C9 Beach Safety Service Selection Faces Court Ruling and Political Debate
Starting next Sunday, July 1st, the safe beaches service “must” also begin in C9. President Vito Oliari will therefore select the service provider from the two proposals received, submitted by the Associazione Trentina di Salvataggio Onlus and the Cooperativa Assistenti Bagnanti.
And since it is impossible to ignore the recent ruling of the TAR (Regional Administrative Court), it becomes very likely that the Cooperativa will be chosen, which obtained from the administrative court the annulment of the resolution by which C9, last year, chose the Associazione Onlus.
Implications of the ruling and possible appeals
However, the debate does not seem destined to end with the first-instance decision: the district is considering the opportunity to appeal to the Consiglio di Stato (Council of State), but the issue raised by the TAR could also directly concern the Province.
The administrative court considered that the two bidders for the contract were not on equal footing, as according to national regulations, the onlus associations are exempt from paying VAT, thereby “saving” an initial 20% compared to any other “commercial” competitor.
It is true that cooperatives also benefit from other types of advantages (for example, cooperative employees, but not those of onlus associations, if they are registered as members, can obtain significant discounts on social security contributions), but this is not the core issue.
Position of Rudy Signoretti and the goals of onlus organizations
Rudy Signoretti, vice president of the Associazione Trentina di Salvataggio Onlus, explains that the association will do absolutely nothing legally, as the board of directors has already decided not to challenge the TAR ruling in the previous case, because the costs involved were excessive.
Signoretti believes that it is profoundly wrong to set up a purely commercial competition, especially when it comes to this kind of activity.
The mission of onlus organizations is to provide a social service of public utility: in the case of safe beaches, the goal is to promote a culture of water safety that also includes courses, meetings, demonstrations, and debates.
It is not just about accounting, income, and expenses: this is demonstrated by the involvement of numerous volunteers (but also by the fact that in Molveno, on the lake where the association had a three-year contract with C5 for surveillance, there is a rubber boat with two assistants on weekends from early June: for free).
Onlus are specifically designed to produce low-cost services for public entities: they should even be granted a privileged status, considering their lack of commercial interest.