The actions concern the argument that broke out during the City Council session last Dec. 20. Words flew that some could not tolerate.
14 January 2022
Civil complaints and lawsuits. Some minority city councilors have decided to react after the tensions that broke out at the last City Council session on December 20, 2021. During that session, in which the budget approval was underway, harsh words flew between Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and some members of the minority. Two of the councilors have decided to call their attorneys.
“In the end I was convinced to sue Mayor Brugnaro for the offensive statements he directed at me during the City Council session – writes Giovanni Andrea Martini (leader of “Tutta la città insieme!”). My decision was not an immediate reaction, but was carefully considered. It is never easy, in fact, to oppose someone who has a lot of power on one’s own, but it is also true that a gesture can have collective value. My suit, I want to clarify, is not an action against the person, but a call for a return to democratic tones and behaviors in the City Council. Tones and behaviors that anyone who occupies an institutional role should never forget or lack. Occupying an institutional office means putting yourself at the service of others and not withdrawing from civil and democratic debate, hurling insults at or offending your opponent. It is not tolerable, in a democracy, that the minority councilors are systematically silenced”.
Councilor Marco Gasparinetti, (leader of Terra e Acqua) has reacted also. “I don’t intend to file in criminal court – he commented – as I think the prosecutor has other priorities. False statements have been made about me: I have not been “sent away from Europe” as the Mayor said. I am still an active official, albeit on leave in order to play a public role. I reserve the right to take civil action relative to this defamation, and I believe that councilor Martini’s decision does him honor, even if I have decided to choose a different path”. The story recalls a similar event that happened several years ago, when a complaint against Brugnaro was filed by Andrea Ferrazzi, who at the time was a city councilor for the Democratic Party, and is today a senator to the Republic. That action ended in his favor, forcing the Mayor to pay several tens of thousands of Euro to close the issue.
Another city councilor came into conflict with the Mayor last December 20, Alberto Fantuzzo of the Democratic Party. “I do not feel offended or belittled by his words. I’m not afraid of his reactions; what bothers me more is his style of politics, which if questioned provokes unhinged responses. I return to asking the Mayor to come get a coffee. I won’t do battle with him, but only speak my truth, inviting him to have respect for everyone and to use language that is appropriate for the context, especially in reference to a first citizen who is also my Mayor. If he instead prefers to use the language of the (coffee) bar, I will invite him again for a coffee”.
Source: Venezia Today
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