European Central: Italian Mayors Risk Prison Sentences For The Position
Gabriele Maltinti / Stringer
Imagine attending a ceremony in your beautiful Italian town. However, the police inform you that you are being investigated for causing bodily harm to a child. It is not because you directly caused harm to a child, but because you are the mayor of the town. A child accidentally caught their hand in a school fire door and since you are mayor you are responsible for the public safety of citizens. It is worthy to point out that the child did not suffer permanent damage to their hand. Welcome to the nightmare mayors across Italy are currently facing. This particular story is the experience of Stefania Bonaldi, the mayor of Crema, a town in the region of Lombardia.
This may seem like an unusual situation for a mayor to be in, but it is nothing new for Italian mayors. This is the result of an increasingly litigious society. Other stories include Simone Uggetti, the former mayor of Lodi who was imprisoned for 10 days for allegedly benefitting financially and favoring a company when awarding two contracts to operate two public swimming pools. However, he was then acquitted because there was not sufficient evidence to prove he could benefit from awarding competitive contracts for the lowest possible price. Alvise Maniero, former mayor of Mira also had a case dealing with a swimming pool. He faced an 11-million-euro lawsuit because a boy broke into a public pool in the town and injured himself after a fall. Maniero was eventually acquitted after 5 years. Alvise Maniero is now a member of the Italian Parliament where in sharp contrast is protected by the Italian constitution and cannot be charged like Italian mayors.
One of the most serious cases involves Chiara Appendino, Mayor of Turin. Chiara Appendino was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter due to a stampede that occurred when there was a screening of a soccer game outdoors in 2017. The stampede was caused by robbers who sprayed pepper spray on the crowds watching the game. 2 people died and 1,500 people were injured from the stampede. As a result, Appendino received a suspended sentence of 18 months in prison. The explanation for this is she did not properly plan evacuation routes. It is questionable whether any city in the world currently has evacuation plans in case robbers use pepper spray on crowds.
It is common for Italian mayors to take out liability policies that can cost them over ten percent of their salary. For mayors of smaller towns, every cent counts and the insurance policy is a financial burden. Stefania Bonaldi’s monthly net income is only 2,000 euros. This may be because Crema is only a town of 35,000. However, this salary puts her below the median income in Italy and much lower than the median income of Lombardia, one of the wealthier regions in Italy. Currently, mayors are required to pay for these policies themselves as they are not allowed to pass on the debt to their constituents. This however may cause mayors to go into debt themselves as a result of these lawsuits.
The political party Movimento di Cinque Stelle (five-star movement) vowed in campaigns to only have candidates with clean records. It however has learned this is difficult to do as many candidates who have become mayors of various cities throughout Italy have faced numerous trials. Filippo Nogarin was a member of the party and became mayor of Livorno but faced five criminal cases and fifty civil cases while mayor of the city. Chiara Appendino is also a member of the party. A potential positive of this situation is this may help prove that political parties that been around longer do not necessarily have mayors involved in corruption or committing numerous crimes while mayor, but as movimento di cinque stelle has found out mayors are facing baseless lawsuits.
Italian mayors are trying to push back against what they can be held accountable for while mayor. Stefania Bonaldi tweeted a news article that includes an interview she did with Corriere (Italian newspaper) and said “We do not ask for immunity or criminal shields, but for a system of liability and legal protections, more to dedicate ourselves with serenity to the most beautiful "job" in the world!”. In the interview, Bonaldi admits that she never realized the potential legal risks when she became the candidate for Partito Democratico. As many examples previously described in this article show, Italian mayors are held to an unattainable standard. If there are no reforms to narrow the job description of a mayor in Italy, qualified individuals may be discouraged from running for office. Antonio Decaro, the mayor of Bari believes that only people unsatisfied with their jobs would consider becoming a mayor in Italy.
Even if mayors are eventually proven innocent in court, qualified individuals may be unwilling to face legal proceedings for crimes they did not commit if they were to become mayor. Understandably there is a clear desire for Italian mayors to be held accountable and prevent corruption, but there needs to be a balance between accountability and a mayor having the ability to focus on serving their constituents instead of fearing frequent and frivolous lawsuits. Mayors may also be unwilling to be creative and host events in their cities if there is the chance they will be personably held responsible in the case of an injury, even if the injury is temporary and non-life-threatening.
