City officials protest mayor's actions

Officials say Ben Hamo recently took it upon himself to order new work on Rehov Tirat Tzvi after work there had already been completed.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Senior municipal employees in Kfar Saba are complaining that Mayor Yehuda Ben Hamo is acting unilaterally and is wasting public money by changing carefully laid plans for road works in the city, reports www.local.co.il. The officials say Ben Hamo recently took it upon himself to order new work on Rehov Tirat Tzvi after work there had already been completed, and that by doing so he was wasting public money. According to the report, in an upgrading of Rehov Tirat Tzvi recently, city officials decided to leave the electricity lines above ground in order to save costs. But residents protested and Ben Hamo visited the street, and decided to order that the lines be buried underground - work that entailed tearing up the newly laid paving stones. The order was given without going through official channels and without obtaining the required authorization of the Israel Electricity Company. One senior official said the cost of the extra work was several hundred thousand shekels. "This has really annoyed the workers," a senior official said. "A managerial forum decided not to bury the electricity lines and the mayor decided of his own accord to change that decision following pressure from residents. This is an unnecessary waste of money." But a municipal spokesman said the decision showed the mayor was attuned to the needs of residents and would assist them whenever possible. The spokesman said the new work had involved digging up only a "tiny" part of the street and had not required special authorization.