Almost two years ago it was governor Roberto Occhiuto who threw the stone into the pond: «Calabria perhaps has too many mayors. One of the reforms we should think about making in this region is that of the institutional architecture. Having municipalities that have so few inhabitants makes the exercise of functions in the citizens’ interest even more complex.” An important proposal, disruptive in some ways, yet it fell on deaf ears. Now, months later, the debate on a reform of the institutional architecture seems to be regaining momentum.
Thanks to the electoral campaign, especially the one underway in small towns, the question that recurs is the following: how can so many small municipalities continue to survive in an increasingly complex and complicated framework of a geopolitical context that is unstable to say the least? A reduction in the number of local administrations, with the aim of supporting their sustainability, could contribute to the production of economically “sound” budgets. On the other hand, a country swollen with debt at every institutional level, incapable of balancing its economic accounts and ensuring its citizens its services, must find a well-thought-out structural solution. Many municipalities, especially those under 5 thousand inhabitants, continue to have increasingly fragile or unsustainable budgets.
The full article is available in the print and digital editions