Elected representatives decided to teach each other a lesson – one that was more fit for kindergarten than the city council.
By PEGGY CIDORChild's drawing 521(photo credit: Kurt Strazdins)
Perhaps it happened because this school year the municipality will have to provide kindergartens and preschools for all threeand four-year-olds. Or maybe it was because of upcoming elections. Who knows, maybe it even had something to do with our recent failure at the Oscars? After all, it was a local Jerusalem story we presented there.Whatever the reason, what happened at Safra Square last Thursday was extraordinary. Here is the story.Former deputy mayor Eli Simhayoff (Shas) was suspended by Mayor Nir Barkat following Simhayoff’s indictment in the Holyland affair. He was forced to resign, but so far has refused to renounce his title as deputy mayor, even though he no longer draws a salary. For the past few weeks, Simhayoff has been preoccupied with two main issues – finding good lawyers and ensuring the new deputy for the Shas list will be of his choosing. Sources at the Shas benches have confirmed that Asher Michaeli, a rising star in Shas, was not Simhayoff’s first choice – after all, who wants to be replaced by someone predicted to reach the top? Last week, at a regularly scheduled council meeting, Simhayoff showed up. Barkat showed him the door. A short – but highly passionate – discussion followed.Barkat’s reaction was swift and sharp: he moved the meeting to his own office, assuming that Simhayoff wouldn’t have the chutzpah to step inside. He was right. Simhayoff didn’t enter the mayor’s office – but neither did his colleagues from the haredi Ashkenazi list nor, of course, his fellows from Shas. Nevertheless, the meeting went on – with 13 coalition members outside. Democracy has its charms, one must admit.But then, a dramatic move took the affair to a whole new level – a much lower one. Deputy Mayor Itzhak Pindrus (United Torah Judaism) stepped into the mayor’s office for some unclear reason. City council member Laura Wharton (Meretz), not exactly one of his fans (Wharton is one of the leaders of the campaign against gender segregation) asked Pindrus why he’d decided to join the enemy camp. To which Pindrus, known for his sharp tongue and sarcasm, answered: “I came to spill your blood,” an answer that will probably fill this city’s residents with civic pride. So far, so bad. But then it got even worse, at least as far as Safra Square is concerned.Wharton, who admitted later that she was aware Pindrus was being sarcastic, nevertheless decided to file a complaint with the police. The police confirmed that such a complaint was indeed submitted, but police sources added that the possibility Pindrus could be indicted on such a basis were “less than nonexistent.”The question here is not whether Pindrus will be jailed for sarcasm, but rather whether this council is acting according to its mandate – namely genuinely representing the residents’ interests. Whether it was really necessary for the mayor to humiliate the elected representative of a large community in public is a reasonable question, but regardless, is Simhayoff feeling humiliated a good enough reason for the disruption of the city’s affairs? Isn’t it reasonable to expect Pindrus (or any other sharp-tongued city councillor), at least when they are on duty representing the residents’ affairs, to exercise restraint? Oh yes, and can someone please explain to touchy city councillors that sometimes humor is the best approach to an unpleasant situation, and that running to the police after a disagreement makes the city council look like a bunch of kindergartners? Not that there’s anything wrong with kindergartners – as long as they are in kindergartens, and not at the helm of the city. •
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