Minervini has been a close collaborator of bishop Antonio Bello[1] and in 1985 he founded the "House of Peace", a point of reference for the fight against crime for many young people in the city.
He was re-elected in 1998 with the support of The Olive Tree coalition, and in that year he joined Romano Prodi's The Democrats, that later converged into Francesco Rutelli's The Daisy.
In his ten years as councilor he was remembered for the call for the social reuse of assets confiscated from the Mafia, the reorganization of regional offices and, above all, the Bollenti spiriti program that promoted training and the start of work for thousands of young Apulians.
[6] Despite his health problems, he did not lessen his political commitment, turning his attention especially to the fight against illegal hiring.
In 2014, Minervini was a candidate for the centre-left primaries to choose Vendola's successor as gubernatorial candidate, together with the former mayor of Bari Michele Emiliano and senator Dario Stefano:[7] Minervini reached third place, behind the winner Emiliano, who was later elected governor, and Stefano.