(haipo) - Dr. Einat Kalish Rotem will soon leave her office in the Haifa Municipality building, leaving behind, as many feel, a scorched earth. The great hopes that accompanied her entry into the Haifa mayorship, turned, right from the start, into equally great disappointments.
Days of hope
Kalish, who assumed the position of mayor 5 years ago, ousted Yona Yahav after 3 consecutive terms, not least thanks to the many voices calling for his replacement. It seems that she did exactly the opposite, and the longer her term lasted, the more homesick for the previous mayor, whom they wanted to say goodbye to earlier, awakened among the Haifaites...
The latest polls published as the election date approached clearly indicated the dissatisfaction of the Haifaites with the current mayor, it was evident that Dr. Einat Kalish Rotem has no chance of being elected for another term, but from this to the fact that she failed to get even one member to the city council - the distance big.
So what happened in the 5 years that Klish was mayor, that caused them to end in such a crash? With such a resounding crash? A disappointment that was even greater in light of the feeling she had at the beginning, because Kalish Rotem came to the position with a lot of good intentions and a true desire to bring positive changes to Haifa, when it became clear to everyone and certainly not for the first time, that good intentions are really not enough...
A promising start
In 2012, Klish led tours of the lower city, with the aim of revealing and raising awareness about its tremendous untapped potential, with an emphasis on the Wadi Salib area. She began her path in local politics in the 2013 elections, when she entered the city council (along with Tali Meshulam Itach) and revealed herself as a diligent council member, who used to explain at length about the issues she dealt with, those she opposed and those she supported. She did not shy away from making her voice heard, even when she was attacked by other council members.
between plans and performance
At the same time as the architectural issue, which is close to her field of expertise, Kalish Rotem dealt a lot with the railway sinking project, which she believed would be a central element in Haifa's prosperity, but during her 5 years as mayor, she was unable to bring the project to fruition.
Another issue that Kelish Rotem tried to promote concerns the airport in Haifa, with the aim of enabling flights from Haifa to destinations in Europe, through the extension of the routes at the airport. This goal was also not able to be implemented.
◄Kalish is interviewed live on the subject of the sinking of the train - January 2013
When she started the race for mayor in 2018, many residents of Haifa did not know Kalish at all, but Yahav's 3 terms together with an intense election campaign on her part, led many to believe that she is the worthy alternative to stand as mayor of the city and replace him.
ominous hints
The beginning of her tenure was, as I remember, accompanied by many hopes. A broad coalition was formed and everyone was impatiently waiting for you to start work. In retrospect it can be said that hints of the future appeared quite quickly.
First, the new mayor announced that she would waive the customary overlap period alongside the veteran and experienced Yahav, then it was her controversial statement: "It is not the municipality's role to entertain and amuse the residents", which she accompanied by her decision to cancel the street events held by Yahav that were very popular (for example "Tzovatz" events, etc.). The major sports events that have been held for years in the city have also been stopped - such as the staircase race unique to Haifa, the Haifa race, the Good Deeds race, cycling events and more. The only event that remained municipally funded was the "Holiday of Holidays".
"Not a politician"
Throughout its 5 years as mayor, the Haifa municipality experienced storms and upheavals that had never been seen before. Some will attribute this to the fact that Klish is "not a politician". It is possible, and yet, it is impossible not to wonder that something in her behavior made it difficult for many around her to get involved and connect with the goals she sought to promote.
Among the memorable events was the wave of resignations and dismissals among senior officials in the municipality, a wave that continued for a considerable period of time, the most prominent of which is the position of the director general of the municipality, which changed time and time again and even remained unoccupied for a while.
Similarly, many voices were heard around the mayor according to which urban plans are stuck due to unstable relations between Klish and the government offices, for example regarding urban renewal plans, opening roads in the closed neighborhoods, establishing the Naot Peres B neighborhood and much more.
