Schmidt: "I'm running for mayor of Florence. Capodimonte? I will ask for a leave of absence."

After months, Eike Schmidt, former director of the Uffizi Galleries and current director of the Capodimonte Museum and Real Bosco, officially dissolves his reservations and announces he will run for mayor of Florence for the center-right. The announcement took place yesterday morning under Palazzo Vecchio in Florence’s Piazza della Signoria. “I officially dissolve my reservations and run for mayor of Florence,” he said. “Since July, when the hypothesis of my candidacy was born, I have collected indications from friends and acquaintances, so many Florentines were asking me to run and now the moment has come: I’m in. Today myself, I will ask the parties to support this election campaign and begin with the practical procedures. There are at least two groups of civic people who have been working to form one or two civic lists and we will see if it will eventually be one. And soon I will tell you the place and the day when I will present my program.”

Regarding his current position as director of the Capodimonte Museum and Royal Woods, Schmidt specified that he will ask for leave well before the 45 days as required by law. “From mid-month I will be 100 percent in the field in Florence. The law is the same for everyone. As you know there is a university professor from Florence, Giuseppe Conte, who has now been on leave for six years for political activity. So it also applies to executives,” Schmidt said and continued: “I’m going on leave and I hope that others, like the rector of the University for Foreigners in Siena and the councillor for welfare in Florence who are now already in the midst of an election campaign, although in the case of the rector it’s not clear whether he will run or not but he’s still doing political activity, will also go on leave. Because it’s only fair.”

Among the problems to be addressed as mayor of Florence, he listed security, overtourism, and the presence of few young people both in the center and in the suburbs. “My vision for the city is based on Florence’s great history and culture to guarantee beauty, safety and cleanliness. That also guarantees the freedom of citizens.” “And Le Cascine is a big problem that needs to be strongly addressed,” he concluded. “They can come back like Central Park in New York that was reborn from a place of delinquency with beauty, sports, and culture.”

Schmidt: "I'm running for mayor of Florence. Capodimonte? I will ask for a leave of absence."

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