Public Assemblies and Public Spaces: The Municipality Responds to the City
The Municipality responds united against the attack of Assessors Colle, Mar and Boraso, who claim that they have the power to stop that which, by right, the Municipality, and above all the citizens, cannot see negated: the possibility to meet and debate in public assemblies and in public spaces.
Together all the Chairpersons, from Anna Messinis to Paolo Tagliapietra, from Riccardo Stellon to Pietro Bortoluzzi, from Paolo Camilla to Sergio Gasperini, from Alessandra Bertotto to Marino Marin have reaffirmed that the City regulations that stipulate public assembly as a right must be respected.
Therefore the first event will be the public assembly on 27 February in Sala San Leonardo which will deal specifically with schools, and will feature a presentation by Giovanni Impastato, the brother of Peppino, who was a victim of the Mafia. There will also be a presentation of the book “Beyond the 100 Steps” which warns us not to lower our guard when confronting a danger such as the Mafia.
Another event will take place on 16 March, with a public assembly entitled “The Lagoon of Wonders”, regarding the subject of the government owned islands that are at risk of being sold off.
The following event will take place on 27 March with a public assembly which will address a delicate and sad subject, that of gambling addiction.
The Chairpersons must express their opposition, then, to what was asserted in our meeting with the City regarding public spaces, when Assessors Colle, Mar and Boraso stated their opinion that public spaces are costly and therefore that they could no longer make them available unless there was a usage fee imposed, or only if they were used in a very few instances.
We strongly condemn, in particular, the position expressed primarily by Assessor Boraso regarding Palazzo Da Mula. The Assessor asserted that, again because of expenses, it is best that the Palazzo remain closed, without excluding the possibility that it may be sold off.
All the groups in the Municipality are firmly against this, and stand ready to take all available measures to reopen to the citizens these closed or underutilized spaces.
-Andrea Martini, President of the Municipality of Venice, Murano, Burano
Published in La Nuova Venezia , 24 February 2018
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