Basically it says that the only reason some people are opposed to Moshe AButbol being mayor is his kippa. It says Bet Shemesh is a traditional city that loves religion and respects religion and will not allow anyone to harm the mayor whose only sin is the kippa he wears.
In tens of years, the ad says, no mayor has come up in Bet Shemesh who has showed concern for the residents of the neighborhoods like Moshe Abutbol - starting projects, rehabilitating neighborhoods, building Road 10, advancing the government decision to spend a billion shekels upgrading Highway 38, adding industrial areas, building malls, building parks, etc...
The ad is signed by "residents of the neighborhoods"..
No names of supporters are given, nor of the neighborhoods these supporters come from...
I have no doubt that plenty of people support Moshe Abutbol for mayor. He is a personable guy, speaks well, and I am sure he has helped plenty of people, and he has done good things... but this ad on his behalf is just funny, saying that nobody can possibly want another mayor for any reason other than his kippa and hatred - not possible that maybe some people think somebody else might do a better job on the issues on which Abutbol was weak or non-existent......
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Lets not be naive here. The new signs for Aliza Bloch say: She is one of us. What does that mean? Human? Woman? Not Hareidi rather dati leumi-bingo .
ReplyDeleteThe ads for Eli Cohen and Aliza Bloch have clearly shown they are saying these are the candidates to stop the hareidim from ruining the future of the city.
If this campaign was in the USA and the "hareidim" was changed to "Jew", a lot of people would be screaming antisemitism. I asked a few non abutbol supporters-Besides what they see as he is hareidizing the city in their eyes, what has he done wrong. One of the answers given was he went to China on an official visit. I am sorry, that is nuts. I definitely think the city needs some improvements and we definitly need not cater to extremists( the minority of the city by far-probably 30 people in a city of tens of thousands) however you gotta give me a better arguement then a trip to china or he is Hareidi. Everyone cleary sees this as an us vs. them and that is a shame.
1. neither of the candidates is claiming as part of their platform to stop haredim from moving to Bet Shemesh,. There were candidates who did, but they eventually dropped out. These two candidates, both Eli and Aliza, have good relationships with haredim and haredi reps. neither has said any such thing that you suggest and they have both said the opposite. They want to continue to build for haredim. They just want to do it differently. They want to build *also* for haredim, but not *just* for haredim. as well, they want to build with infrastrucure in place so that haredim (like anyonme else) will have what they need. I have been to RBS C. There are a lot of houses being built. Are there any shuls near completion, or even near being started? any mikvas? any schools? no there are not. that means in a few months when residents start moving in, they will have none of their communal needs available. They will have to rely on such things from RBS A when necessary, like schools and mikvas, while RBS A is already overburdened due to its own size. shuls will be in apartments, schools in apartments and driven to RBS A (or elsewhere).
ReplyDeleteWhy cant a neighborhood be built with a shul and a mikva and a school? These candidates want to plan the new neighborhoods properly so that whoever buys there, including haredim, have their needs taken care of, so they have the quality fo life they deserve.
2. what do i want to see from the mayor?
in no particular order, but I will start with points you mentioned:'
a. he should not be pulled by the extremists, letting them set the tone, letting them decide what happens in town. the current mayor unfortunately does that. Even UTJ has criticized him for that and has been a large part of their considering to run their own candidate (which they wont) - reps have said that here the haredi community has gotten a bad name and it is because the mayor lets the more extreme elements set the tone and force a lot of decisions.
b. necessary infrastructure should be in place. askanim should not be given plots of land for schools that they then rent out to schools , just because they are close to the mayor. the schools and shuls and other communal buildings and institutions should get what they need from the mayor.. new neighborhoods should be built with what they need, and growth taken into account.
c. diversity should be encouraged. we bought in and moved to a "mixed" city, and personally I want it to continue to be "mixed". That means I want haredim to continue to move to Bet Shemesh (and they will, regardless of who is the mayor - Moshe Abutbol did not bring the big influx of haredim to bet Shemesh - they came well before he was the mayor), but I also want a mayor who will encourage other people to also come. Moshe Abutbol no longer has the ability to do this, even if he has the desire (which I doubt). he has worked n changing the image of Bet Shemesh to be a haredi city in the public eye.
d. I want infrastructure dealt with - cleaning the city, repairing broken roads, matnasim that function, etc. It does not bother me that Abutbol went to China, but it does bother me that he does not seem to know how to prioritize the budget of the city for the thigns that give us our quality of life. the city s filthy, though it has improved slightly in recent months, the roads are decrepit with potholes and patches and mre potholes, the sidewalks are a danger as the bricks cave and bubble and threaten people with broken ankles and broken necks for stepping into a ditch or tripping over a bubble.
ReplyDeleted. I want a mayor who will attract business. Abubtol has walked away from deals to bring large companies to Bet Shemesh. Yes, he fought with Mateh Yehuda to get some of their industrial zones transferred to Bet Shemesh, but has he brought any serious business to Bet Shemesh? He brought in some stores, stores that usually employ a few people, while other stores closed - but did he bring any large businesses that will employ hundreds of people? factories? Intel was considering a deal here and then went elsewhere because no attractive deal was offered to them. the same for a call center that could have employed dozens of people. I want someone who has attracting business and employment opportunities as a focus of his plan.
e. higher education along with special education. There is nothing local and people HAVE to leave the city if they want opportunities. Both candidates have made this a focus of their future administration, of giving people the ability to stay in bet Shemesh for their education needs, whether it is vocational training, whether it is higher education, whether it is special education. etc. People should not have to leave the city for their basic needs, though they can always choose to.
I think that is enough to start with.