Garda Community Reaffirms Unity in 40th Assembly Amidst Strategic Reforms
Those who thought or expected that during the 40th General Assembly of the Comunità del Garda, held yesterday morning at the Sala consiliare of the Comune di Bardolino, conflicts or even ruptures with the new leadership elected last December 2 in Desenzano would emerge, had to return home feeling greatly disappointed. Instead, not only did everything go smoothly, but all the items on the agenda (2000 financial statement; Budget amendments for 2001, approximately 1.1 billion lire; determination of the President’s remuneration, 4.5 million lire per month, versus 1.5 million beforehand; statute revision) passed with unanimous approval from those present. The audience, including the speakers, was well supplied for this occasion.
Participants and topics discussed
Present alongside the acting president, Giuseppe Mongiello, were also the president of the Province of Verona, Aleardo Merlin, the regional assessor for culture of the Autonomous Province of Trento, Claudio Molinari, the assessor of the Province of Brescia, Mauro Parolini, the Regional Councilor for Veneto, Mario Rossi, the representative of the Mantuan municipalities, Bruno Rigetti, the president of the Garda Uno Consortium, Guido Maruelli (environment management and water quality), of the Brescia APT, Maurizio Banzola, and of the Garda Veronese APT, Marco Zaninelli; as well as the new general secretary, Lucio Ceresa.
In his speech, Mongiello stated that “the Garda Community today finds itself at a crucial and unavoidable crossroads that obliges us to clarify its identity, its specificity, and its actual influence within the social, economic, and cultural fabric of Garda.”
He added that “the local authorities, which should be the primary actors within the Community, must reclaim – Mongiello emphasized – their pride of belonging, definitively ending a state of crisis that has persisted for several years.”
Merlin, the president of the Province of Verona, also expressed satisfaction with how things are progressing within the Garda Community. This situation paves the way for the return of some municipalities that in previous years abandoned what was once called a “declining bureaucracy.”
Furthermore, Merlin stated that the return of the Verona Chamber of Commerce, which had distanced itself for many years and now, according to President Ferro, seems to be on the path to rejoining, is not excluded.
A similar trend appears to be occurring in the Province of Mantova. Paolo Elena, mayor of Toscolano Maderno—the last municipality at risk of withdrawal, having issued a suspension of its quota payment—seems, after a clarifying discussion with Mongiello, to be reconsidering: we will have to wait and see how future developments unfold!
Mauro Parolini, however, after criticizing the insolvent regional administrators of Veneto and other entities, explicitly highlighted one of the institutions that has somewhat fallen into obscurity—the Association of Garda Provinces, founded on April 9, 1997, by the presidents of the three provinces bordering Garda (Brescia, Trento, Verona), with Mantova added later, and the AIG, “Interregional Authority for Garda,” which has been inactive for over a decade and therefore no longer funded by the regions themselves.
According to Parolini, a return of the provinces to the field could serve as a reference point for the regions, which have paid little attention to this “Garda Region”.
In sum, for Mongiello and his Group, a future full of commitments and initiatives lies ahead, the foremost being convincing the defectors to return, revising the community statute—the now-appointed special Commission is already in place—and especially injecting new momentum into the strategic directions of the Community, which include security on and in the waters, transport routes, image, and the environment.