by Pierpaolo Pierleoni
First public confrontation, last night at the Beniamino Gigli cultural centre, between the three candidates for mayor of Porto Sant’Elpidio. It was promoted by the Cna, which submitted seven questions to the three protagonists of the electoral campaign, before calling for the final vote. Security and mobility, participation and tourism, budgetary and social policies, the vision of the future, the topics on which Massimiliano Ciarpella, Gian Vittorio Battilà and Paolo Petrini (this is the order in which they will appear on the ballot paper) discussed during the evening, after the introductory greetings entrusted to the president of the territorial Cna of Porto Sant’Elpidio, Gaetano Pieroni.
On safety, the proposal to implement video surveillance and municipal police personnel is unanimous, Battilà proposes bartering with companies that invest in safety with reductions on Tari and Imu. For Petrini, the central problem is drug dealing and he hopes that the police will deal with accidents to free up time and resources for the carabinieri and the police, and he hypothesizes the use of drones to fight illegal practices. For Ciarpella, security also generates development and the candidate pushes for forms of public-private supervision.
From right Massimiliano Ciarpella, Paolo Petrini and Gian Vittorio Battilà
We are talking about mobility, according to Petrini, «”combs” will have to start from the Adriatic cycle path, which will allow you to ride your bike even to school or work. The culture of the bike must go beyond the sporting sense in which we understand it and involve everyone. On accessibility, it is urgent to intervene to improve the via Ravenna underpass to the south, on the northern underpass of the former Ligmar for now we have to wait, there is also a surety policy ». Ciarpella sees improvements to public green areas and lighting as priorities: «We were forerunners on soft mobility, but then we stopped. We are thinking of a large urban regeneration and redevelopment project for via Marina and the Faleriense». Battilà recalls that «already 5 years ago the Civic Laboratory proposed the improvement and removal of architectural barriers in all railway underpasses. On the former Ligmar, as on the Fim, it would be enough to send a Pec and report the obligations not carried out by private individuals”.
Third argument is participation, all candidates respond favorably to the willingness to set up a permanent commission for concertation with trade associations. For Ciarpella, citizens’ trust can be recovered by involving them in decision-making processes. Battilà sees the possibility of an economic consultation, the activation of agreements with professional orders, the creation of an urban center as a meeting space between professionals, categories and the Municipality. Petrini thinks that disintermediation fuels populism, he hopes for more support for high school graduates and graduates, he excludes the Europa desk, “a typical electoral campaign proposal, but unlikely, because it requires high-cost professionalism”.
On tourism, Battilà immediately aims for the lilac flag to encourage tourism for people with disabilities and that of owners of 4-legged friends. Looking ahead, it aims at European bicycle tourism. Spirits warm up on the theme of cliffs. Petrini recalls the million and a half euros invested by the Municipality to design the cliffs, Ciarpella enhances the commitment of the center-right-led Region, with the sums allocated by Pnrr and the Rendis platform. «With 1.5 million – Petrini points out – do you know how many asphalt floors a Municipality makes? The Administration has allocated them to have 4.5 million of the first removal of the cliffs from the previous regional council. This is the truth. Acquaroli’s party was the only one to vote against the Pnrr». Ciarpella replies: “The old regional council has foreseen 4.5 million, whoever entered later allocated it and believed in a project for which nothing had been done in the previous decades under the center-left leadership”.
On fiscal policies, Petrini aims for a punctual tariff on waste and to confirm the Irpef exemption threshold at 12,500 euros. Ciarpella thinks of modulated rates on the Imu of buildings based on the areas of the city and the income capacity of the buildings, together with the tax reduction for new youth activities. Battilà recalls the new Tari regulations for businesses and sees the possibility of tax cancellations to encourage youth and female entrepreneurship.In social policies, Ciarpella focuses on premises for group medicine and incentives for prevention and screening courses, Battilà would like free public spaces for associations and calls for tenders on the assignment of rewarding sports facilities for those who collaborate with the world of volunteering. Among the solutions also the time bank. Petrini promises a day center for non self-sufficient elderly people and support for the medical transport of the elderly to accompany them for examinations.
Each of the three candidates is asked to summarize their vision of the city. Battilà mentions a freight village near the A14 tollbooth, the need for a new railway underpass in the extreme south and underlines: «Since I was a child I have heard that Porto Sant’Elpidio has great potential, I would like it to finally exploit it to do something exceptional”. Petrini underlines the social value of small businesses and the need to increase the sense of community. «In Cretarola, is it more useful to invest 10 thousand euros to encourage a minimarket or for a sidewalk in via Sila? For me, the first hypothesis is more important. Small businesses must be revived, lower rents and incentives for those who open ». Ciarpella, on the other hand, would like «a small tourist port or mooring point. I see a future only if we are a city for young people”.
There is still time for the roll call. Paolo Petrini wants to «shift the attention from things to people. I made Porto Sant’Elpidio grow years ago, I think I can do it again». Ciarpella thinks «that we can move from things to people if things are done well first. I want a city that decides after listening and solves problems that have not been solved for decades like Ligmar and Fim». Battilà praises «my excellent team, the only non-party-centric one. A party that re-proposes those who were there 25 years ago has failed. Our program not only tells you what to do, but also how. Freshness and discontinuity are on this side».
The post Porto Sant’Elpidio to the vote: projects and vision of the candidates, sparks on the “paternity” of the cliffs at the first confrontation by Cna first appeal on Cronache Fermane.
