Getting their lines crossed

Two municipal committees have made contradictory decisions regarding the light rail extension.

By PEGGY CIDOR
Light rail (521) (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem /The Jerusalem Post)
Light rail (521)
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem /The Jerusalem Post)
There are some victories in every person’s life that, once examined more closely, seem like a little less of a triumph. One such example occurred last week on the city council. In this particular case, it is not clear whether the residents of Jerusalem should laugh or cry. But one thing is certain – most of us will simply remain speechless.
Here is the story of how one city council member managed to – almost – stop the light rail from being extended to Hadassah University Medical Center, Ein Kerem. But mostly, this is the story of how our city councillors decide, vote, and then simply forget what they just decided as they move from one committee to another.
Yael Antebi represents the residents of Pisgat Ze’ev. There are quite a few people in this large northern neighborhood who do not think she represents them, but that was her ticket for the elections (“Paz for Pisgat Ze’ev”), and she won one seat on the city council. Antebi doesn’t like the whole light rail project – but that’s not breaking news, as she has expressed her opinion many times at city council meetings and in the local press. At one point last year she was so furious about the reshuffling of the city’s means of public transportation that she resigned from her portfolio – city transportation.
However, old habits die hard, so Antebi keeps a watchful eye on any decision the city council makes with regard to these matters. As a member of the committee for the quality of the municipality’s services to the residents (yes, there is such a committee), Antebi managed to obtain the approval of the committee to stop the work on the extension of the light rail to Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem due to the “poor quality of the light rail service to the city’s residents.”
At the next city council general meeting, which took place less than two weeks later, the decision presented by Antebi’s committee was approved without any further inquiry, effectively stopping work until a serious verification was made on the light rail’s performance. So far, a little strange.
After all, many residents and high-ranking officials at Safra Square agree that extending the rail line to Hadassah would be one of the most important achievements of the entire light rail project.
But then the local subcommittee for planning and construction that deals exclusively with light rail issues decided to approve the new segment (to Hadassah) and to give it the green light to start immediately, with all the necessary permits! For the sake of those who think they might have missed something in the story, we’re talking about different committees operating within the same Jerusalem Municipality.
Upon hearing about the unexpected decision, Antebi immediately requested another city council meeting – which has not yet been approved. She said that she was against the whole project of adding new lines to the light rail, both to Neveh Ya’acov and to Hadassah. “For that,” she said, “it would be easier and less expensive to build a cable car that would operate between Mount Herzl and Hadassah.”
So where do we stand now, besides the rather strange lack of coordination among the various committees of the municipality? Well, at square one, apparently. Antebi and city council member Didi Hershkowitz (Yerushalayim Beiteinu), who replaced her as head of the transportation committee, are busy accusing each other of harming the interests of the residents, while the entire staff (at least 10 lawyers, according to a source at Safra Square) of the office of the city’s legal adviser is just as busy trying to find a legal solution to the contradictory decisions of the two committees and the general assembly of the city council.
And the light rail to Hadassah? Well, nobody really believes that the project will be halted, even on the grounds that the light rail’s service is not good enough. But who knows? City council meetings will be suspended for about a month during August, and then we’ll enter the High Holy Day period. The plan to extend the line won’t be stopped, explained a source at the municipality, “but it might well be delayed.”
Delayed? The light rail? Jerusalem residents have seen worse.