Desenzano Council Defends €32B spent on Local Projects Against Criticism
“Since taking office, the Desenzano municipal administration has completed or is about to complete works worth approximately 32 billion lire.” This statement is made by Mayor Cino Anelli, the entire City Council, and the majority councillors in response to comments made to our newspaper by Giordano Roveri, representative of Forza Italia of Rivoltella, who claimed that “the Anelli administration has shown neglect towards the problems of the populous district.” In the long list that Anelli and the majority wish to publicize, we find the social center, the middle school, and the community center (already completed), as well as the completed projects: road paving, the roundabout at Via Giovanni XXIII, a section of bicycle lane, the aqueduct at Tassinara, the bathing center at Spiaggia d’Oro, the sidewalk along Viale Agello, the flowerbeds in Via Parrocchiale, the reorganization of the Borgo di Sotto and Via Agello areas, the small square in front of S. Biagio Church, the roof replacement of the Madonna della Villa chapel, the ecological platform at Quaine, and finally the public and social housing settlements.
The upcoming projects include the new railway underpass at Via Pratomaggiore, the lakeside promenade, the new Anffas headquarters, the public parking lot near the “I Teatri” residence, and the roundabout with sidewalks at Via Colli Storici. The Council also highlights, without counting markets, exhibitions, concerts, and significant contributions to sports associations. The total expenditure amounts to approximately 32 billion lire.
At this point, Anelli and his fellow councilors ask, “What does Roveri have to complain about? He has publicly and more than once used arrogant and aggressive tones toward the administrators, obsessively focusing the discussion solely on topics of his interest at the expense of constructive dialogue.” However, the Council offers another consideration: “If this is the beginning of the electoral campaign, and someone intends to conduct it solely by denigrating the work of the mayor and the council or, worse, by attacking individual assessors in hopes of finding vulnerabilities (the reference is to Rivoltella assessor Giuliano Garagna, ed.), to create rifts and opposition, these calculations are twice as wrong.”
“First because the administration is determined not to respond to sterile and bitter polemics with the remaining time, but to complete its program and provide concrete answers to the needs of the citizens of Desenzano. Second, because,” the Council continues, “despite objective difficulties and bureaucratic obstacles, sometimes intentionally planted, it has carried out a genuinely positive effort.”
Moreover, the accusation of “conducting a behavior akin to the Santa Inquisition during a public meeting in Rivoltella” has been refuted. The administration merely “met with the president, vice president, and treasurer of the Rivoltella Traders Association to discuss some collaboration issues.” Regarding the “absence of the neighborhood patrol officer,” the Council finally states that “thanks to the expansion of the municipal police force, the vigilance service will be intensified even in Rivoltella, with a daily patrol on the territory and coverage during the early night hours.”
