional reasons, Di Cocco and Nasti), 12 months after that 13 June in which she presented them to the city, displaying a certain certainty, but also admitting the many difficulties encountered. «In this first year I have experienced an important cross-section of administrative life – she begins – rewarding moments and difficult moments, in which I was afraid of not making it, but I have never lost the enthusiasm and conviction of the first day, I am a woman used to to get back on my feet after a fall in the face of any emergency. This experience as mayor has made me more aware and more determined to carry forward our city project.” She admits the difficulties of a complex first year in a municipality with few resources, she remembers the most critical moment when she had to sign the ordinance for the closure of the sports hall which was not up to standard, but «I am convinced – she says – that we will soon collect the fruits, despite difficulties and obstacles. None of my councilors gave in to the difficulties due to the shortage of human and economic resources, but we are a cohesive team aware that the success of one is everyone’s, the objective is to win the game.”
Urban planning and vision
The mayor explains that they have worked since they took office to arrive at an overall vision of the city «different from that of today, capable of being up to par in twenty or thirty years, ready for the centenary», he speaks of a project that «with a widespread pedestrian traffic, underground car parks with a route from the old bus lines to the food market to reach Via Don Morosini and up to the two faculties of Economics and Engineering, in the part of the city in the ring of the first ring road which will become the entire zone 30, the starting point and connection for cycle paths, in line with the PUMS”. With councilor Annalisa Muzio he mentions the Pnrr projects and explains that «we need to bring the students back to the centre, that the agreement with La Sapienza provides for the sharing and not the transfer of Ex garage Ruspi and Banca d’Italia, which was published in “notice for the assignment for the EPP in the historic center R0, that the one for the marina is under review and that the resolution for the delegation to the Municipality from the region in urban planning matters has been approved”.
Environment and waste
The sore points come with the environment and waste sector. «Things went well until mid-April – he says – then the contracts of thirty employees expired and the company was unable to make new hires, the city lost the decorum that we had struggled to rebuild and for which we have a great deal attention, now after various meetings we are returning to normality with the additional reorganization services”. Councilor Franco Addonizio explains that «on ABC for the industrial plan we are in an intermediate phase, it will arrive in the commission in a few days and will be approved in the city council, the previous project was cumbersome and not very incisive, we found ourselves in a transitional phase to manage» . The mayor also admits the difficulties regarding the management of greenery: «We have to deal with climate change, the old schemes for managing mowing can no longer be valid, the service allows us to spend one million a year, but the offices go crazy to manage times and interventions that clash with the needs of the companies. We are thinking about sponsorships to manage emergency situations.”
Public Works
On the public works managed by the councilor Massimiliano Carnevale Celentano mentions the opening of the construction site of the Falcone e Borsellino park with the works in progress, the funding with the ERDF for the palace of culture and the art gallery, the assignment of the works to the designers for the House of music, the new asphalted roads, the regulation of excavations and restorations, but it also explains the concern regarding road safety. «I expressed to President Rocca my concern about the roads linked to the scarcity of resources, there are many kilometers to manage, a Marshall plan is needed for the streets of Latina, I received reassurances on the fact that a path for financing will be found. We have invested significant sums to renovate the games in the parks, for the renovation of the schools and the regulatory adaptation of the kindergartens.” The mayor also explained the work done on taxes with the approval of the single property fee, the allocation of 500 thousand euros for the Tari concessions, the improvement of accessibility of the Tari and Imu offices. And on Heritage, the last reference is to the recent ruling «which gives us back Palazzo Key, I announce – says Celentano – that the decision on the fate of this property lies with the city and I undertake to open a debate in which professional associations, trade unions, political parties and media. I would like the future of Palazzo Key to be the result of a participatory process” Finally he concludes: “We dream and work for a different city, but we also have our feet on the ground and we will roll up our sleeves to make it happen.
