Why is Veneto merging its smaller municipalities, and what will change for residents? 

Cibiana di Cadore has 300 inhabitants, four employees, and, as of this week, no mayor. Matteo Posa resigned a month after being elected, unable to manage a municipality with a secretary and a technician on a part-time basis, a laborer, two employees, and an accountant. This case encapsulates a broader problem: Veneto has 179 municipalities with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants, 38 of which have fewer than 1,000. The smallest of these is Laghi (Vicenza)... It has just over one hundred residents..

The regional administration's response is a territorial reorganization plan that foresees reducing the number of municipalities from 559 to 500 through mergers and unions. "Small municipalities will face increasing difficulties," states advisor Marco Zecchinato. Three processes are already underway: Sant'Elena d'Este with Granze (Padua), Castelcucco with Cavaso del Tomba (Treviso), and Bolzano Vicentino, Quinto and Bressanvido (Vicenza).

Identity preserved, efficiency increased.

The most common fear among residents is the loss of local identity. Zecchinato counters: merged municipalities receive regional funds and, for 17 years, also federal contributions. "No one among those who have moved forward with these processes would go back," reinforces the vice-president of... ANCI and the mayor of Vicenza, Giacomo Possamai.

According to Possamai, there are two paths to address the crisis of small municipalities: centralized technical support for all local entities or mergers where the will of the citizens is clear, including through referendums. "If the processes are accompanied by work that unites the entire community, there is no loss of identity, but rather simplification."

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The role of the provinces

The president of the Province of Belluno, Marco Staunovo Polacco, mayor of Comelico Superiore (2.100 inhabitants), points to older roots of the problem: the cuts of 2011 and 2012 reduced the number of civil servants precisely in the smallest municipalities, which accumulated bureaucracy without sufficient personnel. He is in favor of mergers, but with reservations: "We have municipalities so small and isolated that, without a local presence, they would disappear."

The solution he proposes involves strengthening the provinces and mountain unions. "Trentino and Alto Adige function better precisely because of this," he says.

In Cibiana, the Belluno city hall yesterday appointed sub-prefect Antonio Russo as interim commissioner. Mayor Antonello Roccoberton did not hide his regret: the city hall had signaled its willingness to help the former mayor find staff before the layoffs took place. (With information from Corriere del Veneto)