by Antonio Passanese
The first female mayor in the history of the city of Florence is the niece of the mayor of the 1966 flood, the writer and Christian Democrat parliamentarian Piero Bargellini: the psychologist Sara Funaro (Pd), 48 years old, outgoing councilor for Welfare, will lead a supported municipal council by a coalition with Greens-Sinistra, +Europa, Action and civic lists, but without Italia Viva of former mayor Matteo Renzi (with whom he had several spats during the long electoral campaign).
And once again the centre-right forces – who had relied on the civic candidacy of the former director of the Uffizi Eike Schmidt – will sit on the opposition benches of the Salone dei Duecento in Palazzo Vecchio. “I feel the great emotion of being the first citizen of Florence”, commented Funaro, elected in the run-off with 60.56% of the preferences. “The first female mayor is certainly a historic fact for this city,” he added. “I can bring my vision, my skills, my sensibilities to build a Florence that is a Florence that truly responds to the needs of every citizen. As I have done in all these ten years as councilor, I will give my all to do the best for our Florence and above all I will be a mayor of all Florentines without excluding anyone and for me this will be a priority absolute”.
The new mayor then met the Florentines in Piazza della Signoria “for a collective embrace with this wonderful community”. Sara Funaro, born in 1976, began her administrative adventure in 2014 alongside Mayor Dario Nardella as councilor for Welfare and Healthcare, Housing, Equal Opportunities, Reception and Integration. In 2019 you were elected to the City Council and reconfirmed again on the council with delegations to Welfare and Healthcare, Immigration and Education.
The defeated Eike Schmidt, current director (on leave) of the Capodimonte museum, despite the disappointment, nevertheless announced that “from today I am the leader of the opposition in the city council. We have gained ground in the run-off, a result that replicates that of Giovanni Galli against Matteo Renzi in 2009. I thank all those who have committed themselves to me. We would like to carry forward the proposed projects also by the opposition. The problem of security, that of a true ecology, are issues for which we will work with great concern the PD’s plans to remove greenery from the city. We will have to be incisive on these and other issues.” The former number one of the Uffizi was applauded by his supporters when he joined the electoral committee in Viale Gramsci in Florence.
And after months of cross accusations and back and forth, the new mayor – at the close of the polls – held out her hand: “I would also like to congratulate my opponent. I hope to be able to shake his hand soon, and I would however like to dedicate this victory to a person who is no longer here, my grandfather Piero Bargellini (the mayor of the 1966 flood, ed.), and from afar I would like to tell him that today I too am marrying this city”.
Finally, as regards turnout, it should be noted that of the 288 thousand eligible voters, 138,444 voted in Sunday’s and yesterday’s ballot, equal to 47.98%, one of the lowest figures from 2004 to today. In the first round, 185,954 people put their ballots in the ballot box, 64.44% of Florentines.
