He has been for a short period Mayor of Catania from 1988 to 1989 and has been re-elected in 1993, becoming the first mayor elected directly by the citizens of Catania, and in 1997, leaving the office in order to assume the charge of Minister of interior.
After failing to be re-elected mayor in 2005, he manages to be re-elected in 2013, holding the charge for 5 more years. At the 2018 communal elections, he is defeated by the Forza Italia candidate Salvo Pogliese.