Campaign For A Living Venice

At the session in the town hall in Mestre on Friday August 2, the mayor spoke for 50 minutes, becoming emotional, and was challenged: “I have nothing to be ashamed of.” On Boraso: “If I had known something, I would have removed him from the delegations and reported him”. Outside Via Palazzo citizens chanted and waved banners against the administration

By Francesco Furlan, Camilla Gargioni and Vera Mantengoli. Edited by Rubina Bon

August 2, 2024

“I am innocent. I have nothing to be ashamed of.” It was 10:23 am when the mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro began his speech before the city council convened in Mestre, at 10 am on Friday August 2.

It was the first time that the mayor had spoken since news emerged that he was being investigated for complicity in corruption in the investigation which also involved the former councilor Boraso (who is now in prison), officials and entrepreneurs. His speech lasted over 50 minutes and ended with a peremptory “I am not resigning”.

Along Via Palazzo and in the atrium of the town hall, citizens and associations protested against the administration. At least 500 people were present, with a single and clear request: “Resignation”. The speeches of the opposition in a River Council which lasted almost four hours were along the same lines.

Before the start of the council session, Brugnaro and his administration – all arriving early in the morning – withdrew to the back offices for a meeting.

Brugnaro’s defense

The session began at 10:13. The mayor took the floor, reading a speech: “I consider myself totally innocent, and I will prove it in all the appropriate places”.

“Nine years of work, more than 12 hours a day, and today as a reward I am here having to demonstrate the total honesty of my work”.

“I am here with the utmost respect: I am a man who holds a public office.”

“There is the right and duty to remain in office so as not to betray the citizens’ mandate and their legitimate expectations of seeing the work finished.”

These are some of the key passages from the first part of Brugnaro’s speech to clarify his position, on an administrative and political level, with respect to the investigation by the Venice prosecutor’s office.

The Pili Question

“There are two very distinct major issues. Pili and Reyer on the one hand, and the events concerning Boraso on the other. Let’s start from the first: I have nothing to be ashamed of. I can look anyone in the face, and I am available to the judiciary.”

Brugnaro then reconstructed the history of the Pili land, 41 hectares bought by Brugnaro when he was still an entrepreneur, before becoming mayor.

Regarding the relationship with the Singaporean tycoon Chiat Kwong Ching and Luis Lotti, the mayor explained that “It seems to me that this whole affair is based on Vanin’s papers. Now I’ll have my say. In June 2015 the Municipality was in danger of collapse and since I took office I have been involved in personal relationships with entrepreneurs for the development of the city”.

“In April 2016 I met Mr. Ching, the representative of a group listed in Singapore which was interested in purchasing buildings in Venice, in the presence of other people and councilors. I claim that as evidence in my favor. We discussed the former Ospedale al Mare, the former Umberto I, and looking at the map of the city, it was Ching himself who asked me for information on the Pili area.

After that appointment, two sales took place, Palazzo Donà and Palazzo Papadopoli, a very positive result for the Municipality after years of unsuccessful auctions. I personally have only given a mandate to public offices to carry out public tenders. A very important result was obtained for the city’s finances.”

Brugnaro then explained that “After April I understand that there were further discussions between Porta di Venezia, which owns Pili, and the entrepreneur regarding the construction of a building. Only in December 2017 did I see Kwong again at my home for the second and last time to pay homage to a great entrepreneur. That meeting lasted less than an hour. Unfortunately, however, the project would have had a very big impact, and I didn’t like it at all. I believe that on that occasion Mr. Ching and Lotti understood. We parted cordially. For me they remain respectable people.”

The Defense of Ceron and Donadini

“Morris Ceron is a great and decent person. Honest, and totally dedicated to solving problems of all kinds, as everyone who knows him knows.”

“Donadini is the same and has faced hundreds of political technical issues in nine years”. This is how Brugnaro spoke about his two main collaborators: Ceron (the head of cabinet and general director) and Donadini (deputy head of cabinet), both of whom are also under investigation.

