Cesena is getting closer to the vote, after Marco Giangrandi it is the turn of Marco Casali, the centre-right mayoral candidate interviewed by CesenaToday in view of the local elections on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June. Casali is supported by Fratelli d’Italia, Lega, Forza Italia and the civic list Insieme per Casali mayor.
How did Marco Casali’s candidacy in the elections come about?
“After many years in which a civic candidacy was decided in Cesena, the center-right has opted for a political candidate who, like me, has many years of experience in the city council. The convergence on my name was easy, there were no delays or clutches”
How would you present the center-right coalition that you lead in this election cycle to voters?
“Ours is a solid coalition which contrasts with a fluid coalition like that of Lattuca in which 11 parties have been resurrected. We share some common values. I think the important innovation is the conjugation with a higher political level, this is possible thanks to the connection of the three parliamentarians who are very present in the area: Alice Buonguerrieri (Fdi), Jacopo Morrone (Lega) and Rosaria Tassinari (Forza Italia)”.
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How do you see the coalition led by Enzo Lattuca? What do you think the Lattuca council has done most wrong in these five years? Would it save anything from these 5 years?
“On the other hand I see a coalition that is too broad, I wonder how there can be a convergence on ethical issues between the popular Catholics and Fondamenta-Avs. Ultimately the M5s was also included even if many say it is not the representative one of the base, this will be decided by the voters. I think that during Covid the action of the Municipality was good, there was a good synergy with the government. As regards the flood, however, the judgment is terrible, more came from the Municipality controversies rather than facts, tiring propaganda like when it was said that the government was throwing the ball in the corner. The government has done and is doing everything it can, the problem is that for many years the riverbeds have been treated as ecosystems and not as hydraulic corridors. I really appreciated the honest attitude of Mayor Zattini in Forlì who admitted that not enough had been done and said he felt indebted. In Cesena on the one hand there was a great reaction from the community, I think of the passerby saved the life of the lawyer Emanuele Gentili. I think of the Cesena ultras and the many ultras who came from different cities in Italy to help. On the other hand, there is the Municipality which had some flaws, for example why were there no sandbags on the river?
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There would be an alleged gap in competence and experience, what do you say to the outgoing mayor Lattuca who defined the opposition as “not ready to govern”?
“I think it was an instrumental and denigrating polemical outing, I have been attending the city council for years, I was president of the agricultural council. How can you assume that a person like Pascarella does not have experience and skills in the security sector? Or that a person like Castagnoli has no expertise in the social sector. The truth is that the ‘Palazzo’ has become complex because they have been governing for 60 years, I believe that variability would guarantee better performance of the Municipality, it should be the citizens themselves who ask for alternation , all the cities that have the UNESCO mark have increased attendance in the post-covid period, the Malatestiana has had a drop in attendance, from 21 thousand to 17 thousand”.
On cycle paths you have often spoken of the Municipality’s “excessive green ideology”, what is your recipe for mobility in Cesena?
“We are not against cycle/pedestrian paths but we believe that mobility must take into account everyone’s needs, including the elderly and frail people. The objective to which the Municipality aspires of having one in two people from Cesena who moves on foot or by bike 14 million euros have been invested in the bicipolitana, in some industrial and artisan areas such as via Romagna, the bicipolitana has narrowed the road and trucks no longer pass there”
Three proposals for the city of Cesena?
As far as public order is concerned, we need to get involved in the station, the renderings are very suggestive but to stop drug dealing we need anti-drug dogs and a permanent presence of the police. The people of Cesena are accustomed to a high standard of security and action must be taken against crime. Tourism and culture, Cesena is off, for example we don’t have tourist buses, the Municipality has never thought about where to park them. We have excellent ‘food’ fairs but we need to raise the level of events. Cesena is the city of the four Popes, much more can be done on culture, someone joked about the proposal of a connection with the Rocca but if you have such an important place high up you have to connect it with the city”
This city experienced the flood, how do you judge the Municipality’s actions in this emergency? What would you do the next day after becoming mayor?
“I always say that we need to work on the fundamentals, work on the sewage system, clean the Savio riverbed, riverbeds should not be treated as ecosystems, some critical issues derive from urbanization which has taken place haphazardly, I am thinking of the ‘Chernobyl’ neighbourhood, all ‘former sugar factory, we need to cut fewer ribbons and invest in these interventions even if they are expensive, I understand that talking about sewers doesn’t have much appeal, but Cesena must be made safe, 4 out of 5 expansion tanks have not been built, we need to intervene upstream to protect Cesena and stop the water, which did not happen in May a year ago. As regards reimbursements to private individuals, Figliuolo has a lot of money, but it seems to me that the population is not being helped to understand that there is. ‘We need experts. To see the money, the requests must be routed in a certain way, I don’t think the Municipality is putting much effort into this’
There is often talk in Cesena about the crisis in retail trade and the relaunch of the historic centre, what is your ‘recipe’?
“I would say that the horse has now escaped, the decisions taken over the years by the municipal administrations have led to the doubling of Montefiore which will enjoy an additional nine hectares in Case Frini. If the concept is ‘I’ll go shopping at Montefiore and go to the center for an aperitif ‘the shops are obviously dying, also because they also have to deal with the competition from the web ‘monster’ Amazon. Certainly as far as the center is concerned we need to increase use, more parking, even after the Sacred Heart the balance has remained negative since the days of the closing the car park in Piazza della Libertà is another wrong project that we cannot tolerate until 2057, the idea of creating a small shopping center has failed, give it a social and dynamic vocation, let it be returned to the city”
Infrastructure, what are your priorities?
“We are taking a first step with Lotto Zero thanks to Deputy Minister Bignami, it is not possible that the Secante ends up in an orchard, but there is also the problem of the connection to the sea, an alternative solution to Via Cesenatico must be found, how much time do they waste people from Cesena to get to the sea? Then there is the problem of the E45, we pay for the clumsy choice of maintaining it as a highway, on the infrastructure the plate is crying for a territory like the Romagna one which attracts 42 million visitors a year a good ring road, those of Rimini, Cesena and Ravenna have big problems”
And finally an appeal to the people of Cesena to vote
“I ask the people of Cesena to inform themselves, to watch our program also on the Marco Casali.org website, they will be able to understand the differences and decide in the voting booth whether it is right to change or not”
