After their summer break, the Gouves councilmen (most of them, anyway) were back in form – vociferous and pugnacious as ever – to kick-start the 2008-09 legislative session to action . . . and The Khronicles’ political reporter was there with an ear to the proceedings.

Even before the meeting was officially started, angry words were exchanged over a press release distributed by one of the councilmen regarding the delay in the opening of the on-off ramps in Kokkini Hani.

Finally, Council President Manolis Anagnostakis gaveled the meeting to order, stating that particular item was not on the night’s agenda (The Khronicles will have a full update on the ramps in the November edition).

Most of the items were strictly formalities, with two exceptions. On one, the council voted unanimously for Mayor Yiorgo Nikolakaki to investigate further the possibility of bringing the “Leonardo Da Vinci” exhibit to Gournes Exhibition Center.  They talked about a six-month exhibit from April to October, 2009, where the township stands to gain from ticket sales, merchandising and a positive image. The exhibit features more than 50 hands-on working models of some of Da Vinci’s most famous inventions from clocks to flying machines, including many of the inventor’s designs, and it will occupy an area of 500 square metres. A report by the mayor will follow.

The other, though not “officially” on the docket, was on the subject of “Kapodistrias 2” (K2). The mayor asked for the council’s thoughts on the subject for a meeting he would attend the following day. 

The first “Kapodistrias” was the reform which was implemented a decade ago, consolidating Greece’s 6000 municipalities into 1034. The K2 administrative reform proposes for the 1034 municipalities to be further condensed into 400, the 52 prefectures to merge into 16 and the 13 districts into six. In the Iraklion Prefecture, the existing 26 townships will merge into eight. Locally, one possibility is for Gouves, Hersonissos, Malia, Episkopi, and perhaps Kasteli, to merge into one. The councilmen asked the mayor to provide them with additional information as to what the repercussions would be on the local administrations, and how will it be decided as to where the headquarters of the emerging townships be located before they can give an educated opinion.  The K2 will be formally discussed at a future meeting.