Weekly Update 15

December 6, 2024

Hello everyone,

The first issue is garbage. There are many complaints and questions regarding the failure to collect garbage, which come up on a daily basis. This is not a problem limited to a specific street, but rather a situation involving the failure to collect bins, partial collection, the return of bins to the wrong location, and the breaking of bins by workers, among other issues.

From the very first day I took office as a council member, I have been examining various issues, including the handling of garbage collection. The focus was on the garbage collection contract, which was set to expire in July 2024 according to the agreement, following two extension periods that were included in the contract. According to the tender, the contract with the waste contractor could not be extended for another period. And it was unclear on what grounds the same company was continuing to operate even after July. Therefore, I immediately contacted the council treasurer, Mr. Avi Hosman, to request information that I am entitled to receive by law as a council member. He replied to my first email with a brief, unclear answer, so I continued to ask, but the treasurer simply ignored me and did not respond for six months.

It is important to obtain this information—who authorized the extension of the contract beyond the mandatory period, what rates were paid to the contractor during those months, and more. Transparency and accessible information are cornerstones of a democratic system, and here in our community, we have to fight to get information or ensure it arrives in time so we can prepare and study the issues at hand.

Six months and no answers. I also contacted the district supervisor at the Ministry of the Interior, who simply referred me back to the treasurer. So I submitted an inquiry to the council chair. This is a tool available to council members, as the council chair is then required to respond within 90 days. The text of the inquiry is as follows.

In light of the fact that a new tender was concluded a few days ago, I request answers to the following questions:

1. How is it possible that, despite the explicit agreement stipulating that the contract would end after two extension periods, the contractor continues his work?
2. What is the administrative mechanism and what is the forum in which it was decided that the contractor would continue his work? If there is any documentation to this effect, I request to receive it under the Freedom of Information Act, which council members are entitled to.
3. Were any documents signed by authorized signatories of the authority with the contractor to regulate the extension of his work period?

Last Tuesday, during the meeting, the council chairman gave a terse response:

“The issue of garbage collection in Zichron Yaakov was handled directly with the district director of the Ministry of the Interior and with the minister’s office, as the events of Operation Iron Swords made it difficult to publish the tender on the scheduled date.

The Ministry of the Interior approved the necessary extension.”

At the meeting, he added that the contractor continued working at the same price and that, in the meantime, a new waste contractor had already been selected under new tender terms. I had to wait six months for this answer!!! What prevented the treasurer and the council chair from responding the very first time? And furthermore, why, when they approached the Minister of the Interior and upon receiving approval for the request, were we, the members of the plenary, not informed—since we are required to approve the payment items for the waste contractor within the budget framework?

And on the subject of cleaning—at the last meeting, we unanimously approved the purchase of a small, specialized street sweeper capable of driving on sidewalks, valued at 350,000 NIS. According to the presentation by the Operations Manager, Shlomi Peretz, the vehicle will operate 24/7 and will significantly improve the cleanliness of sidewalks and small paths. The purchase of the vehicle entails additional costs, such as the cost of hiring a council driver, maintenance costs, and so on.

The second issue is the expansion of the educational complex in the Halomot neighborhood. The complex currently houses the following schools: Moshava High School, Ya’avetz, Pelech, and the Religious High School. The council plans to add the following to this complex:

• The Keshet School, serving students from kindergarten through high school, with two classes per grade level,
• Construction of an additional wing for Moshava High School—on the site where there is currently a parking lot near Maof HaTzipor Square, adjacent to the rear entrance gate, the tennis court, and the new sports hall.
• Expansion of the Tanachic High School.

Regarding the issues I raised in the previous newsletter and in the Facebook post that garnered a lot of interest:

The expropriation of the land in the Zichrona complex, which is designated in the plan for public buildings/public spaces, is a mandatory formal procedure intended to legally transfer the designated land to the ownership of the local authority. The purpose of this expropriation is to establish educational institutions and build schools in the Zichrona neighborhood. The council head claimed in a conversation with me at the end of the council meeting that no expropriation had taken place, but rather an exchange of land. This is a significant claim that requires verification and evidence. Therefore, with the council head’s approval (yes, you read that correctly—council administrators require the council head’s approval to meet with council members!), Dr. Avigayil Dolev, who is also an architect, and I will meet with the council engineer to review the plans and ensure that this is not an expropriation. An expropriation that could bring about the development of the Zichrona neighborhood seven years earlier than planned. Premature development of Zichrona could lead to the economic collapse of the community. I will keep you updated.

Council members were unanimous in their opinion that it is better to expand the existing area rather than scatter the schools across different neighborhoods. This is after we were promised an adequate transportation solution in the form of an additional access road to be paved to the educational complex from the Beit El square. However, it is by no means certain that this solution is sufficient, as currently there is only one road via Rabin/Road 652, which is very congested, and this also means a large concentration of traffic from west to east in the town.

In accordance with my public announcement and the council members’ request, an additional (special) council meeting has been scheduled for this coming Tuesday, December 10, solely on this issue. You are invited to attend the meeting or watch it on the council’s website.

A third issue is the establishment of a tourism department within the council. As part of the community’s future tourism development, a tourism department is planned to be established within the council. The Gedonim Association, which managed tourism for the local authority, will continue to operate on a more limited basis in its original role—preserving the community and passing on the heritage of the moshava’s founders to future generations, as is already integrated into the education system today.

Our party views this move positively, as it was also included in our election platform and is based on the tourism activities that were budgeted and promoted throughout Ziv Deshe’s previous term.

Fourth, we unanimously approved a budget to repair storm damage to roads throughout the community based on a detailed list received in advance. We were told that an additional inspection and opening of the storm drains had been conducted. I hope the rest of the winter passes without further damage. I am monitoring the situation.

There were other substantive topics discussed at the meeting that I will write about next week.

I’d like to remind you that it’s important to add more residents to the newsletter—send me your name and email so I can add more people.

Yours,

Limor Zar-Guttman

The “Lema’an HaMoshava” Party