He was employed by the Municipality as a managing attorney, but is no longer registered in the ordinary register or on the special list and is unable to exercise his legal duties. For this reason, he is unable to represent the Municipality at all levels. This is the paradoxical story of the task given last September to Marilena Sireci, 47, a specialist in the litigation sector, who for the first time in the history of the Palazzo delle Aquile has been classified as a “managing attorney”. Not in the ranks of the municipal prosecutor’s office, which has been in a very critical situation for some time due to staff shortages, despite having to deal with more than 300 cases a year, but in the area of income and municipal taxes. The compensation: just over 100 thousand euros per year. The choice of active administration, which the mayor, Roberto Lagalla, who signed the decision, still defends today, because it allows “high professionalism to be achieved in court before the first and second degree courts of justice”. The person in question, contacted by phone, preferred not to make any statements. In short, this is a new negligence after 35 electric buses were purchased and left in the garage because they were missing chargers.
On July 28, 2023, in accordance with the provisions of Article 110, paragraph 2 of the Consolidated Local Administrations Law, a selection regarding the identity of a managing lawyer to work in the Tax Area was published on the Municipality’s bulletin board. Registration in a professional association was not foreseen among the prerequisites. 24 people responded to the announcement (except for only 2 people), their CVs were reviewed by an external commission, which carried out the initial selection by bringing the most valid applications to the attention of the mayor, who was given the final say.
Who is Marilena Siraci, an official at the Ministry of Economy?
The choice fell to Marilena Sireci, previously an appellate lawyer (multi-titled and with specific training in the finance and tax sector), but after winning a competition in the Ministry of Economy and Finance, she removed herself from the register and served there. She served from April 2022 until last September. She left this position after winning the position of contract manager lawyer of the Municipality of Palermo.
Following the publication of the circular and the appointment, the mayor, by another decision, determined that the duties of the managing attorney are limited to “representing the organization in the court of first and second instance in all tax disputes related to taxes”. Municipal taxes (Tari, Tarsu, Tosap, Tourism Tax, etc.) are managed by the Revenue and Taxes Department of the Municipality and a special power of attorney is issued for the relevant disputes”. However, according to an internal report, this activity could also be carried out by an administrative officer, who is paid about a third compared to the annual amount of over 100 thousand euros allocated to the managing attorney, considering that it is not necessary for this type of dispute that a lawyer would sponsor. What now?
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Source: Today IT
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
