Herzliya slammed on waste of money by delaying move

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
The city of Herzliya has decided to delay moving into its new City Hall offices in the Sha'ar Ha'ir building until 2011, and the delay is wasting millions of shekels of taxpayers' money in rental and other costs, reports www.local.co.il. Councilor Yaron Olami said the city was wasting a "huge" amount of money and was showing a lack of consideration for the public by delaying its move into the long-empty building, especially after Mayor Yael German promised in her recent election campaign to move in the next year. According to the report, municipal offices are currently scattered through a number of buildings around the city, and Olami said that concentrating them all in Sha'ar Ha'ir would not only save millions of shekels in rent, security, air-conditioning and other costs, but would improve services to residents and would be more comfortable for the public to access. But the city recently decided to hold off the move until 2011, apparently because of delays in work at the site. "I view it as very grave that promises that are made before an election are forgotten afterwards," Olami said. "Sha'ar Ha'ir and City Hall should have been populated long ago... we are speaking about a huge waste of money and a lack of consideration for the public." No response was reported from the mayor.