The coordination of the civic committees of Rimini shows disappointment after the meeting with the mayor Jamil Sadegholvaad, called to ask for the reintroduction of the Neighborhoods as forms of participation in the administrative life of the city. The meeting was held on June 26 at Palazzo Garampi, also attended by Councilors Mattia Morolli and Juri Magrini.
“The meeting immediately highlighted deep tensions that characterize the management of the city, highlighting a clear divergence of visions on civic participation and administrative management methods”, explained the representatives of the Rione Clodio Residents Committee, Viserbapuntoeacapo, for the environment of Rivabella, No to the SS16 variant, Borgo Marina, Borgo San Giuliano, Associazione Quartiere 5, Ex – Questura and Quartiere Padulli – Covignano.
“The Coordination of Committees, created to reduce the distance between the administration and citizens and to seek together with the administration solutions to the crucial problems that affect our city such as traffic, the protection of greenery, urban decorum and security, has expressed the need for more direct participation in administrative decisions by proposing concrete actions to the Council such as the reintroduction of the Neighborhoods as meeting places and bridges between the needs of citizens and administrative policies. In particular, it has proposed the establishment of a contact person in the Council dedicated to coordination with the Committees, and the scheduling of meetings with predetermined deadlines to discuss specific issues, expressing the will to activate a greater presence of the Mayor and the Council in the various territories to listen directly to citizens”, they explain.
“To the great disappointment of the Coordination, the Mayor’s responses, sometimes expressed with unexpectedly irritable tones, highlighted a significant gap in views, demonstrating his refusal to change the current methods of communication with citizens. On the neighborhoods, raising the tone of the discussion, the Mayor responded vehemently that they will never be implemented under his administration and that the administration will make “urban forums” available to citizens, managed by facilitators, who remain figures external to the realities of the territory with respect to the neighborhoods. Therefore, the formula of information meetings is preferred to the neighborhoods, in which decisions reach citizens as service communications and where decisions are already taken and non-negotiable”.
In addition, “the Mayor makes it known that he already interacts with various categories and associations present in the city, stating that he personally knows the problems of the neighborhoods better than the Coordination and the individual Committees. It is a pity, however, that when asked specifically how he plans to solve the problem of traffic in the historic center, he replied that he does not know how! He declares that he has been left alone and without solutions even by the Order of Engineers to whom he turned. When it was pointed out that the greenery of Rivabella is located on a network at high hydrogeological risk that carries out an important function of rain drainage, he replied that Rimini has worked a lot on the sewerage system – true – but the integration between efficient sewerage and areas left green can guarantee effective management of rainwater considering the catastrophic flooding phenomena that we are unfortunately witnessing”.
In fact, “he did not give answers to the serious facts reported by the Padulli – Covignano committee regarding house fires and the bankruptcy of many building cooperatives that have left many citizens homeless, losing their life savings. No answer on the problem of roads, inadequate and insufficient cycle and pedestrian paths for the disabled and the elderly. No answer on the parks without trees and any attribute that could define them as such. When asked why the project for the alternative bridge/tunnel to the Tiberius bridge, present in the program presented during the election campaign, has disappeared, remaining in fact only a promise, he clearly stated that the alternative bridge/tunnel will no longer be built, therefore the disastrous road system
riminese is condemned to remain so indefinitely. One of the reasons he gave for why it cannot be done is that “Rimini has been urbanized in an unlikely way”, we had noticed that too. The problem is that decisions on urbanization are delegated to the Municipality, so we find this statement curious. It is also for these reasons that the Committees were created to highlight planning errors both in terms of traffic and urbanization”.
On the topic of State Route 16 “it continues to be declared that the Municipality has already proposed some changes aimed at reducing its consequences on the territory, maintaining that the renewal of the VIA and therefore the final decision on the implementation of the project is exclusively up to the government, implying that what can be done to reduce the enormous environmental impact universally recognized (even by Bignami himself), has already been done. We would like to highlight for the umpteenth time how the changes are marginal and how the project remains substantially stuck to 20 years ago. From an administration that professes itself, every time, very attentive to greenery and environmental issues and that accuses its predecessors for the methods of wild urbanization adopted, we would like to see more dedication and activism, in supporting the need for real and concrete changes”.
The Coordination of Committees therefore, “expresses deep disappointment for the Administration’s refusal to take into consideration the requests presented with valid arguments, and for the lack of recognition of their representativeness. Although they represent a significant number of citizens, the Coordination of Committees has been ignored and belittled, considered inferior to the electoral legitimacy that, obviously, the Mayor possesses. It is considered appropriate to remind this Administration that the Mayor should embody unity and
the representation of all citizens, regardless of their electoral preferences. Being Mayor means being the point of reference for the entire community, working for the common good and listening to all voices, even the discordant ones, and not letting citizens be burdened by decisions taken from above and not shared. Instead, with his words, the mayor has demonstrated a divisive attitude, distancing himself from those fundamental principles that should guide those who hold public office”.
Therefore, “despite the difficulties encountered, the Coordination of Committees will continue its action to support citizens in raising emerging issues and proposing concrete solutions to improve communication and strengthen democratic participation in public life in Rimini”.
