“The donation to the parish remains as far as we are concerned.” Sergio Petroncini and Eros Brunelli, respectively representative of the territorial group of Forlì and municipal councilor of the 5 Star Movement of Forlì, return to the donations of the Five Star Movement to the territories affected by the flood, reconstructing the fundraising process. “The donations concerned 4 municipalities in Emilia Romagna: 150 thousand euros in Bologna, 240 thousand euros in Cesena, 280 thousand euros in Faenza and 330 thousand euros in Forlì for a total of one million euros – begin Petroncini and Brunelli -. The money was donated where we are in the council (Faenza), where we are in opposition to the center left (Cesena), where we are in opposition to the center right (Forlì), where we are not present in the city council (Bologna), where we vote for the mayor and where there is no voting. We thought exclusively of the affected populations.”
“Our parliamentarians and regional councilors have always taken this money out of their pockets and donated it to the community – they continue -. For many years, for example, we have financed microcredit for small and medium-sized businesses and if some craftsmen today continue their activity is also for the donation that the 5 Star Movement offered him. Returning to Forlì, the process began in August last year when the national team asked us for one or two projects for our city very alive, the Romiti neighborhood in a state of total devastation, hundreds of people displaced, entire streets unusable, we contacted the neighborhood manager Stefano Valmori, who we thank, who pointed out various critical issues and places of socialization that were destroyed afterwards an examination of what had been reported to us, we at the M5s decided to propose to the national team the restoration of the multipurpose room in via Locchi and the scout headquarters in the parish. The first structure was a meeting and aggregation point for many citizens of the western area of Forlì, especially the elderly and many initiatives took place there for the whole city while the second was one of the few youth aggregation centers which we now find almost only in parish context”.
“A fruitful path of collaboration began with the scouts, which led to the development of a project, but when everything was ready we realized that their national regulation prohibits receiving donations from political groups – it is illustrated -. Given the spirit with which we had worked, it was decided to remain in both the parish and youth sectors, so the project to restore the multi-purpose sports facility which had been totally destroyed both due to the many meters of water and the passage of hundreds of tankers to remove the water took shape. in the lower parts of the parish area. The Municipality on the one hand and the parish on the other developed the two projects sent for approval to the national bodies of the 5 Star Movement. The last word belonged to the Five Star Movement members who, before Christmas, with online voting they approved our projects and those of the other flooded cities almost unanimously. The rest is recent history.”
Petroncini and Brunelli argue: “After a meeting in the parish between Don Loriano and the regional coordinators of the 5 Star Movement Gabriele Lanzi and Marco Croatti, the leader Giuseppe Conte was supposed to come to the parish in Forlì on Tuesday to sign the donation in front of a notary, exclusively for protection of the parish priest Don Loriano, while for the public part the institutional process was followed with the money already available to the Municipality. The climate of a harsh electoral campaign, which on the occasion of the event we tried to dilute in every way by inviting the mayor Gian Luca Zattini, the various souls of the flood committees and representatives of the neighborhood, assuring everyone of the institutional nature of the event. But this climate meant that the donation to the parish could not materialize”.
Petroncini and Brunelli continue: “We respect and understand the position of Bishop Livio Corazza and the Curia, above the political parties and for the protection of a sacred place like the parish. We will let the days and tones of the electoral campaign pass which see us as protagonists alongside of the mayoral candidate Graziano Rinaldini, but as far as we are concerned the donation to the parish remains because we would like to see children and young people chasing a ball or hitting a basket as soon as possible and we hope that the ceremony that could not take place during this particular period can be celebrated after the elections, with all the necessary authorizations, whoever is called by the citizens to lead our city. That’s why we are there and we will be there. Finally, we know well that other neighborhoods of Forlì would have deserved the same support, but objectively, considering that the initial process started in August, at that time the choice of the Romiti neighborhood appeared the most natural; in this we ask for the understanding of the entire city.”
