The mayor of Taranto is an elected politician who, along with the Taranto's city council, is accountable for the strategic government of Taranto in Apulia, Italy, the second biggest city of the region.
Since 17 June 2025, the mayor is Piero Bitetti, supported by the centre-left coalition.
Overview According to the Italian Constitution, the mayor of Taranto is member of the city council.
The mayor is elected by the population of Taranto, who also elect the members of the city council, controlling the mayor's policy guidelines and is able to enforce his resignation by a motion of no confidence. The mayor is entitled to appoint and release the members of his government.
Since 1993 the mayor is elected directly by Taranto's electorate: in all mayoral elections in Italy in cities with a population higher than 15,000 the voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives at least 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally.
Republic of Italy (since 1946) City Council election (1946-1993) From 1946 to 1993, the Mayor of Taranto was elected by the City Council. Mayor Term start Term end Party Odoardo Voccoli14 December 194628 February 1948PCI Carlo Di Donna5 February 19492 May 1950PCI Nicola De Falco13 July 195125 July 1956PCI 4Raffaele Leone25 July 195615 December 1957DC 5Angelo Monfredi15 December 195723 April 1961DC 6Salvatore Spallitta23 April 196126 July 1963DC 7Giuseppe Conte26 July 19635 May 1965DC 8Angelo Vincenzo Curci5 May 196527 September 1970DC 9Franco Lorusso27 September 197015 September 1975DC 10Leonardo Paradiso15 September 19759 July 1976DC Giuseppe Cannata9 July 19761 May 1983PCI Augusto Intelligente1 May 19831 July 1983PCI Giovanni Vittorio Battafarano1 July 198314 October 1985PCI Mario Guadagnolo14 October 19851 August 1990PSI Michele Armentani1 August 19901 January 1991PSI 16Alfengo Carducci1 January 199119 November 1991DC 17Roberto Della Torre19 November 19915 December 1993DC
Direct election (since 1993) Since 1993, under provisions of new local administration law, the Mayor of Taranto is chosen by direct election, originally every four, than every five years.
Mayor Term start Term end PartyCoalition Election Giancarlo Cito5 December 199324 February 1996LAM LAM1993 Gaetano De Cosmo24 February 199623 June 1996LAM23 June 19961 May 2000 LAMFIAN1996 Rossana Di Bello1 May 20004 April 2005FI FIANCCD20004 April 200518 February 2006 FIANUDC2005Special Prefectural Commissioner tenure (18 February 2006 – 14 June 2007) Ippazio Stefano 14 June 200722 May 2012PRCSEL PRCPdCIFdV200722 May 201229 June 2017 PDSELIdVPSI2012 Rinaldo Melucci 29 June 201716 November 2021PD PDPSI2017Special Prefectural Commissioner tenure (16 November 2021 – 17 June 2022) Rinaldo Melucci 17 June 202221 February 2025PDIV PDSIM5SEV 2022Special Prefectural Commissioner tenure (21 February 2025 – 17 June 2025) 23 Piero Bitetti17 June 2025IncumbentInd PDDemoSAVS 2025 Notes
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