'One size doesn't fit all'

City leaders from around the world compare notes at the Jerusalem Conference of Mayors.

By DAVID STROMBERG
kikar safra 224 88 aj (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
kikar safra 224 88 aj
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
'The issues mayors deal with are the most basic," says Albu-querque, New Mexico, Mayor Martin Chavez, who was in the capital last week as part of the 26th Jerusalem Conference of Mayors. "We're not members of a political party, and if we are, then it's the 'pragmatic party.' We're dealing with filling potholes. In that sense, mayors bring something that diplomats can't." Indeed, it's unlikely that a British ambassador would comment on Jerusalem's housing market. Deputy Mayor of London Sir Simon Milton, however, was able to share some thoughts on the phenomenon of ghost apartments at the four-day conference, which convened over 50 mayors from around the world. In passing, he addressed Jerusalem's status in the eyes of the world as he spoke about the ghost-town phenomenon. "Any capital city - even if Jerusalem is not technically the capital - will always have a percentage of what we call secondary home owners," says Milton. "You have the same thing in rural areas, where people from the city buy a vacation home and leave it empty." He describes a scenario in those rural areas in which the city can restrict sales to people with local connections, but says that it's the kind of law that begs to be worked around. Someone who has the money for a second home can simply pay a local person to buy their house for them, he explains. "In the long term," says Milton, "you can use planning laws to restrict sales in certain areas. Because London is so huge, it [the problem of ghost apartments] isn't enough to affect the market except in already elite areas." The conference's theme was improving quality of life, and the environment. The busy itinerary combined policy briefings and presentations with sightseeing throughout Jerusalem. "The government leaders closest to the people of their countries are mayors," says Jack Rosen, chairman of the American Jewish Congress-Council for World Jewry, which sponsored the event. "We asked our partners in places like Russia and France to help us get mayors from nearby regions and countries that we may not have contact with." Though there were major cities represented, like London, Antwerp, Addis Ababa and Nairobi, and others such as Sofia, Kingston, Krakow and Nashville, that are known for their cultural and historical import, there were many cities - like Belmopan (Belize), Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Ohrid (Macedonia), Bujumbura (Burundi) and Sighetu Marmatiei (Romania) - that are largely unknown to people outside their countries, and for whose mayors a connection to Israel was probably the last thing on their agenda. "The aim is to bring mayors from all over the world and make them part of the effort to make sure Jews aren't vilified, that the State of Israel is better understood," explains Rosen. "We make speeches at the UN and host the president of the United States, but we haven't mobilized other government leaders." Though this may be the underlying motive for such a gathering, the conference focused primarily on green urban projects. Last Tuesday evening, the mayors convened at the Israel Museum to hear from industry professionals about three major aspects of Jerusalem life: the light rail project that aims to rid the city center of traffic, the widespread water purification and reclamation activities of the Gihon water company, and an ambitious project to preserve the East Kidron Valley that lies on the border between east and west Jerusalem. The Kidron project, described by Prof. Richard Laster of the Hebrew University, involves the joint efforts of the Jerusalem Municipality, the Palestinian Authority and interested scientists to clean up the solid waste and untreated sewage along the Kidron's riverbed, create a watershed and encourage eco-tourism by recognizing the valley as a World Heritage Site. The idea is not only to preserve the valley, which includes the Mar Saba Greek Orthodox Monastery built into the Judean mountains, but to increase contact with the Palestinian community and improve the quality of life in east Jerusalem, Laster said. Chavez presented a video on his city's implementation of the "Albuquerque Green" program, an integrated plan that shapes social action and education, as well as economic and municipal infrastructure. "There's a dichotomy [in the conference] between cities from developed nations and developing nations," says Chavez. "One size doesn't fit all. Some of these nations are still trying to get potable water." Nonetheless, there are great "commonalities" among mayors, he says. The developing nations speak about solutions in developed nations not just at conferences, but at dinner and on the bus as well, he notes. "Regardless of whether a city is well developed or not, whether it's a medium or big municipality, cities [all over the world] have started to have the same problems and priorities," says Dorin Chirtoaca, mayor of Chisinau, Moldova. According to Chirtoaca, this includes power and water infrastructure; new approaches to traffic; environmental awareness and nature preservation; making the city more attractive to tourism; and offering more jobs through economic development. "We had the opportunity to discuss and study these new solutions [at the conference], and I was glad to see that these weren't isolated issues, that people were solving them in all cities," says Chirtoaca.