The Italian American Heritage Foundation held a luncheon on June 5th to celebrate the Festa della Repubblica, the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Italian Republic, which was founded on June 2, 1946. In the 62 years since Italy voted to replace the monarchy of the House of Savoy with a parliamentary republic, there have been 63 distinct governments. That’s an average of one new government per year–not the most stable political environment. And now with Silvio Berlusconi back as prime minister, who knows what to expect? The Italian people have some serious decisions that need to be made in the months ahead.
I was very grateful for the opportunity to speak at the event and to share some thoughts about Italian heritage and community. We also heard from Josh DeVincenzi Melander, the grandson of John DeVincenzi, one of the founding members of the Italian American Heritage Foundation. Josh spoke about his vision for a “Little Italy” commercial zone along 13th Street, between Taylor and Jackson Streets, which had once been a neighborhood largely made up of Italian immigrants. The one holdout in this area is the Chiaramonte Italian Market, which was established in 1908 and is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Times have changed of course and many of the Italian immigrants have moved out and a new group of immigrants have been moving in, many of whom come from Mexico and other points south of the border. In addition to Chiaramonte’s Market, there is a bocce ball court, which is also across the street from Holy Cross Church, which continues to hold one mass in Italian on Sundays. So there’s a basis for some optimism that something could grow from here. Time will tell.
Santa Clara County Supervisor and Chairperson of the Board Pete “Primo” McHugh was at the event and he said to me that he had a great trip to Florence, Italy. Supervisor McHugh was accompanied on the trip by some of the members of the Florence Commission and Gwen Mitchell, director of the Office of Public Affairs. It’s too bad that there will not be any public record of the Florence Commission meeting that was scheduled for Thursday, June 5th, the first Thursday of the month. Since this meeting is called a “workshop”, there is no clerk from the Office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors to take notes on the meeting. The only way to know what was said is if you were present at the meeting as a member of the public to hear what members of the Florence Commission might venture to say about their trip. Of course it will be filled with flattery and pats on the back, one can only imagine. Hopefully we will hear more about this “important” trip in a future meeting when there is actually someone who will take official notes about this official visit with members of the Province of Florence, Italy.
It was nice to see that there were representatives from the various Italian clubs, including the Italian Men’s Club, the American Italian Historical Association, and the Trabia Club. And to my surprise there were a couple of representatives from the Santa Clara County Florence Sister County Commission who identified themselves as such.
The current chairperson of the Florence Commission, Karen Mazzanti Serpa, walked up to me and seemed quite disgusted with my blog and my critical analysis of the Florence Commission. As I have written before, the Florence Commission does not tolerate anyone challenging their decisions or method of operation. Dissent is not a trait that is well tolerated with this group. Anyone who opposes a motion is immediately singled out and the process of isolation begins. The Florence Commission has acted too much like a rubber stamp entity that is commonly found in countries like Russia.
The biggest flaw with the Florence Commission is that it lacks diversity. Almost all of its members are of Italian heritage, and most of them are over the age of 60. There is currently no one on this commission who is not of Italian heritage. They just lost Miles Ito, the last non-Italian on the Commission. And last year they lost Robert Stillerman, another non-Italian who really enjoys Italian culture and who brought a very progressive influence to the Commission. Unfortunately he was treated very poorly by some members of the Commission. It was Mr. Stillerman who pushed to establish the Technology Committee on the Florence Commission, which had six initial members, of whom included Mr. Ito and myself. At this point, however, the committee is down to one person, Commissioner Conrad Russo, a 20-year charter member of the Commission. Of the many problems that face the Florence Commission, one is that this commission does not live up to its stated mission. The Commission spends too much time trying to control what other commissioners think and do. I would say that this group is fatally flawed because of the self-serving mindset that has dominated it from the outset. I wonder if this is what Rod Diridon had intended when he established this commission in 1988 when he was on the Board of Supervisors.
If the Florence Commission can’t show any sense of official leadership and public service that honors the greater good, then maybe it should disengage itself from county sponsorship. This group wants to have its cake and eat it. Based on their actions, which speak louder than words, I think this group would be much better off as a private nonprofit entity, just like the Italian American Heritage Foundation or the Italian Men’s Club or the lodges of the Sons of Italy or even the Valle Monte League. The Florence Commission offers an excellent opportunity to give Santa Clara County citizens a chance to serve and learn more about county government. If the Commission could get its pathetic act together, it could set a model for succession planning and stimulate a real interest in Italian culture and heritage among younger members of the Italian community. But what is just as important is to be able to build up goodwill with those who are not of Italian heritage. Hasn’t anyone read Dale Carnegie’s book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”? Duhhhhh!
Wouldn’t it be nice if the various Italian clubs who attended the Festa della Repubblica event at the Heritage Foundation sent at least one representative to attend meetings of the Florence Commission on the first Thursday of the month? These meetings are open to the public and as the Brown Act requires, members of the public are allowed to comment on all agenda items before any votes are taken. I mention this because the Florence Commission is prone to intimidating people with its private club mentality. The main purpose of the Brown Act is to promote public access. The Act gives members of the public the right to remain anonymous while attending a meeting. However, if a member of the public would like to comment on an agenda item, they are then requested to identify themselves for the record. Wouldn’t this be a great way to practice democracy and to supply ideas to the Florence Commission, which up until now has had the agenda all to itself with almost no input from the public? Here’s an opportunity for Italians from around Santa Clara County to leverage their influence in a positive way that contributes even more to the Valley of the Heart’s Delight that we love so much. The Italian community needs to realize that it actually has a VOICE at the COUNTY LEVEL. Here is a county level government body that can express, and to a degree represent, the interests of the Italian community via Italian culture and heritage through the county’s sister county relationship with the Province of Florence, Italy, the symbol of the Renaissance. It’s up to the other Italian groups and the friends of Italian heritage and culture to get involved. Unfortunately up until now the Florence Commission has acted like a private club which has had the effect of excluding members of the public from participating and providing input. By being more inclusive you will expand your influence. Have more debate and flourish.
As we all know, there is strength in numbers. It’s long overdue for the Florence Commission to start showing some community leadership. It needs to be more inclusive and more public service oriented so that it can credibly function as the advisory body that its charter has authorized it to be.
The anniversary of the founding of the Italian Republic is a great opportunity for members of the local Italian American community to count their blessings, especially knowing that we have the best of both worlds, namely that we are of Italian heritage and live in America, the land of democracy, opportunity and freedom.
Happy Birthday, Italy and God Bless America.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: berlusconi, festa della repubblica, Florence Commission, Italian American Heritage Foundation, Italy, Pete McHugh
