Jul 1, 2012
Bet Shemesh - More of The Same?
A Guest Post by Shimon Biton
With pivotal local elections here in Bet Shemesh fast approaching, which to all observers are critical to the future direction of the city, the general(non-charedi) camp needs to internalize the lessons of the past and engender not to repeat them. While past campaigns witnessed cut-throat rivalries between various parties,ideologies and movements (Likud,Mafdal,Labor,Chen etc.),it is clear to all who are concerned about the current direction of the city that we do not have the "luxury" of internal bickering need to unify around one agreed-upon candidate. Nonetheless, as we know, old habits and patterns die hard and back-room "dealmakers" with personal interests at heart are still living as in the past and threaten the unity-in-the-ranks- "achdut ha-shurot" we so greatly require. On the positive side, there are a cadre of younger political activists here in Bet Shemesh that are willing to stand up for what they believe in(as evidenced by the recent demonstrations and other events) that seem to be more "l'shem shamayim" without raw personal interests at play.
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The key question that needs to be asked is, "What candidate will this group present as an alternate to the current mayor?". Is he/she a going to be a remnant of the corrupt, old-style politics, similar to that of Tamamy Hall which ran New York City during the 19th century as was notorious for its corruption and political patronage.
We have all been witness in the past to the "horse-trading" and "deal-making" at the expense of the stated desires of the mandates and votes that we gave them, their cowering to the powers that be and their ineffectiveness to stop the growing threats to our city. If our "agreed upon" candidate is "more of the same", a political insider who grew up in the culture we need to uproot, than change will be hard to come by.
I am often told to tone down the volume of the rhetoric of my weekly column that I write in the interest of appeasement but I believe in the collective wisdom of the general population and its ability to learn from the past. The agents of change are present here in Bet Shemesh and all we need is to activate them intelligently and effectively learning from and avoiding the mistakes and excesses of the yesteryear.
As Bet Shemesh has grown in so many ways in recent years-so has its complexity and diversity. Its need for a leader who is cut of a different cloth and up to the task of leading and uniting the varied populations is critical to the health and welfare of the city and its inhabitants. Old-style politicians, whose personal interests dwarf the needs of the people they claim to represent need to be replaced. We deserve better.
Shimon Biton is a well-known Bet Shemesh lawyer and columnist. He is considering running for mayor in next year's municipal elections.
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What do you think? Is Moshe Abutbol's re-election as mayor for a second term a done deal? Would it be good or bad for Bet Shemesh? Do you have a candidate you are familiar with that you think would do a good job under the special conditions of Bet Shemesh? Is there someone who can garner enough support in the upcoming elections?
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interesting...never heard of him
ReplyDeleteANYTHING ANYTHING ANYTHING but another haredi mayor. Tammany hall would be better - that would put us on a par with most other Israeli municipalities. At this point in time, we have Tammany Hall PLUS spitting on little girls/stoning women with 7 month old babies. Oh, I'm sorry, its the media and the 'haredi bashers' that stoned that woman with the 7 month old baby two weeks ago. I SAW NO OUTCRY IN THE HAREDI PRESS ABOUT THIS STONING BECAUSE TO THEM, NON-HAREDIM ARE NOT JEWS (at least in the Hebrew version, without the 'nice' window-dressing- the English version of the haredi press will pay lip-service).
ReplyDeleteAnd there are PLENTY of things that the mayor could have done to stop the violence in Orot that he was unwilling to do in the name of 'circling the wagons' for the haredim.
SIMPLE EXAMPLE - when the local neighbors of Orot started harassing the 7 year old girls, I would have switched the Orot school with Scheiber/Branco Weiss or another beit shemesh hiloni high school. I would love to have seen these same BRAVE avrehim harassing old Beit Shemesh teenagers from Scheiber/Branco Weiss - these pure tzadikim 'neighbors' of Orot are only strong against weak little girls.
WE ARE SICK OF BEING SECOND CLASS AND THIRD CLASS CITIZENS IN OUR OWN CITY. WE ARE SICK OF BEING THE KASPOMAT/MONEY SOURCE OF NON-WORKING INGRATES WHO DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO SAY A SIMPLE THANK-YOU.
Seriously, huge portions of the population now get 90% arnona discounts (it used to be 80% - one of the 'achievements' of the present administration was to raise it to 80%) while WE pay for their services. We are shabbos goyim - not ONCE did someone ever say something like "thank you for paying higher taxes so we can learn tora." Where I come from, if someone gives me something, I at least say 'thank you.' I guess they skipped that part in the kollels.
Did he write this in English?
ReplyDeleteDoes he know English?
If so it could be a big plus for him.
Can you tell us a bit more about this guy Shimon Biton. I've never heard of him.
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, I dont know anything about Shimon Biton. I have read his articles on occasion, but nothing more than that. The article was sent to me for posting. I do not endorse him, as I have no idea what he stands for.
ReplyDeleteI will try to find out more about him.
" I would love to have seen these same BRAVE avrehim harassing old Beit Shemesh teenagers from Scheiber/Branco Weiss"
ReplyDelete...And *that's* just the girls.
In what newspaper does he write his articles?
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly, he writes in Shopping Mekomi
ReplyDeleteShimon Biton is a property lawyer in Old Beit Shemesh. He strongly backed Danny Vaknin in the last elections.
ReplyDeleteI nominate my wife for mayor. I think she'd be brilliant running the city, and as a long standing Likud member she'd be eligible for the party's nomination.
ReplyDeleteJust one problem - her Hebrew is not quite up to scratch. But did that stop Stanley Fischer? The right person for the right job, I say!