Garda’s Youth Mayors Lead Environment and Community Initiatives
There were already two, but now there are even three mayors of Garda’s capital city. Nobody, naturally, wants to take the position away from Felice Anelli, who was elected as the mayor during the administrative elections of June ’98.
But certainly experience, even if simulated, can be important for young people. Thus, after the official mayor, the one representing the S. Zeno district, here comes the mayor of the educational city for young people.
The project and election of the youth mayors
The project, involving as many as 1,700 students from schools, was launched in recent days and has already materialized in its first official act, namely the election campaign, followed by voting and the election of the mayor and the city council.
They will serve a one-year term and will be tasked with developing a concrete action program to be submitted for approval, for implementation by both the City Council and also the provincial government or the Region of Lombardy.
The mayor of the youth city is Patrizia Bleggi, 17 years old, a student at the local institute. Her list, “Passpartout“, won the election with 542 out of 1,414 votes cast, beating by 99 votes the list “Le ali della città“.
Members of the council and programs
“I have already chosen,” she says, “the assessors who will make up the city council. They are Stefano Brentel, Deputy Mayor; Chiara Boaretto, Sports Assessor; Elena Trombini, Culture and Shows; Ketti Lela, Ecology; Fabio Bertini, Institutional Relations; Marina Zanni, Society; Flavio Vida, Economy and relations with the labor market.”
The program — explains the newly elected mayor — is environment-centered. We plan to clean parks, beaches, streets, close the lakeside promenade on Sundays, establish a temporary employment agency, provide incentives for student businesses, organize open-air theater, musical gatherings, open a youth-managed radio station, build bike lanes, develop school agreements with public transport, activate a school health clinic, organize cultural exchanges, and hold assemblies with municipal representatives.
The involvement of students and the organization of the educational city
The educational city for young people, founded by the municipality with the commitment of Orlando Farinelli, involves as many as 1,754 students attending the Marco Polo trade institute, Bazzoli accounting school, the Hotel Management Institute, Bagatta high school, and the state secondary school Catullo.
The project, as mentioned, aims to operate a city run by young people, which will simulate a real community with banks, stock exchange, job agencies, businesses, a real estate agency, insurance companies, a theater troupe, a video production center, the press office of the congress center, as well as the youth city council.
School classrooms will serve as offices, bars, restaurants, and other structures found in a real city. The young people will be the true protagonists, collecting data and information, thus getting to know the real world in great detail.
Funding and future of the project
At the end of the year, the activity simulation will be evaluated. The Brescia Superintendent Office also contributed to the realization of the initiative by allocating a 15 million lire grant.
After this initial setup phase, the project is scheduled to launch during the 2000-2001 school year.
