Parking of Piazza Cittadella: new episode of the never-ending story of Piacenza. But with some interesting news. More for what happened before and behind the scenes of the marathon held yesterday in the City Council on the topic, after the sensational session on this topic, in which two weeks ago the majority left the Chamber of Palazzo Mercanti. But let’s start from the last river session to outline the picture of the situation. With the opposition from left to right working alongside the councilors who support the mayor’s administration Pd Katia Tarasconi. Objective: to reach the termination of the contract with Piacenza Parcheggi-Gps.
The cards of the oppositions
Reasons substantial, those fielded by the minority seats, representing Alternativa per Piacenza, Lega, Lista Barbieri-Liberi and Fratelli d’Italia. First of all, the lack of bankability. An indispensable financial guarantee for the delivery of the construction site, owed by the concessionary companies of the Sicilian prince Filippo Lodetti Alliata. He himself had last guaranteed it for May 31st, but the documentation presented proved incomplete. A vulnerability sufficient to proceed with the termination of the contract, as the general director of the Municipality had also underlined in the Chamber at the time Luca Canessa.
Then Added to this is the failure to deposit the new guarantee which was supposed to replace the fake policy, now under scrutiny by the city prosecutor’s office, which in recent days sent the Financial Police to the municipality, probably to acquire further documentation on the scam. In this case, to make up for the absence of the new surety policy, the Lodetti Alliata companies provided a security deposit of 345 thousand euros, to cover the first 5 months of the 2024 concession, accepted by the municipal offices. A deposit contested by the opposition, however, as it is not foreseen by the contract, nor as a substitute for the guarantee by other legal provisions.
Third element: for the opposition, the revenue that Piacenza Parcheggi-Gps is collecting thanks to the increase in the hourly rates of the blue lines must be returned to the Municipality. In force from the beginning of 2024, the increases are connected to the construction of the underground car park in Piazza Cittadella which has not yet started, causing the related timetable to be thrown out of gear.
Everything already written
How it was easy to predict, after almost six hours of exhausting debate all the agendas of the opposition, which for these reasons asked that the Council vote in favor of the termination of the contract, giving the relevant mandate to the Council, were rejected by the majority with a closed vote . The “main” motivation (it really needs to be said…): let’s let the offices work calmly; it is a technical-administrative question and not a political one, the managers involved in the practice will be the ones to tell us what the right solution is.
Hawks and doves
Was a solid answer? Apparently yes. If it weren’t for the fact that in the excited hours preceding the debate in the Chamber, two agendas had been proposed to the councilors of the Pd, Lista per Piacenza, Piacenza Oltre and Piacenza Coraggiosa, which then ended up in the bin, in a confrontation between hawks and doves. How come? Both had not received unanimous approval from the councillors; and therefore in the Chamber they risked rejection, in this case wrecking the majority a second time, as had already happened in the case of the Carella school gym, but this time on a much more weighty issue.
In the first agenda noted the concessionaire’s non-compliance, despite all attempts to encourage the continuation of the contract by the Municipality; then, given the doubts about its ability to carry out the work, the Offices were asked to acquire the necessary technical and legal opinions regarding the risks for Palazzo Mercanti in the event that it decided to proceed with the termination of the contract, precisely for non-fulfilment. A right approach for some, but not for others, who at this stage considered it too harsh towards Lodetti Alliata’s companies.
At that time a second agenda arrives shortly, apparently drawn up by the mayor’s closest collaborators, this time more conciliatory towards Piacenza Parcheggi-Gps. First of all, the sharing of the path undertaken so far by the Administration was underlined; with the confirmation by the Council of the utmost trust in the managers and employees of the Municipality, regarding independence, impartiality and competence. Then the Mayor and Council were asked to commit to continuing with the process chosen so far, consisting in demanding compliance by the concessionaire with the contractual clauses in force, pursuing every action, even of a legal nature, useful for this purpose. But this time too, an agreement was not found, because the document appeared too soft in the eyes of several majority councillors.
Not just parking…
As, between hawks and doves, we have reached a stalemate, without the establishment of a strong and shared line dictated by the majority. The panacea? Vote sic et simpliciter against the agendas of the opposition, which cannot give direction to those who govern the city. Maybe, but since yesterday it has been clear that some of the councilors who support the Tarasconi Administration have more than one doubt, to put it mildly, about still trusting Lodetti Alliata’s companies. And if some positive news on bankability does not arrive soon, the climate in the centre-left majority will only get worse. With the risk of undermining the internal dialogue also on other very important issues, such as the maxi contract for municipal services and the general urban plan, which sooner or later will come to the fore in the Chamber of Palazzo Mercanti.
Giovanni Volpi, professional journalist, is the director of Mio Giornale.net. He started at Sole-24 Ore in 1993. Ten years later he moved to Mondadori, to Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni, where he also held the role of deputy director. He directed Guida TV, TelePiù and 2Tv; also at Mondadori he was deputy editor of Grazia. He collaborated with the Espresso Group as an editorial and journalistic consultant for the local Finegil newspapers.
