Excitement. Enthusiasm. Even without prosecco, the mood today at the announcement of the administrative council for new Lucca Mayor Mario Pardini was ebullient. All nine new assessors as the delegates are called, as well as three Consiglieri Incaricati, Special Counsels, attended the meeting in the Hall of Mirrors of City Hall.
The mayor’s stated priority: “Getting started. When? By Friday, no later than Monday. All of the macro-delegates named today, all are team players,” says Pardini, “and all are eminently qualified for their jobs.” Those openings that remain on the council will be filled by the mayor as more qualified candidates are identified, he said.
Voting for the Council President will take place Monday, July 17, 2022.
It was a time for the opposition to take charge and show its capabilities.
To Remo Santini, himself a mayoral candidate five years ago who lost a hard-fought campaign by just a few hundred votes, goes the job of exporting the “Lucca brand” as the city’s assessor for Tourism.
While Fabio Barsanti, who ran against Pardini in the first round of voting is now the Assessor for Sports, Sports Infrastructure (within the city and its suburbs), and Civil Protection.
Another former mayoral candidate, architect Elvio Cecchini, serves as Special Counsel for Verification and Actualization of the city’s Operating Plan.
Pardini’s election to mayor took two referendums. The first vote gave his center-left opponent Giovanni Raspini the lead but only by an insufficient number of votes. In the second round, Raspini again seemed to have taken the lead until the final hours when Pardini’s supporters, many of whom shifted allegiance from the other right wing mayoral candidates, were finally able to score a definitive victory for him on June 26, 2022.
According to the mayor’s office, the Council consists of the following Assessors:
Fabio Barsanti is named Assessor for Sports, Sports Infrastructure (within the city and its suburbs), and Civil Protection.
Moreno Bruni for Budget, Taxes and Personnel
Nicola Buchignani for Public Works, Traffic and Streets, Private Buildings
Cristina Consani for Environmental Issues, Ecological Objectives and policies affecting Youth
Paola Granucci for Commerce, Production and Innovation
Giovanni Minniti, serves as vice-mayor, and Assessor fo Domestic and Social Policies, Security
Mia Pisano for Cultural Affairs, a position she plans to use in part to support the mayor’s plans to assure Lucca’s all-inclusiveness by promoting gender equality in concrete ways.
Remo Santini for Tourism
Simona Testaferrata for Scholastic Instruction and Infrastructure
The Mayor himself will be the Assessor of Urban Planning, Major Events and their participating agencies, and Verification of the PNRR. PNRR stands for the Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza, the National Plan for Restarting and Resilience, as defined by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. The plan aims to reform public administration, the justice system, promote simplification of the bureaucracy and improve competition.
Additionally, there are three Special Counsels:
Elvio Cecchini for Verification and Actualization of the city’s Operating Plan
Lorenzo Del Barga for Historic Traditions
Alessandro Di Vito for Health
