To the natural euphoria due to the excellent electoral results obtained by the center-left a Barinow comes the moment of reflection, of discussion. We think about what will be the objectives that Bari will have to achieve at least in the next 5 years and what will be the new administrative structures that can guarantee the achievement of those objectives.
In practice, the concepts widely expressed during the election campaign by Lecceseenvironment, fight against land consumption, right to housing, personal services just to name a few, will now have to materialize in delegations and be assigned to the councilors. Not an easy job in which personal skills and political balances must be evaluated. While waiting for the official proclamation of mayor that should take place by mid-July and that of the councilors that could be sanctioned much later in time, Leccese and his team are working hard. Of course, the twenty-year progressive government does not end with the double mandates of Emiliano and then Decaro, but the administrative elections in June have sanctioned the victory of a very large field that has allowed Vito Leccese to reach 70% of the consensus. A field that goes from the Communist Party to the 5 Star Movement, obviously passing through the Democratic Party that chose Leccese, to all the civic lists headed by Decaro and Emiliano, to the Greens and the lists that supported Laforgia. In short, if we do not proceed with the Cencelli manual, we will also have to give visibility to those who supported Leccese.
The agreement
There are positions in the council but not only that. Leccese and Laforgia signed a pact even before the run-off: there would have been convergence on who would reach the run-off and so it was. Now we should proceed in the spirit of sharing starting with the programs and keeping in mind the electoral weight, the result achieved, the lawyer has already said this clearly in these columns. “The problem is that we have a political agreement dating back in time and public, the agreement is that we will govern together respecting the proportions of the first round, which say that we are worth a third of the center-left coalition, with all that follows not from the point of view of the seats, of the departments, but of the weight that we should have in the next government. The first point is not that of the positions but that of the common program”. Laforgia trusts Leccese, perhaps he trusts less the parties that wanted Leccese as mayor and that might not allow him to keep what was established with him. But if the guessing game about the departments continues in broad daylight or under the radar, in reality the mayor, after the brief break over the past weekend, has resumed reasoning with a few people close to him, especially about delegations. Because this is one of the points that he has already made known first and foremost to the Democratic Party: the deputy mayor will be a woman, gender equality in the composition of the council, review of delegations and rotation. So now, even if informally, at the Leccese table, delegations are being discussed, how many and which ones they should be. According to the Consolidated Local Authorities Act, the number of departments cannot exceed a third of the number of councilors, ergo no more than 12. Now there are 10, if it were to reach 12, an increase in spending would have to be foreseen in the budget. But returning to the delegations, it is practically certain that Urban Planning and Land Management will not be delegations in the hands of the mayor, as they were with Decaro. In this regard, Leccese has already spoken of a department of beauty «that will somehow include the issues of land use planning, the protection of cultural heritage. I firmly believe that the city that today expresses an incredible tourist appeal must above all be a city in which the quality of life has very high standards. For this reason, we must work hard, especially reconciling the different interests in the field». Leccese also spoke of a delegation of “Mayor of the night” who will not be a sheriff but a mediator between the different interests. And again of a sort of department of happiness «what was once the department of “personal services”. If we make them more accessible, easier in terms of use, citizens will be happier».
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