COMITATO
TRICOLORE
PER GLI
ITALIANI
NEL MONDO

There are many reasons, present in our List and absent in the others:

EXPERIENCE: Dealing with government representatives and agencies, as well as with the community we represent is no easy task.  The candidates in List #1 have years of experience doing just that and also include two ex COMITES presidents.

The majority of the candidates in the other Lists are neophytes and have no experience in the matter.

RETURN INFORMATION:  Being in the dark is useless and lack of communications fosters misunderstanding. With Radio Italia 24 Ore  by Angelo Liberati, Il Pensiero  by Antonino Lombardo,  the Internet portal www.italystl.com and the COMITES site www.comites.org  by Franco Giannotti, we cover the entire communication range effectively, with conventional and innovative means (radio, newspaper and internet). Radio Italia 24 Ore broadcasts 24 ore a day, seven days a week and has been active for over thirty years.  Il Pensiero, currently celebrating its first centennial, is the only Italian periodical published in the state of Missouri and also distributed in the neighboring states.   The Italian Portal for the Midwest (www.italystl.com)  is one of the major Italian portals in the USA,  on-line since 1997, registering over 150,000 “hits” monthly from all over the world.  The COMITES  web site (www.comites.org)  is the most complete source on the COMITES and will continue to offer an open forum to the community and as such will help guide the elected COMITES.

Communication means by others Lists are sporadic and of doubtful effectiveness.

GEOGRAPHY:  List #1 takes into consideration Italians who are not just Chicago area residents but includes representatives from St. Louis and Denver.  Reaching out to a wider area improves our overall vision of the opinions and needs of our constituency.

List #2 has only candidates from the Chicago area and List #3 headquarters in Milwaukee.

ASSOCIATIONS: We are active members of many associations, we have held executive offices in same and we are very conscious of the wants and needs of our citizens with whom we share our daily lives.

Many of the candidates from the other Lists come from academic institutions and do not have the faintest idea about the workings of the associations they want to represent.

AFFILIATIONS: List #1 has the support of the Comitato Tricolore per gli Italiani nel Mondo, unifying Italians around the world under the guidance of the same political party of Minister Mirko Tremaglia.  As a tribute to his unrelenting and lifelong quest to help and recognize Italians abroad that List #1 has accepted this political sponsorship.

The other Lists have neither political affiliation nor support by Italian political entities and will find it difficult to deal with such forces.  All of us may have little interest in these entities because we believe our political needs are different and unique to our communities; however, to boast of having no political ties when in fact our very being is political in nature is naïve and typical of newcomers.

Experience, communications, coverage, associations and political savvy are our guarantee of success.  We will be honored to represent you: vote for List #1 and choose the four candidates of your liking.  Remember, whoever you elect will represent you for 5 years - be conscious about your vote.  Thank you!

Mai come ora il popolare detto è applicabile all'interpretazione della LEGGE n. 286, del 23 ottobre 2003 u.s., redatta di fresco per regolare le discipline dei nuovi COMITES.  L'articolo 5, dedicato alla eleggibilità  e composizione dei COMITES specifica chiaramente anche l'eleggibilità dei candidati, vietando espressamente la candidatura ai dipendenti dello Stato italiano, rappresentanti di enti gestori per attività scolastiche e rappresentanti dei comitati di assistenza che ricevono finanziamenti pubblici.  Pare che un altra Lista di Chicago, abbia tra i suoi candidati ben 5 persone che appartengono alle categorie esclusionarie di cui sopra. Ricorso è  stato fatto presso le autorità competenti e finora l'Ambasciata di Washington ed il Consolato di Chicago hanno dichiarato che il regolamento della Legge prevede che una volta eletti, se eletti, il Comitato stesso dovrà dichiarare l'ineleggibilità dei neo eletti, non perchè eletti ma perchè non candidabili in primo luogo, seguendo una prassi complicata per la quale gli stessi trasgressori avranno l'opportunità di votare in proprio favore.  La prassi potrà impiegare 10 + 10 + 60 giorni ed invocare addiritura l'intervento del MAE di Roma.  L'assurdità di tutto ciò è che ben sapendo che la legge ne vieta la candidatura uno può tranquillamente infischiarsene della legge, candidarsi ugualmente, portare voti illegali e ottenere seggi elettorali a favore della propria lista (che non potranno essere detratti dopo che il candidato viene trovato ...non candidabile), può paralizzare qualsiasi lavoro del nuovo Comitato durante i vari ricorsi e, nella peggiore delle ipotesi, può tranquillamente dimettersi o dall'ente che lo rendeva ineleggibile o dal Comitato stesso senza alcuna penalità per lui o per la sua lista, avendo causato però danno irreparabile alle altre Liste ed ai COMITES.

Quite appropriate saying, according to the interpretation of the Law n. 286, dated this past  October 23,  2003, which was passed for the purpose of regulating the affairs of the  new COMITES.  Article #5, dealing with the eligibily and composition of the  COMITES, also covers very clearly the eligibility to candidate, expressly denying such to Italian Government employees, legal representatives of agencies involved in the subsidized teaching of the Italian language and representatives of other agencies who receive financial assistance from the Italian Government.  It appears as another Chicago List may include in it no less than 5 candidates who fall under the above ineligibility clauses.  Official complaints have been filed with the appropriate authorities but the only replies so far from the Italian Embassy in Washington and the Italian Consulate in Chicago are that according to the implementation rules of  of the law, the transgressors must be dealt with by the new Committee, after they are elected, if indeed they are elected,  not because they were elected but because they candidated themselves in the first place.  The procedure to  follow is a complicated one during which the transgressors are allowed to vote in their  own favor and must be allowed 10 + 10 + 60 days during which to negotiate their position and can even involve the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome. The absurdity of it all is that knowing full well that one is violating the law one can thumb his nose at the law, run for office, gather illegal votes for his List (which cannot be retracted once the candidate is found not compliant), and bring to a halt any work by the new COMITES  while the proceedings take place.  Worse case scenario, the transgressor may ultimately resign from the conflicting entity or from the Committee without any penalty, while having caused irreparable damage to the other Lists and to the Committtee itself.