The Boraso case

Regarding the wiretaps in which Mayor Brugnaro is heard calling Boraso because he has been asking for money, the mayor explained that “I was very angry, and I wanted to understand if there was something more to it. But I could never have even considered what emerged from the investigations.”

“If I had had even the slightest detailed information, I would have removed him from the delegations and reported him to the competent authorities. If the accusations are confirmed, the administration’s position will be to join as a civil party. I have always been on the side of legality”, added Brugnaro, becoming emotional at this passage, “I am and will always be a guarantor, and I am sure that the judiciary will clarify matters”.

“The freedom of business must be protected”

“I am here to reassure the thousands of people who voted for me and those who did not vote for me but know that I am an honest person”, added Brugnaro, addressing the councilors and recalling that the freedom of business must be protected: business investments are the real driver of economic development. I read banners that say “let’s take back the city”, but the city remains everyone’s”.

“I am not resigning”

“I am not resigning. I strongly believe in justice, and I will fight to prove my honesty and integrity.”

Thus Mayor Brugnaro concluded his speech after fifty minutes, applauded by the majority councilors in a standing ovation and protested by the public, who instead called for his resignation.

Citizens’ protest

“Buffone” “Clown” “Brugnaro, stop talking”. While the mayor was aggressively defending his actions and his team, the 500 citizens outside continued to shout for his resignation.

When the mayor uttered words like ‘trust’ or claimed that an entrepreneur can be involved in politics, the demonstrators responded with deafening whistles, hoping that their voices would pass through the glass and closed windows of the city hall.

Citizens had been queuing to enter the town hall as early as 9 am, monitored by a cordon of police in riot gear lined up under the arcades.

Outside, the social centers waved placards (“Brugnaro the countryside doesn’t want you” “We pay the price for your silence” and others) and flags.

Among all of them, the three little monkeys stand out (I don’t see, I don’t hear, I don’t speak) to indicate the Lega, Forza Italia and Fratelli d’Italia.

The community centers installed speakers in front of the entrance to listen to the session live.

The Voice of the Protesters

Citizens and associations organized themselves with placards calling for the mayor’s resignation, including a giant banner hanging in the building in front of the City Hall.

“We need someone who cares about the city because this council has only served private interests in Venice and Mestre”, say Venetians Chiara Bosto and Marina Piovesan.

The differences between the two souls of the Municipality – the islands and the mainland – cannot be felt today: “What happened has ruined the image of the entire territory”, commented Roberto Sambo of the Viale San Marco committee, “The mayor must resign. Today there are many young people who give me a thread of hope that there can still be a future for the city.”

Michele Boato has announced a series of protests that will also start in Mestre every Saturday, from 11 to 12 in front of the town hall starting on August 2nd.

“This was all planned, he had the speech written by lawyers. The opposition’s precise interventions and the majority’s nothing. They did not answer the question about what the mayor’s private interests are.”

Councilors Speak Out

“Luigi Brugnaro read a text, but whoever wrote the speech forgot the words “apologies to the city”. A pause, applause passing through the windows. The first to speak was councilor Marco Gasparinetti, Terra & Acqua.

“We have a city whose transportation is in disarray: so we will ask you, who have taken the delegations, to account for all the dramatic inconveniences of local public transport. Once it was a point of pride to be able to tell parents ‘Mama, I work at Actv’, and there was a queue to get in. It’s not like that anymore.”

The councilor returned to the lack of apologies: “I expected to hear an apology. I received a lawsuit and with that they hoped I would keep quiet. I’m not for sale, I’m not for rent, I’m not afraid. The mayor’s resignation is an obligation.”

Gasparinetti also made a point about Palazzo Papadopoli. “There is only one regret on my part: in 2017 there was a warning against the sale of Palazzo Papadopoli. The local police were forced to move to Tronchetto. If you had listened to that warning, the poor councilor would not be in prison, and we would not be here. You have decided not to resign: so we will sift through every single act, every single resolution!”, he concludes.

