Mafia

Alessandra Siragusa

Ref Batch
B
Focus Area(s)
City Management
Ref Batch Number
7
Critical Tasks
Building citizen support
Making services accessible
Country of Reform
Italy
Interviewers
Rushda Majeed and Laura Bacon
Name
Alessandra Siragusa
Interviewee's Position
Commissioner of Education
Interviewee's Organization
Municipality of Palermo
Town/City
Palermo
Country
Italy
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
organizing schedules
budgeting
Mafia
cultural education
capacity building
Abstract
Alessandra Siragusa discusses her time served as Palermo’s Commissioner of Education under Mayor Leoluca Orlando. She explains the Municipality’s initiatives to enhance education as part of the municipality’s mission to reopen Palermo to its citizens. She describes some of the challenges faced. Many students could not study in the morning because the system lacked classroom space. Most classrooms were rented space from private buildings, often Mafia-owned, and many citizens knew little about Palermitan culture. Dr. Siragusa explains the adopt-a-monument project, which reopened neglected monuments and educated teachers and other citizens like students and their parents about local history. She recalls Mafia resistance to school construction and the municipality’s counter-measures in an anecdote about Brancaccio, a Mafia controlled neighborhood where her administration succeeded in opening a new school. Altogether, her team built 40 new schools and organized schedules to allow all students to attend class in the morning in public or private buildings not linked to the Mafia. She explains how the government financed the schools and then names four signs of the administration’s success. She says that the successful adopt-a-monument program, a nationally recognized environmental education program, an effective cross-cultural education initiative, and the opening of the school in Brancaccio all indicated improvements in Palermitan education. Lastly, she reflects on the lack of sustainability of her reforms, blaming a conscious effort by later governments to marginalize schools.
 
Transcript
alessandra_siragusa.pdf
B7_CM_RM_Siragusa_Final.txt
Headshot
alessandra_siragusa.jpg
Profile

 Alessandra Siragusa served the Municipality of Palermo as commissioner of education under Mayor Leoluca Orlando from 1993 through 2000. Prior to her appointment she was active in Palermitan politics from a young age as a district and city councilor. After her term as commissioner of education she became and remains a teacher. She is currently a town councilor and member of the Committee for Culture, Science and Education. 

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Full Audio Title
Audio Available Upon Request

Guiseppe Ferrante

Ref Batch
B
Focus Area(s)
City Management
Ref Batch Number
4
Critical Tasks
Building citizen support
Overcoming corruption
Revenue generation
Country of Reform
Italy
Interviewers
Rushda Majeed & Laura Bacon
Name
Guiseppe Ferrante
Interviewee's Position
Commissioner of Productive Activities and of Tourism
Interviewee's Organization
Municipality of Palermo
Language
English/Italian
Nationality of Interviewee
Italian
Town/City
Palermo
Country
Italy
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
depoliticization
Policing
patronage
Mafia
Abstract

In this interview, Giuseppe Ferrante reflects on his time spent serving the Municipality of Palermo from 1995-2000 under Mayor Leoluca Orlando. He begins by explaining his personal background in the private sector prior to his appointment to the city government and describing the pervasive presence of the mafia in the city government and culture prior to the transformation of the 1990s. Ferrante discusses Mayor Orlando’s strategies to change Palermo. Orlando hired honest and hard-working employees, often from outside of political circles, as in the case of Ferrante, in order to eliminate the unprofessional culture that marked past administrations. Popular faith in the government and pride in the city soon returned to Palermo. Ferrante explains how his commercial, security, and traffic initiatives contributed to a turnaround in downtown Palermo, creating a safe and lively pedestrian area full of shops, markets, restaurants, bars, and cafés. His familiarity with the private sector as an entrepreneur informed his successful business-friendly policies. He also recounts his efforts to improve Palermo’s relationships with its sister cities around the world. Then he discusses the responsibilities of and working relationships among the members of the City Council before reflecting on the time of the Orlando administration. Although he says his term brought about positive change, he expresses disappointment with the governments that followed Orlando’s team.

Case Studies:  Palermo Renaissance Part 1: Rebuilding Civic Identity and Reclaiming a City from the Mafia in Italy, 1993-2000;  Palermo Renaissance Part 2: Reforming City Hall, 1993-2000; and Palermo Renaissance Part 3: Strengthening Municipal Services, 1993-2000

Transcript
guiseppe_ferrante.pdf
B4_CM_RM_Ferrante_Final.txt
Profile

Giuseppe Ferrante served the Municipality of Palermo under Mayor Leoluca Orlando from March 1995 until April 2000. He worked primarily as both Commissioner of Productive Activities and of Tourism; however, his responsibilities were many and varied. He was also in charge of the municipal police department and information technology for the city administration, worked with the municipal service companies, and served more briefly as Commissioner of Traffic. Prior to his appointment to the city government, Ferrante worked exclusively in the private sector. He managed a clothing company with 200 employees and headed the Sicilian and youth chapters of the Confindustria, an Italian confederation of industrialists. In 1985, Ferrante started a Sicilian business magazine.

 

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Full Audio Title
Audio Available Upon Request

Aldo Civico

Ref Batch
B
Focus Area(s)
City Management
Ref Batch Number
14
Critical Tasks
Building citizen support
Community policing
Overcoming corruption
Country of Reform
Italy
Interviewers
Rusdha Majeed
Name
Aldo Civico
Interviewee's Position
Senior Adviser
Interviewee's Organization
Mayor of Palermo
Language
English
Town/City
Newark, New Jersey
Country
United States
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
Mafia
security service
community building
public relations
depoliticization
Abstract

Aldo Civico comments on his relationship with Mayor Leoluca Orlando of Palermo and Mayor Orlando’s political leadership. He came from Northern Italy at a young age to become a senior adviser for Mayor Orlando and a press officer for the Municipality of Palermo. Civico worked often with German-language media, amongst whom Mayor Orlando was particularly well liked. He recalls Mayor Orlando’s outspoken anti-Mafia stance as surprising and unusual for a Palermitan politician of the 1980s. Civico also explains the nature of Mayor Orlando’s exit from the Christian Democratic Party and leadership of La Rete. He recounts the legacy of Mafia power and anti-Mafia governance that preceded Mayor Orlando’s 1993-2000 term. He describes Mayor Orlando’s diverse political and international network through which Mayor Orlando drew and offered support for his and others’ reforms. Mayor Orlando had a particularly close relationship with the governmental leaderships of Bogotá and Medellín, Colombia. Civico discusses Mayor Orlando’s anti-mafia efforts and the challenges they faced. He concludes by describing Mayor Orlando’s allegiance to his political principles rather than to a party, lobby, or other interest as his defining and most effective trait as a leader.

Case Studies:  Palermo Renaissance Part 1: Rebuilding Civic Identity and Reclaiming a City from the Mafia in Italy, 1993-2000; Palermo Renaissance Part 2: Reforming City Hall, 1993-2000; and Palermo Renaissance Part 3: Strengthening Municipal Services, 1993-2000

Transcript
aldo_civico.pdf
B14_CM_RM_Civico_Final.txt
Headshot
aldo_civico.jpg
Profile

Aldo Civico served as press officer of the Municipality of Palermo and senior adviser to Mayor Leoluca Orlando from September 1991 to September 1995. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in the department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Rutgers-Newark and the co-founder and director of the International Institute for Peace. Previously, Civico worked as a free-lance journalist, reporting on social issues related to organized crime in southern Italy, and then as Director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia University. For the last ten years, his work has focused on conflict resolution, particularly in Colombia, through ethnographic research and facilitating peace processes. Civico holds a doctorate in Anthropology from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Bologna, Italy.  

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Full Audio File Size
67 MB
Full Audio Title
Aldo Civico - Full Interview

Palermo Renaissance Part 1: Rebuilding Civic Identity and Reclaiming a City from the Mafia in Italy, 1993-2000

Type
Case Studies
Author
Laura Bacon and Rushda Majeed
Keywords
Mafia
Cosa Nostra
civic identity
public spaces
historic preservation
education
arts
culture
tourism
Leoluca Orlando
Palermo
Sicily
Focus Area(s)
City Management
Building a Reform Team and Staff
Countering Criminal Economies
Getting the News Out/Managing Expectations
Critical Tasks
Building citizen support
Making services accessible
Municipal centers of government
Overcoming corruption
Revenue generation
Revitalizing urban spaces
Core Challenge
Credibility (trust)
Institutional traps (spoilers)
Norm coordination
Principal-agent problem (delegation)
Country of Reform
Italy
Full Publication
Palermo 1 ToU_1.pdf
Palermo 1 FINALToU.txt
Internal Notes
1.22.13 new draft includes corrected links and Palermo titles as well as new reader feedback language.
Abstract
In 1993, Palermo residents elected Leoluca Orlando mayor with 75% of the vote. At the time of Orlando’s election, a series of assassinations of high-level anti-Mafia leaders had left the city reeling. For decades, the Sicilian Mafia had held a strong political, cultural and physical grip on the city. Orlando’s election affirmed that voters wanted him to continue what he had begun but couldn’t complete during his first mayoral term (1985–1990): to purge the government of Mafia influence and help restore Palermo’s cultural and economic vibrancy. Prior mayors had tolerated or assisted Mafia activity while the city center deteriorated, cultural life and business activities dwindled, and the education system weakened. Backed by a national crackdown on organized crime, the mayor used his second and third terms in office (1993–1997 and 1997–2000) to engage civic groups and businesses in revitalizing Palermo. By the time Orlando left office in 2000, his administration had renovated or reacquired hundreds of public buildings and monuments, built a cultural center and founded a downtown concert series, kick-started entrepreneurial activity and tourism, built dozens of schools and integrated civic consciousness into classrooms. Those actions helped reawaken civic pride. Although subsequent city administrations abandoned or rolled back many of the reforms, Orlando’s administration helped define and lead a “Palermo Renaissance.”
 
Laura Bacon and Rushda Majeed drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Palermo, Italy, in March 2012. Aldo Civico, assistant professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Rutgers University and cofounder of the International Institute for Peace, provided initial ideas and guidance on this case. Roberto Pitea, Valentina Burcheri, and Brian Reilly provided research assistance. Case published September 2012.
 
Two companion case studies address simultaneous reform efforts in Palermo from 1993 to 2000: “Palermo Renaissance Part 2: Reforming City Hall” focuses on the city’s budget, taxes, one-stop shop for licenses and documents, and citizen outreach. “Palermo Renaissance Part 3: Strengthening Municipal Services in Palermo” details efforts to improve service delivery, management, hiring, and bidding processes in Palermo’s water, gas, transportation, and waste management services. 
 

Palermo Renaissance Part 2: Reforming City Hall, 1993-2000

Type
Case Studies
Author
Rushda Majeed and Laura Bacon
Keywords
Sicily
Palermo
Leoluca Orlando
participatory budgeting
one-stop shop
business licensing
public service exam
Cosa Nostra
Mafia
Focus Area(s)
City Management
Building a Reform Team and Staff
Containing Patronage Pressures
Countering Criminal Economies
Getting the News Out/Managing Expectations
Critical Tasks
Building citizen support
Making services accessible
Municipal centers of government
Overcoming corruption
Public service delivery
Revenue generation
Core Challenge
Principal-agent problem (delegation)
Country of Reform
Italy
Full Publication
Palermo 2 ToU_1.pdf
Palermo 2 FINAL_ToU.txt
Internal Notes
1.22.13 uploaded new drafts that include corrected titles and Palermo links as well as reader feedback language.
Abstract
In 1993, Palermo, Italy, mayor Leoluca Orlando launched an ambitious strategy to reclaim a city from Mafia-related corruption and violence. To move projects forward, however, he had to overcome several obstacles. Nepotism and patronage had created a mismatch between the skills available and the talents required to run the city effectively. Municipal offices lacked adequate records, and information retrieval was difficult and time-consuming. City finances were in shambles. And citizens did not trust the government to get things done and deliver services. Using a landslide electoral victory as an opportunity for major institutional change, Orlando and his cabinet members worked with community leaders to develop a “culture of legality” by cutting the Mafia out of government transactions and transitioning the city from norms of secrecy and bribery to norms of transparency and respect for rules. The administration improved records management, built administrative capacity in key departments, improved budget processes and expanded revenues, increased efficiency and tackled corruption, and started to rebuild the social contract between government and citizens. Those reforms earned Palermo multiple awards, as well as a strong first-time rating (Aa3) from ratings company Moody’s Investors Service. Although some gains slipped after Orlando left office in 2000, his reforms weakened the Mafia’s hold over government. This case study recounts Orlando’s reform efforts at city hall from 1993 to 2000.
 
