A nationwide survey conducted by the publicity agency PubblicaRes has placed Florence mayor Leonardo Domenici in top spot as the most loved city leader in all of Italy. Italian citizens were polled on eight mayors and 14 ministers of the same political faction.
Domenici won the Italian citizen vote of confidence by 69 percent, just beating out the very popular left-wing mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, and Venice mayor Massimo Cacciari, who both came in at second place. Following close behind were Turin’s mayor Sergio Chiamparino, and Genoa’s mayor Marta Vincenzi.
However, recent incidents and hard-line political manoeuvres by Palazzo Vecchio have made the citizens of Florence reflect on the true adeptness of Florence’s mayor of eight years. How much he really is loved in his own city? Florence daily Il Firenze reports a fresh new wave of citizen discontent and skepticism. The squeegee ban and controversy over the Tramvia in particular have considerably diminished Domenici’s popularity among Florentines.
