«The Municipality as a family affair». The members of the 18 January Committee did not like the latest “sorties” of the former Succurro administration. Attention is focused on the appointment of the former mayor’s husband as councilor and for this reason the leaders of the Committee have presented a complaint to the prefect of Cosenza, denouncing alleged irregularities in the functioning of the municipal administration.
The recent appointment of Marco Ambrogio, husband of the fallen mayor Rosaria Succurro, as councilor of the Municipality, which took place on the eve of Christmas, ends up in the crosshairs. According to the Committee, it would be «a power operation studied on the drawing board and aimed at bypassing the rules on incompatibilities between public offices and family relationships».
The affair, according to what has been reconstructed, would have originated from the gesture of the mayor Succurro who, before her dismissal, had appointed Claudia Loria as acting deputy mayor. Following this appointment, Loria herself would have designated the former mayor’s husband as councillor, who was given powers deemed strategic such as Public Works, Urban Planning, Budget and Personnel, effectively concentrating the administrative management of the Municipality.
The Committee speaks of a “relay planned around the table” and of a real “institutional sleight of hand” which, in their opinion, would undermine transparency and legality in the management of public bodies. This would be a “fraud of the law on incompatibilities” and a violation of constitutional principles.
The accusations also concern “the possible misuse of power and the abuse of public functions for family purposes”, raising “serious doubts about the legitimacy of the recent appointments”. The complaint also underlines that “such behavior betrays a failure to respect the Constitution and anti-corruption rules”, inviting the prefect to intervene to restore legality.
“We cannot stand by and watch while the rules on incompatibility are circumvented, trampling on ethics and public morals with such unscrupulousness”, concludes the Committee, which has announced a public meeting for Monday at its headquarters in Via Roma.