While other mayors find a way to achieve and promote their goals in front of the government offices in Jerusalem, Kalish constantly came up against them in misunderstandings and the one who was hurt by this is Haifa. Kalish's tenure began with the fact that she was not interested in having the cable car built, as she claimed that it was an inefficient means of transportation, but then it became clear that the process of building the cable car was already too advanced and could not be stopped.
Then there was the crisis in front of the construction of the roads from the imprisoned neighborhoods. Former mayor Yona Yahav claimed that at the end of his term he received funding for roads from the imprisoned neighborhoods, but the funding did not reach Klish. The Ministry of Transportation claimed that it was because of Klish's opposition to the matron on the Carmel, but Klish denied it completely. In the end, in order to start planning and building the roads, Klish had to find municipal financing for each of the roads. Towards the end of Kalish's term, the first road started to be built, which goes down from the Kabbir neighborhood towards the coastal road.
The pig problem
One of the most difficult problems that Klish faced, and many thought unsuccessfully, was the pig problem. While during the Yahav period every time a resident turned to 106 because he saw a pig and felt threatened, the issue was dealt with and the problem was on a small scale, from the moment Klish came to power there was no longer a quick solution to the problem.
She tried to find an alternative solution, built fences and tried to fight the cat and pig feeders, but the result was that the city was filled with pigs and the complaints against pigs that attacked people or vehicles, that were hit by garbage cans thrown at them by the pigs multiplied. The municipality tried to place the blame on RTG, but in the end the residents repeatedly turned to the Haifa municipality for help. Over the years, the municipality received several lawsuits, from people who were allegedly harmed by the pigs or whose property was damaged. To the municipality's credit, in time it came concluded that unruly pigs needed to be driven away, but it was too little too late. The city also became a national joke, when the pigs became the initial hallmark of Haifa.
City employees
Another difficulty was with the municipal employees and the workers' committee. It started with a video that was circulated, in which separate municipal employees waved in the municipal building with applause, as he left the building. Employees spoke of the warm relationship they had with Yahav, and of his interest in their family members and their health.
After that, Klish was interviewed and hurled various accusations at the municipal employees. She tried to fix things and say she didn't mean toכל City workers, but it was already too late. Again and again, the workers committee in the municipality threatened to lay off the workers and it did lay off the workers, and the garbage started piling up in the city. Along with the problems with the municipal employees, there were also problems with senior officials. Throughout Klish's term, there were both dismissals of the seniors and quite a few resignations. The biggest problem was with the position of the director general of the municipality, which was repeatedly left unstaffed.
A city stuck and full of pigs
Most of the residents' complaints in recent years have dealt with the issue of the proliferating wild boars and the cleanliness of the city, two interrelated issues, and the feeling that the city is "stuck". Many articles in the local media showed unclean and neglected streets and the general feeling was that they are not cleaning properly and taking care to repair hazards on the roads and sidewalks.
In addition, even though there is construction in Haifa, residents and contractors claim that there are areas that wait months and years in order to be able to start building there and others about the difficulty of getting service from the engineering director. Didn't even go into the problem of negative immigration and environmental quality problems, which didn't start with Kelish and probably won't end with the end of her term.
"Cliché cleaning stables"
Klish's supporters say that she is a hard worker in "cleaning stables". According to them, she reached many achievements, but these are projects that cannot be completed in one term and the results will be seen in the years to come. Throughout her tenure, Kalish used to communicate with the residents mainly through her Twitter and Facebook, which gave rise to the feeling that she is somewhere in her "ivory tower" and does not "come down to the people".
On Twitter, she updated that the municipality stopped selling properties and found other sources of income, rejected claims that it had stopped the implementation of plans and responded to complaints made against it. One of the biggest projects she dealt with was the restoration of the market structure in the Talpiot market. Tens of millions were invested in renovating the building and many hopes were pinned on it, but the renovation went on and on and was not staffed until this moment. At first the traders in the market supported Klish, but over time they stopped supporting her and even went against her in anger for not keeping her promises to them.
