The administrative elections they get closer and to Vibo Valentia there is great anticipation for the renewal of the mayor and the city council: it will be the first municipal election after the maxi anti-'ndrangheta Rinascita Scott investigation in December 2019.
The era is over Maria Limardo, the citizens of Vibo will therefore be called to elect the representatives who will have the honor and burden of governing the city for the next five years. So let's find out more about who the three candidates for mayor are: they are currently in the field Roberto Cosentino (supported by Forza Italia, Fratelli d'Italia, Indipendenza of the former minister and mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, and, in all probability, by the group headed by the city councilor Stefano Luciano – former president of the civic assembly of Palazzo Luigi Razza, former Pd and now in Action di Calenda), Francesco Muzzopappa (supported by Action – the regional secretary, as well as councilor at Palazzo Campanella, Francesco De Nisi, decided to pursue the path of the center unlike the city party group led by Luciano – Italia Viva, Udc, Noi Moderati and civic movements including the one led by the former regional councilor Vito Pitaro and the one led by the outgoing city councilor Anthony Lo Bianco and the doctor Domenico Consoli stand out, with the latter having signed the so-called Pact for the City in recent weeks) and Vincenzo Romeo (supported by the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement, the Italian Left, the progressives of regional councilor Antonio Lo Schiavo and civic lists that refer to the candidate for mayor).
Roberto Cosentino
Born in 1972 (he will turn 52 on March 28th) he graduated in Psychology at the Sapienza University of Rome. Since 30th December 2008 he has been director of the Calabria Region and heads the Department of Economic Development, Work, Training and Social Policies. Cosentino, in his first political experience and with an innate passion for the world of communication and radio (until recently he hosted a column on Radio Onda Verde, a radio station in Vibo Valentia), is the son of Francesco Cosentino. The latter, an exponent of the Christian Democrats, was mayor of Vibo in two periods in the eighties: the first time from 1982 to 1984, in the 1979-1983 legislature started by the former senator Antonino Murmura, the second time from 1986 to 1987, in the 1983-1987 legislature. The father of the new center-right candidate for mayor, was also a candidate for city councilor in 2005 in the center-left with Udeur, collecting 110 votes, but not being elected to the city council. On the occasion of the 2021 regional elections, Roberto Cosentino expressly supported Michele Comito, candidate with Forza Italia and then elected regional councilor, as well as currently provincial coordinator of Forza Italia.
Francesco Muzzopappa
Born in 1960 (he turned 64 last March 17), he is among the best-known criminal lawyers in the province of Vibo Valentia. Originally from San Calogero, Muzzopappa has a long political experience behind him. He was twice elected municipal councilor of Vibo Valentia in the 2002 and 2005 elections (both times as a minority councillor). In 2002 he was elected on the list of the SDI (Italian Democratic Socialists) in support of the centre-left candidate for mayor Franco Sammarco (in that electoral competition Elio Costa was elected mayor). In 2005 he was elected on the list of the Christian Democrats in support of the centre-right candidate for mayor Valerio Grillo (in that electoral competition Franco Sammarco was elected mayor). In both electoral rounds, Muzzopappa shared the seat of municipal councilor, among others, with Vito Pitaro (one of his main current supporters) who in 2002 was elected councilor with the Italian Communists and in 2005 with the Socialismo e Libertà list (then appointed councilor by mayor Sammarco). Among the professional experiences that Muzzopappa boasts there is also that of president of the BCC Board of Directors from December 2017 (first acting and then elected) to the spring of 2021. And again, the Center's candidate also boasts political experience with the League of Salvini's party with which he ran in the last regional elections of 2021, obtaining 3692 votes (of which 755 in the municipality of Vibo) and placing third in the Center constituency behind the elected Filippo Mancuso and Pietro Raso.
Enzo Romeo
Born on 10 July 1955, Enzo Romeo (born Vincenzo Francesco) is a dental surgeon known for being the first president of the Province in 1995. Romeo, candidate as an independent of a centre-left coalition, overtook Valerio Grillo (centre-right) at runoff after a first round which saw the two coalitions emerge practically tied from the electoral competition. His mandate as president expired in 1999, but Romeo, also following friction within the coalition that marked the last part of the legislature, did not run again. In 2000 he decided to run in the regional elections with the CDU list which at the time supported the centre-right, a coalition which then elected Giuseppe Chiaravalloti as president. Romeo won 1107 votes in the province of Vibo, placing himself behind Michele Ranieli and Bruno Alia. Vincenzo Romeo is married to Assunta Achille, who also has an important political-electoral history behind her. Achille was elected municipal councilor (the only woman together with Nadia Bax of Alleanza Nazionale) in 2005 with the Margherita list and was then appointed councilor and deputy mayor by the mayor Franco Sammarco. Among the curiosities to underline, in that electoral round Tonino Daffinà was also elected on the same list as Achille, today a member of Forza Italia and very close to the president of the Calabria Region, Roberto Occhiuto. Furthermore, in 2010, Achille herself ran for office in the regional elections on the Autonomy and Rights list in support of Agazio Loiero, garnering 294 preferences in the province of Vibo.