“The majority of citizens wanted him here – it’s called democracy. He is there and must stay there because the majority of the city of Venice wanted him there. It’s called democracy.” The first councilor to take the mayor’s defense was Stefano Zecchi, responsible for culture, referring to the book “The Grand Inquisitor” from “The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky, in which Ivan tells his brother Alexei an allegorical tale set in Spain during the Inquisition, with Jesus as the protagonist.

“Jesus launches a challenge to all of us, yesterday and today. Freedom and free will are responsibilities that everyone must take on. True infidelity is not having the courage to remember. Freedom is our democracy. And democracy is having the vote to be here”, concludes Zecchi.

“His management is full of holes, a total failure. Did you know nothing about how public affairs were managed by one of your councilors? A question has been asked and an answer should be given, if you apologize”, said opposition councilor Sara Visman, Five Star Movement .

Opposition councilor Giovanni Andrea Martini, Tutta la città insieme urged “‘I don’t want to reduce the Council to a battlefield’; those are your words, mayor. The people here today are ordinary citizens, whom you have deceived and disappointed. They are angry. You must realize what you have done. Today you have the opportunity to show that you care about the city. Your resignation could restore the credibility that you have lost in the eyes of the citizens.”

During the speeches, the mayor and Martin had a face to face about the opposition councilor’s provocative proposal put forward a few weeks ago, to shoot tourists with water pistols like in Barcelona.

The opposition’s harangue did not stop: Monica Sambo of the Democratic Party took the floor: “You, Mr. Mayor, must resign”.

Speeches by councilors followed one after the other: the majority relied on a speech by Emmanuele Muresu (Luigi Brugnaro Sindaco), who recalled how many projects the administration has brought to the city and is carrying forward, citing the same ones mentioned by the mayor.

But the opposition was not buying it: after Emanuele Rosteghin (PD) and Cecilia Tonon (Venezia è tua) , Gianfranco Bettin (Verde Progressista) spoke: “Someone has tried to put the lion, Venice, at the service of political power. But Venice won’t allow it”, thundered Bettin, “We are not here to carry out inquisitorial trials. If anything, the trial has already been begun with Boraso, the bad guy: but he did the right thing – he resigned.”

Bettin brought the discussion back to what, in his opinion, is the crucial issue to be addressed. “The point of today is not to talk about projects. The judiciary said some precise things: I’m talking about the mechanism, and they told you kindly. Carrying on without changing anything in the way public affairs are managed is a very serious mistake from every point of view: it is a serious political mistake. This is the subject of today’s political session.”

Bettin concluded: “The question is: ‘While I administer public affairs, can I also manage my own business?’”.

From across the aisle Stefano Zecchi raised his voice to Bettin: “You are conducting a political trial, even though you support the opposite.”

“There is the presumption of innocence; a warning has been issued. It is not a condemnation”, stated councilor Paolo Romor (Luigi Brugnaro Sindaco), “But the opposition would like to apply it immediately. They find it a very tempting opportunity with a mayor who beat them at the polls”.

Chiara Visentin (Luigi Brugnaro Sindaco) added: “The line has always been clear, even during the 2020 Council when we talked about Pili”.

The group leader of Fratelli d’Italia Maika Canton has guaranteed her party’s support to the mayor, while asking for the transfer of the managers of the subsidiaries who are under investigation to guarantee the functioning of the municipal machinery. “We ask the administration to carry on its work, and that the mayor intervene in the relocation of people, among the technicians, who are subject to judicial investigations. While waiting for the investigation to reach its conclusion, we are convinced that the administrative machinery should not stop.”

Gianluca Trabucco (Verde Progressista): “Many things have been said, but the role of the entrepreneur in politics is not in question. It is the investigators who speak of a Brugnaro system.”

Councilor Alex Bazzaro (Lega) proposed giving Brugnaro his party card.

And finally Giuseppe Saccá (PD): “Mayor Brugnaro, today you said that you met an entrepreneur privately, in your home, with the head of the cabinet, after promising the citizens that you would not pursue your own interests”.

Source: La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre