Sergio Cofferati

Sergio Cofferati (born 30 January 1948 in Sesto ed Uniti, Cremona) is an Italian politician, and mayor of Bologna as of 2004 for the Democrats of the Left.

Initially an employee for the Milan's Pirelli and a member of CGIL, Cofferati rose up in the major Italian trade union, becoming leader of Filcea (the chemical labour wing of CGIL) in 1988, and leader of the CGIL itself in 1990, succeeding Bruno Trentin. He led the CGIL until 2002, after having obtained some relevant triumphs such as negotiating the reform of pensions in 1995, and opposing the change of article 18 of the "workers' statute", a 1970 bill, which allows italian judges to condemn enterprise to assume workers from theirself fired. After having left his position in the CGIL, he went back to his position at Pirelli but his old factory didn't exist anymore.

In 2004, he was successfully elected as Mayor of Bologna, replacing Giorgio Guazzaloca.Soon after he started to show a more conservative side by forbidding small Deli shops (mainly operated by Pakistani immigrants) the sale of alcoholic beverages after 9 pm. During a TV interview by journalist Giuliano Ferrara, when asked why he did that he replied: "Whatever goes in eventually will get out, and this is not pleasant for Bologna's residents". About 30% of Bologna's population are university students preferring to pay a beer 1 Euro per bottle form a Pakistani's store than paying 4.50 Euro per glass at any bar.At that time Cofferati already started his attempt to forbid Bologna's 9 years old anti-prohibitionist rally "Street Rave Parade". When asked by Ferrara about his motivations Cofferati replied: "It is my duty as a Public Officer to protect citizens even from themselves" thus demonstrating his philosophy that elected representatives are superior to electors.His fought against the pro-legalize rally has lasted since. In 2006 he managed to tell the local Chief of State Police he was not doing his duty because he din not sent anti-riots troops to block the parade using brute force, as Cofferati requested.Cofferati, wrongly labelled as a radical leftist, experienced in 2005 strong opposition from the left-wing of his coalition The Union, after having fiercely supported a "crusade on legality" chasing away several abusive house residents, mainly irregular immigrants and squatters.Cofferati's conservative behavior took a puritan twist in November 2007 during Bologna's chocolate fair "Cioccoshow" when a local store displayed some phallic statuettes made of chocolate and dedicated to porn star Rocco Siffredi. Cofferati's Ofiice of Commerce secretary, Maria Cristina Santandrea, ordered the items to be removed, and she fined the producers for malpractice.Similarly, in 2008, Cofferati signed an ordinance forbidding the practice of piercing in genital areas, in all the city territory.

He is longlisted for the 2008 World Mayor Award. [http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/bologna-mayor.html]

Trivia

His nickname is "Il Cinese" ("The Chinaman"), because of the shape of his eyes.

Cofferati is a Sci-Fi fan: he's written several books, many of them about Philip K. Dick.

External links

*it icon [http://www.sergiocofferati.it Official website of Sergio Cofferati]
* [http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/bologna-mayor.html]