[RBS] City Council & Ramat Bet Shemesh Gimmel

[shalom lerner]

I would like to clarify my view as to the importance of the decision of the 
City Council regarding Ramat Bet Shemesh Gimmel.

The starting point is that the city was stagnating.  In recent years 
thousands of charedi families moved in and very few non charedi ;a charedi 
mayor was elected and people are even more worried about our future.There 
isn't and hasn't been for a long time any reasonable housing for dati-leumi 
families, which could attract a massive influx of new people i.e.young 
couples,middle class Israeli families etc.

After a long public and private political battle, with clear threats, which 
lasted till after midnight Tuesday ,(threats from their side - we will be on 
our own in opposition the Likud will replace us in the coalition,we will 
lose all our power, Moatza datit will be given to charedim ie.mikvaot 
,future rabbanim,batei knesset,etc.allocations for schools etc++++ .We on 
the other hand said we will rally a large and vocal opposition starting with 
8 Council members, we will legally stop any building in gimmel and in 
general make their life miserable)
Boruch hashem we will never know who would have been the most hurt, but no 
doubt a lot of damage would have been caused.
On the other hand, now we have hope. We can, if we are united, smart and 
work hard to bring in new blood and give much needed hope and future to our 
communities and city. Imagine if we could bring in the next two years 1000 
dati leumi families - this would immensely strengthen all our existing and 
future communities and help build our future city.

Now to the practical side:
The division, the map, the plots etc.were prepared by Jacki in such a way 
that we maximize our joint non-charedi section of 1500 units and sideline 
the charedi part.
The main entrance will be to our schuna and a new road will be built for the 
charedim.  In all cases we don't need to travel via their schuna.  There 
will be a special committee ,which together with the professional staff, 
will ensure that all agreements will be kept. The committee is composed of 
representatives of each population, plus the Mayor i.e. Richard Peres, Moshe 
Montag, Jackie Edri or myself and Moshe Abutboul.
There will be money for a public campaign, but eveything depends on us if we 
believe in Bet Shemesh and in gimmel.  I believe we will be able to attract 
people, but if we concentrate on all our problems and magnify the charedim 
capabilities, we might end up losing the battle.
The whole taba(housing plans and zone)were designed for non charedi public 
and cannot be changed.  It is planned for quality housing, with a lot of 
green and if it will be reasonable prices, would be ideal for our 
communities.
The ministry will give 12 million shekel for a Beit Tarbut in Migdal Hamayim 
(where they sell avatichim), mifal hapayis will give additional NIS12 
million. Besides that, we have pledge of around 15 million shekel for a 
library and conservatorium built together with Heichal Hatarbut as one 
complex. This will be done via Keren Kayemet, England and Keren Bet Shemesh.
Finally kvish 10 will be finished, funded by Misrad Hashikun and Misrad 
HaTachbura in an amount of NIS 60 million (besides the NIS 60 million 
already invested )
Planning for widening kvish 38 was also promised and should start soon.There 
is still a lot to be done and gained if we are smart and united, or chas 
vechalila lose, if we are negligent and stupid.

Regarding Beit Natif which is in Gimmel 2, (not in the neighbourhood 
discussed above), we have supported this for years. We signed all requests 
and I brought it up in yesterday's council meeting, but it doesn't help if 
all that's being done is sending letters to Beyachad council members(many 
times insulting and ungrateful).   Whoever really wants to make it happen 
should start lobbying NOW - the Mayor, Council Members, Misrad Hashikun, 
Misrad Hapnim, Chevra LeHaganat Hateva etc. and  will find us to be the most 
loyal  and capable partners as always.

My thanks go to my colleagues Jacki Edri and Ilana Yarchi, who together we 
worked very hard to ensure the future of our city.

I hope this clarifies the situation. I will gladly answer your questions.

Shalom Lerner
lerner8 at bezeqint.net   050-417 6716

N.B.  I replied in the last weeks to many people, and just found out today 
that many of our messages did not go out due to a technical problem.  So if 
you haven't received an answer, please let me know.