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Flinn

The Dude goes into politics! - The story so far!

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Above is a picture of the Presepe Subacqueo (Underwater Nativity) which is a 25 years old attraction we set up around Xmas time.

Time for an update

In the last chapter I hinted about the title for the next one as "What will I be remembered for?".. well I was too optimistic to be honest.. there's so much still to do and to tell that it's really too early to draw a line on my (and our) deeds as public admin(s)..

However, after a bit more than 6 months it is time to make a first balance, both on my personal feelings and on the results (and problems) we have had so far...

On the positive side: we managed to get a good amount of money (more than 700.000 €) for various projects, mainly (300 K) for the construction and 2 years early management of a new Hostel (which will make part of a bigger touristic route connected with religion, pretty typical touristic stuff in Italy ), another 280 K for the construction of a new kindergarten (earthquake proof, we are inside the crater of the last years earthquakes here in Italy), 50 K for the energetic improvement (replacing old public lamps with led lamps, which consume much less energy and last longer), some 30 K for the cleansing of few historical and natural paths, another 30 or so for some Christmas activities (concerts, shows for kids, an exhibition of artistic hand-made Nativities), plus some other minor projects.
All in all I'd say that we did well, there would be more to do of course, but it wasn't a bad start if you ask me.

On the negative side: well.. there would be a lot to say, since bad things are always more interesting than good ones, but I won't spend too much words, this mostly to avoid becoming lewd.. However, on the pure administrative side, what bugs me the most is the fact that it's extremely difficult to gather funding and money for some specific projects: in particular it seems impossible to find money for the asphalt (I mean, the maintenance of the asphalt on public roads) along with that for works on roads in general. One thing I'm learning these days is that most of the economical issues our Municipality has are related to the repay of loans previously took out which for the most were used for "questionable" activities and projects (I'm still digging into this, honestly I'm never focused on the past and on things I cannot change, but this time I'm so shocked by the total lack of foresight of some dudes that I can't help but keep digging.. it's a sort of anthropological study on how people can be idiotic, at times).
Another negative aspect is having to deal with the mediocrity and ignorance of people, that tend to assume things and talk about stuff they know nothing about... while this is not a surprise, I'm amazed by how much people can be hypocritical and in mala fides when it comes to their proprieties, rights or even simple hopes and expectations.. the only positive side of having to deal with people is that I manage to be so straight in my answers that they are starting to be afraid of harassing me..

As for my feelings.. I'm somewhat torn in two at the moment: from one side I'm already stuffed from the stupidity of people as a whole and from the dumbness of bureaucracy, from the other I keep repeating to myself that I wasn't expecting anything different.. luckily I'm not a greenhorn and also there's still reasonable people to whom I can talk in the most honest way, but in any case to defend myself I've become "colder" than what I usually was, at the least when I have to deal with nonsensical stuff (in general I mean).
Another negative aspect, which I neglected to talk about both because it's not suited for CMS blogs and because I really dislike it, it's the political pressure .. we are a small municipality in a countryside area, still we can feel the political pressure from the big Italian actors... this because as much as most of us are new to the game, we still have a core of "old" administrators who are bound to this or that party.. I don't like this kind of external pressure, but once again, nothing I wasn't expecting, after all..
To be honest it's an experience that I still suggest to do to anyone who has at least a minimum interest in understanding how things goes, but only if they really have the skin to deal with all the negative sides of it...

Then, there's anyways that very important project that I'm following and supporting and which I hinted at already, hopefully I'll be able to talk to you about it in the next chapter ...

Updated January 09, 2020 at 04:26 AM by Flinn

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Comments

  1. Aexodus's Avatar
    Keep talking straight to people and work hard and you’ll muddle through dude.
  2. Flinn's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Aexodus
    Keep talking straight to people and work hard and you’ll muddle through dude.
    that's the plan dude, but it's never as easy as it looks
    Updated January 13, 2020 at 08:22 AM by Flinn
  3. Flinn's Avatar