Salvo Puccio will also be general director of the metropolitan city. The dual role – he currently holds the same role at the Municipality – obtained the green light from the municipal council yesterday, the same municipal council that three months ago had rejected the measure, re-proposed almost identically to the Chamber. Unlike what happened in June, this time the opposition did not make a wall: three councilors were missing and there was no clear intention of obstructing, perhaps causing the quorum to disappear.
In fact, the fact that the resolution would pass this time had already been in the air for a few days and was certified yesterday itself, when the proposal by Felice Calabrò (Pd) to postpone the discussion was rejected. “There is a clear conflict of interests, which could be raised at any time by one of the other municipalities of the metropolitan city”, Calabrò had observed, asking that the general secretary Rossana Carrubba, signatory of the measure (and she also holds a double role, secretary both at Palazzo Zanca and, indeed, at the metropolitan city). Carrubba, however, was not there yesterday and her deputy, Salvatore De Francesco, limited himself to observing that the legitimacy of the act is certified, regardless, by the “visa” of the general secretary.
It was even the mayor, Federico Basile, who intervened in the chamber at the beginning of the session, asking for the support of the city council: «This measure is a strategic choice, a utility, not a whim, for an institution that has seven directions, but only one manager”, the mayor’s words. «An entity that needs governance that guarantees the efficiency of ongoing processes, such as the Integrated Urban Plan. Municipality and metropolitan city have the same mayor, the same general secretary and it is useful to have uniformity of governance. Furthermore, the agreement provides for a cost discharge, an element that should not be underestimated.” Puccio’s compensation (180 thousand euros gross per year) will, in fact, be divided between the two entities.