Merger in Valcuvia, the mayors: “We will adapt to the referendum result”

 There will not be an alliance among the powerful municipalities at the expense of the weaker ones, but, on the contrary, the former city halls will become service-providing centers for citizens with mobility issues and also the roles of the “promayor” and  “consultants” will be created, that will take stock of the needs of the single communities.

From little more than a month to the municipalities merger referendum day, that will take place on the first of December, the unification project concerning, among the others, five Valcuvia municipalities, is being clearly explained.

The shout “I was excluded” that Alberto Rossi, ex mayor of Mesenzana (bottom right photo) andnow member of a new council group cried out (mentioning the singer with his same surname) some days ago in a Varesenews article is the occasion to return and focus on this topic: it was possible to read “there is the risk that some municipalities might want to bully the smaller or less represented ones.”

Rossi’s article was the excuse for an answer sent to this newspaper and signed by 5 mayors of the municipalities called to decide  about the merger between Mesenzana, Grantola, Ferrera di Varese, Masciago Primo and Cassano Valcuvia.

The answering-to-Rossi letter’s signers write: “While the works on the merger project are still in progress, someone has already started the election campaign proposing the same old political propaganda that is so damaging for our country, for institutions and for our territory, made of provocations, discord and of being always versus someone or something. In this case, with the fear that the nearer towns armies could attack Mesenzana, he is proposing himself as the only savior of his city, putting it to the centre of the contention, so that it could dominate other smaller municipalities which are merging with a lot of sacrifices.”

It is written in the well-structured document: “As mayors of the five author municipalities, together with our merger project administrations, in this time, instead of starting our election campaigns for nothing, we are engaged in informing our citizens, that will vote during the next referendum of the first of December, yes or no for the merger, what does it mean to try unifying, instead of dividing and the advantages that could hail from it. The law imposes us to join together in different ways within the next year, and today we are engaged in ensuring our citizens will be informed about our administrations choice and that they will vote in a conscious way. Yes or No. Yes, because in our city councils we have deliberated that if the referendum indicate a particular will, we will adapt to that will, whether it be yes or no for the merger.”

The objective, clearly explained by the merger mayors, will be to “assure the representativeness and the identity of all the involved municipalities, without ignoring the smaller authority but assuring it the same dignity and the possibility of not disappearing absorbed by the bigger municipality, in the future.”

And here it is a reference to the figures that will assure participation and representation to the local communities, even if still in an early phase: the administrators write “The agreement made by the current mayors, translated into articles of the statute draft that is being written, will define the new municipal headquarters in a democratic way, founding on objective criteria and not only focusing on the arrogance of the strongest. And an identity will be granted also to cities with no municipal headquarters, however the elections will result, even thanks to the establishment of “city halls”, in the former municipal offices, that will keep providing services to the weak users and will be the vitality symbol of the old Municipality. We have created the role of “Promayors” and “consultants”, represented by inhabitants in the former municipality, that will grant the representation of their territories and their people in the city Council of the new Municipality and will be the influential spokespersons of the citizens needs.” (left side photo, a Grantola detail.)

The mayors conclude: “We are trying to protect the local associations so that after the merger they can represent their territories continuity and memory, also trying to take advantage of the current municipal employees professionalism so that they would not be penalized by the changes and that they could work together, motivated and gratified”, all this by means of “every communication forms (meetings, school papers, direct contacts, forums) to the citizens, to the associations and to the interests bringing organizations, so that everyone could be informed and everyone could express their opinion pro or versus.”

The letter ends with a wish: “We hope everyone else will be present to the election of the new municipality, during the next Spring, we hope they will propose new programmes to grant the identity and representativeness of the smaller municipalities, further than good government ones. Or all the effort we made to reach this situation will be vain.”