Adriana Poli Bortone returns to Palazzo Carafa as mayor. The day after your election you decided to immediately meet the employees gathered in the council chamber. The first citizen brought with her a tape measure to take measurements of the windows on which new planters will be positioned. «It’s a strange emotion. It’s as if I left this room yesterday. I don’t see a divided city, but a democratic one”, underlined the mayor as she took possession of the room that will host her for the next five years. Meanwhile, Adriana Poli Bortone receives best wishes from Archbishop Michele Seccia who asks her to “take care above all of the suburbs”.
The meeting with the employees
«I have found the staff who I see are ready to share the work which will certainly be heavy. I know that everyone works under conditions of great stress because the number of staff is very small. I have the ambition to do a lot and therefore we will have to come to an agreement to see how to move forward, but I am sure that we will find the right key”, declared the mayor who, in the last five years, had frequented the city hall as a councilor municipal. «I want to put colored planters precisely to give a touch of joy to Piazza Sant’Oronzo which has become more squalid. Let’s try to cheer people up with a little color. Flowers are joy, beauty, aesthetics and feeling. The proclamation should be made in a very short time. As for the City Council, let’s see if it can be done immediately or if it will be postponed for a few days. It seems to me that there is a government measure that has postponed the dates. We have to check in the next few hours”, explained Poli Bortone.
Archbishop Seccia
«I don’t allow myself to make recommendations to the new mayor: he doesn’t need them, his experience is a great guarantee. I only ask you to take care of the suburbs above all, to listen to the hardship and poverty that comes from some neighborhoods of Lecce. Families and lonely people who often choose hiding and silence in order to maintain a residue of dignity. I ask you to know how to invest your energies in young people who I see are increasingly attracted to escape towards other shores, not to neglect the disabled and to work to combat the various forms of dependency”, states Archbishop Seccia who adds: “I feel the duty to thank the outgoing mayor, Carlo Salvemini. Even with him, in all these years that have coincided with my episcopal service in this diocese, there has been no shortage of moments of discussion and fruitful collaboration.”
