City hall matters

Citizenship comes with responsibility. Vote.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
kikar safra 224 88 aj (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
kikar safra 224 88 aj
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Tuesday is election day, and Israelis will be going to the polls to select mayors and municipal council members. In the country's largest cities, voters will be asked to choose between fundamentally divergent worldviews. On the face of it, the campaigns in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are as different as these cities are from each other - in appearance, lifestyle and temperament. Yet in both races, the contests are between those who represent mainstream Zionism and those with a more narrow constituency aiming to rebrand. The Jerusalem race may clinch whether the capital becomes a permanent haredi bastion. Tel Aviv, about to celebrate its centenary, relishes an urban revival that has made it a draw for young newcomers. Some of those keen to seal the city's reputation as a bohemian metropolis appear to be flocking to the banner of an admittedly appealing, offbeat candidate railing against the city being taken over "by the rich." Jerusalem's choice is doubtlessly the more fateful. The candidacy of haredi scion Meir Porush disquiets many in the capital's dwindling modern Orthodox, traditional and secular population. The national parties are largely refusing to field candidates in the local elections. Labor and the Likud, which once vied mightily for each city council seat, no longer bother much. Both cash-strapped parties want to save every shekel for the February 2009 Knesset campaign. As a result, Porush is being challenged by independents Nir Barkat, Arkadi Gaydamak and Dan Birron. More on the Jerusalem race tomorrow. TEL AVIV'S story seems the reverse of Jerusalem's. Zionism's first urban settlement has become such a magnet to the youthful and upwardly-mobile crowd, eager for cosmopolitan excitement and sophistication, that most of its apartments are filled and rents are fast becoming unaffordable. While the city's renaissance has made it more chic and stimulating, it has also made it overcrowded. Five candidates are running against incumbent Mayor Ron Huldai, who has been tirelessly pro-development and is also regarded by some as distant and aloof. His chief challenger, Dov Henin, comes out of deep left-field. He's an MK with the communist Hadash Party, which prides itself on supporting those who refuse to serve in the IDF. Henin is an unlikely threat to Huldai, except that he's appealing to mainstream voters based on his strong environmental record and by avoiding reference to his core ideology. His support is likely to come from the trendy Sheinkin quarter and surrounding neighborhoods. Henin claims he's an Israeli patriot - albeit of a different sort - and says that unlike some of his Hadash party-mates, he does stand when "Hatikva" is sung. If elected, he will be the city's first non-Zionist mayor. Another large city where the overriding issue is the migration of the young to Tel Aviv is Haifa. The city has invested heavily in makeovers and infrastructure and is livelier than ever, but is still suffering from an exodus to the coastline South. Its mayor, Yona Yahav, is challenged by six other candidates including former Northern District police chief Cmdr. (ret.) Yaakov Borovsky, who was more recently a special aide to the state comptroller. Borovsky has vowed to clean the municipal scene of corruption, a tall order if we consider that some 10-12 of the mayors currently seeking reelection are implicated in police probes. EVEN IN cities boasting shining veneers, things aren't always what they seem. In Ra'anana, for instance, development is so rapid and so all-encompassing that little agricultural land is left, little greenery survives. There is a sense that, maybe, the area is overbuilt. This is the main charge that former Shinui MK Meli Polishuk, running on a green list, levels against incumbent Nahum Hofree. Only in Netanya, despite its spiraling crime rate, is incumbent Miriam Fierberg a shoo-in. Polls indicate that three out of every four votes in town will be hers. There are races in, among other localities, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beersheba, Herzliya, Hod Hasharon, Kfar Saba, Petah Tikva, Ramat Gan, Ramat Hasharon and Rehovot. WE HOPE that predictions of a low voter-turnout prove mistaken. For important local problems to be addressed, it is essential that citizens bestir themselves to vote in Tuesday's mayoral and municipal council races. Citizenship comes with responsibility. Vote.