Weekly Update 08

October 4, 2024

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year, a year of peace and prosperity. We’ve had a very difficult year, and I hope the coming year will be better for us.

This newsletter will address two issues that came up at the last council meeting held on 9/10/24, the minutes of which are attached to this message. I chose these two topics to illustrate the surreal reality in which our council operates: regarding the first topic, there was proper administration, and the council acted in accordance with the law. Regarding the second topic, there was improper administration. It’s just like Mr. Geisel and Mr. Hyde.

First issue: The continuation of the project that took shape during the previous term and included the establishment of a center for young families and, adjacent to it, a new building for the mother-and-child health clinic—a building located on HaPdot Street. The designer responsible for planning the site (hired back during Ziv’s term) presented the future plan to us—an activity center for young families that will operate throughout the day. The building exists but requires extensive renovation and adaptation to its new function. This time we received a breakdown of the special budget (non-recurring budget) and were able to approve 1.8 million NIS for this project. At this stage, the remaining funds of the municipality do not allow for the project to begin, but it reflects the priorities of all council members in the allocation of development funds.

This is how a discussion on any project should look: council members receive a detailed breakdown in advance of exactly what each shekel is required for; the project manager presents a detailed presentation at the meeting and answers questions from council members. Council members also hold a broad, substantive discussion about activities for young families and children from birth through early childhood, how the current project fits in with existing initiatives, and more.

This discussion stood out positively, especially after the flawed discussion regarding the special budget for the Nili School renovation project, which I have already written about here. There, 3.5 million NIS was approved without the project manager being present at the meeting to provide an explanation, without us receiving a detailed breakdown, and without seeking input from the outgoing council engineer or the council’s project supervisor. After touring Nili School prior to the discussion, I was the only one who voted against it. Not because I oppose completing the school’s renovation, but because it was carried out with improper administration and a lack of transparency regarding the data.

Second issue: Approval of a land allocation contract for an ultra-Orthodox association

In 2019, the council approved the allocation of 200 square meters of public land to an ultra-Orthodox association that operates a speech therapy center for children with special needs on the site. The approval was granted for eight years, but the allocation contract itself was not approved by the council. We did not receive a clear explanation from the legal advisor as to why approval of the contract had been delayed for so many years. However, we were required to approve the contract today—with only about two and a half years remaining on the allocation.

However, a strange surprise awaited us at the meeting: Legal Counsel Barzilai suddenly claimed that we could approve the contract and, in the process, extend the allocation to eight years starting from now, rather than from 2019. In doing so, he granted the ultra-Orthodox nonprofit additional years of allocation—contrary to what is stated in the contract.

I, of course, objected and argued that the contract must be approved as written—an allocation starting in 2019 with two years remaining. In another two years, we will convene and discuss a new allocation. Because that is what is written in the contract, and it is not possible now, during a vote on a written contract, to change its content and effectively vote to extend the allocation. Tzila Reshef (from the opposition) rushed to assist the legal advisor and the ultra-Orthodox association and proposed, as a “compromise,” that we vote on a five-year extension starting today. Note that this means the current council will not discuss the allocation; rather, it will be the council elected in the future. And in the future, there may be a majority for the council head and his coalition with the ultra-Orthodox.

The legal advisor continued to argue that the option to extend is entirely legal. Based on his legal determination—and solely because of it—most council members, including those from the opposition, voted in favor of Tzila’s “compromise” proposal and extended the allocation for five years from today.

Avigayil Dolev from our party and I voted against it. Because it is clear to us that the Legal Advisor’s interpretation is, at best, erroneous, or, at worst, self-serving. I regret that not all opposition members voted as we did; had they, we could have held a discussion on the allocation and the contract in two years’ time.

* At the meeting, we also discussed a major public construction project—the multi-purpose center for seniors. The council head decided it would be built on the dirt lot adjacent to the country club, which is currently used for parking. I will elaborate on this in the next newsletter.

Yours,

Limor

The “Lema’an HaMoshava” Party