Rushda Majeed and Laura Bacon drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Palermo, Italy, in March 2012. Aldo Civico, assistant professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Rutgers University and cofounder of the International Institute for Peace, provided initial ideas and guidance. Roberto Pitea, Valentina Burcheri, and Brian Reilly provided research assistance. Case published September 2012.
 
Two companion case studies address simultaneous reform efforts in Palermo from 1993 to 2000. “Palermo Renaissance Part 1: Rebuilding Civic Identity and Reclaiming a City From the Mafia” focuses on the restoration of public spaces, arts and culture, tourism, and schools. “Palermo Renaissance Part 3: Strengthening Municipal Services” details efforts to improve service delivery, management, hiring, and bidding processes in Palermo’s water, gas, transportation, and waste management services.
 

Palermo Renaissance Part 3: Strengthening Municipal Services, 1993-2000

Type
Case Studies
Author
Rushda Majeed and Laura Bacon
Keywords
Mafia
Cosa Nostra
public service exam
business licensing
one-stop shop
gas
transportation
waste management
water
board
Leoluca Orlando
Palermo
Sicily
Focus Area(s)
City Management
Civil Service
Containing Patronage Pressures
Countering Criminal Economies
Getting the News Out/Managing Expectations
Critical Tasks
Building citizen support
Civil service corruption
Civil service recruitment
Downsizing
Extending services to insecure or remote areas
Making services accessible
Municipal centers of government
Overcoming corruption
Performance management system
Public service delivery
Revenue generation
Core Challenge
Principal-agent problem (delegation)
Country of Reform
Italy
Full Publication
Palermo 3 ToU_1.pdf
Palermo 3 FINAL_ToU.txt
Abstract
In 1993, Palermo, Italy, mayor Leoluca Orlando took charge of city services that were on the verge of collapse. Garbage and trash lined the streets of the city. Natural gas for cooking and heating was available only intermittently, and public buses rarely ran on time. The municipality rationed water during the day. The city’s four municipal companies for waste disposal, natural gas delivery, public transportation, and water had deteriorated during decades of mismanagement and corruption. The Mafia’s hold over the companies’ public works and procurement contracts contributed to massive waste of tax money and other resources. But Palermo’s fortunes began to turn at the beginning of a seven-year period known as Palermo’s Renaissance (1993–2000). Orlando hired competent managers and gave them broad leeway to root out corruption and fix operations and finances. Under the new managers, the companies expelled Mafia-linked companies from contracts, implemented stronger control and supervision procedures, and sharply improved the quality of service for Palermo’s citizens and businesses. Although public transportation and garbage collection services slipped when Orlando left office in 2000, Palermo’s upgraded gas and water systems continued to serve the entire city. This case study recounts Orlando’s efforts to rebuild municipal companies and improve the provision of public services.
 
Rushda Majeed and Laura Bacon drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Palermo, Italy, in March 2012. Aldo Civico, assistant professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Rutgers University and cofounder of the International Institute for Peace, provided initial ideas and guidance on the cases. Roberto Pitea, Valentina Burcheri, and Brian Reilly provided research assistance. Case published November 2012.
 
Two companion case studies address simultaneous reform efforts in Palermo from 1993 to 2000. “Renaissance in Palermo, Italy, Part 1: Rebuilding Civic Identity and Reclaiming a City from the Mafia in Italy,” details the restoration of public spaces, arts and culture, tourism, and schools. “Renaissance in Palermo, Italy, Part 2: Reforming City Hall,” focuses on the city’s budget, taxes, one-stop shop for licenses and documents, and citizen outreach.