Attacked by the mayor of Crotone “with two punches that hit me from behind and a kick that hit me in the leg”. This is what city councilor Ernesto Ioppoli reported in a note, citing an episode which, according to his story, occurred yesterday afternoon during a meeting dedicated to the urban planning problem concerning the construction of 24 public housing units in via Israel, in the Pythagorean capital. Ioppoli, like the other councilors who participated in the meeting, is part of the majority that supports mayor Vincenzo Voce.
The subject of the dispute is the construction of some public residential buildings that the municipal administration intends to locate in the populous Tufolo district, on the southern outskirts of the city, but which has met with firm opposition from the residents, who have also signed an appeal to the Calabria Regional Administrative Court requesting the annulment of the relevant municipal council resolution.
«I was invited by the President of the Province Sergio Ferrari – says Ioppoli – so that the difficult problem linked to the housing situation in via Israel could be highlighted. This point saw my firm and resolute opposition to what was decided by the municipal council and I expressed my disappointment several times in the appropriate council commissions in which the topic was discussed”.
Disappointment that Ioppoli expressed again during the meeting but at that point “the discussion inevitably became lively and, after having pointed out that I was and am the point of reference for the neighborhood in which I live, very close to via Israel, I was, as always, belittled by the mayor on the quantity of votes taken and on the representation and subsequently attacked with two fists that hit me from behind and a kick that hit me in the leg”.
“I thank – states Ioppoli in the note – those who took care to detain the mayor otherwise I would have been forced to resort to medical care”. “It seems absurd to me – concludes the councilor – to have to write such a statement after having been close to those who didn’t deserve it for years but I wonder if a person who resorts to physical aggression just because a councilor disagrees is in the moral condition to be able to govern a city”.