The opposition council
The story will not be complete without referring to the opposition council, the Council of Change. Klish began her tenure with a functioning council and many ideas for activities. Over time, there were council members who were disappointed with the way things were going, and several confrontations between council members and Klish, until eventually council members withdrew from the coalition and joined the opposition.
Klish found herself without a majority in the city council and with real difficulty promoting almost anything. The Change Council demanded explanations from Klish about every plan she wanted to promote, and made it difficult for her when she did not approve plans she wanted to carry out.
At the council meetings, the tones began to rise. Yeshiva became more and more turbulent as time passed. Klish pointed to the Change Council as being responsible for not being able to carry out essential things in the city, and the Change Council for its part strongly rejected the claim, and accused Klish of not allowing its members to take part in the action by not revealing the essential information for this. The Change Council insisted that it be presented In front of her are details about what they are going to do and how the budget will be used as a condition for granting approval, which led to repeated postponement of council meetings, cancellations of meetings, abandonment during them and many tensions that accompanied the whole process.
Epilogue
When Kalish began her term, there was a feeling that her heart was in the right place and that she intended to promote the issues and issues important to the city. She finishes her term now and leaves behind a disappointed city full of problems and difficulties that have not been addressed. If there is anything that can be learned from these years, it is that you cannot confront all the time, compromise is not a dirty word and finding solutions with those who oppose you is critical in order to promote and move forward.
The biggest failure of Klish is - after which even Yona Yahav seems like a worthy choice.
I watched much more than a cliché, but you have to give respect to positive things. For years I have written to Yona Yahav about the dangerous and neglected situation in the Pevzner main library. The entrance and the stairs and the toilets were a health hazard. I never received an answer from Yona Yahav, even about other problems in the city. But when I spoke directly with Einat Kalish before the senior year, she agreed with what I said and that it was a shame for a city like Haifa. In the last year, they renovated the entrance with a floor and stairs in a safety and aesthetic way. Most importantly, the restrooms are now clean and equipped with everything needed to keep readers healthy.
Blessed that we got rid of this one
The most unsuitable person for an arrogant, predatory leadership who lacks the skills of management and interpersonal relations and is not performative at all, in short, a swindle that has cost a lot to the life of the city of Mituga and the quality of life in it
The bottom line of her agenda was to return all the young people to Haifa and instead she ran them away to the point of no return
Klish's problem was his excessive self-confidence. She was convinced that thanks to her higher education she understood the city's problems and knew better than anyone how to solve them. She did not listen to the advice of those with experience and rejected any sharing. She did not understand that people are not robots or programmable computers and tried to dance solo. Zero in human relations is an under statement for her and we all pay the price. Let's hope that Yahav will get us back on track.
But there are three pictures in the article, in each of which she looks like someone else,
So I left more confused
The Arabs of Yahav have chipped them all these years working as tenders, and the elderly/pensioners of the Carmel who are settled and don't need the municipality anyway chose a high percentage of Yahav. The young, weak newcomers and the weak neighborhoods that need municipal services did not come to vote / voted in zero percentages. Haifa does not expect anything good with Yahav and the group of incompetents he has gathered around him.
By and large true. The heart was not only in the right place, it also stayed there.
There is no doubt that Kalish had good intentions.
The problem was not with the heart but with the head, from the beginning of the term to the end it remained in the same place. Stuck deep deep in the ass
Not to mention Kiryat Haim - Haifa's stepdaughter with zero action and zero attention.
Especially with Kalish, zero in human relations.
The wretched homophobia she discovered at the beginning of her term also contributed to her downfall.
What should be ground the issue - not renewing anything. Yahav failed many times over and the apathetic retirees brought him back - at this rate even McCollish will come back. hallucinatory city
It may be that due to the justified text, I may not have noticed that the writer forgot to mention the terrible condition of the roads and sidewalks in the city (for example, Horev intersection, Dori, Harofeh, etc.) as well as the constant lack of response on the part of the municipality to every claim made on any subject.