(haipo) - The Mayor of Tirat Carmel, Dodo Cohen, who took office about four months ago, tells in an interview with Lahi Fa-TV about the plans, the challenges, the education system, connecting and making the beach accessible to residents, urban renewal infrastructure and emergency preparedness.
Cohen, as I recall, was elected Mayor of Tirat Carmel in the second round of the last election, with 61% of the residents' votes. He officially took office at the beginning of April this year, when he replaced the previous mayor, Aryeh Tal, after many years of serving as mayor.
Cohen was born and raised in Carmel Castle, served in the Air Force and was a permanent officer, serving in a variety of command and staff positions. After that, he served in the Shin Bet for 18 years. In the last local elections, he ran for mayor and ran on an independent list: "Our Carmel Castle." And won 61.5% of the votes and four mandates.
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A great blessing and a great challenge
Cohen says that when it comes to urban renewal, Carmel Castle is experiencing a great blessing, but with it comes quite a few challenges. The positive immigration and the occupancy of the Gali Carmel neighborhood at 100% and the rowers neighborhood at about 90% and in addition also the establishment of a new neighborhood that is nearing the end of the development stages, the infrastructures are not prepared to receive such a large amount of young couples and children. "We are building 3 schools in order to provide an answer for the next academic year. We are approaching 30% of the population who are under the age of 18."
In addition, there are 4,700 housing units in the old neighborhoods with the potential for urban renewal. "The intention is that all the old neighborhoods will undergo urban renewal, but this is a very big challenge. Because our roof agreement targets 86,000 and currently, according to the potential, we already exceed 140,000 residents. We do not solve a historical injustice by creating injustice for future generations," he says.
Cohen talks about the connection between the new residents and the old, about the opening of the Dania - Tirat Carmel road and additional exits to the city, which do not only connect to Route 4, about the intention to make the beach accessible to the residents of Tirat Carmel and the establishment of bicycle paths.
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Cohen says that these days the Tirat Carmel municipality is working on renovating schools and dormitories and preparing them for the coming school year, on the great challenge of building a special education school in a temporary structure, which is to open in September, until the construction of a permanent school which is expected to open within a year and a half to two years.
"It's a big challenge and our moral duty as a society, to take care of a population that needs an immediate answer," he says. Due to the national increase in the number of children with special needs, the nearby cities, Kiryat and Haifa, can no longer accept our children, and we are required to find a solution. This is our mission and I see it as our duty."
Another thing that is missing in the city, according to Cohen, is places for recreation, an area that he strives to promote: "The security situation at the moment does not allow things to develop as we would like, but the public is thirsty for it, and we will invest a lot of effort to promote the culture of leisure and sports in the city," he says.
"October 7th will not happen again. We will get through this period, we will return to normal and we will invest all our efforts as a society, as a city and as a community, to promote the main core issues. We will invest in the quality of life of the residents of Tirat Carmel", concludes Cohen.
You just need to close the Tirat Carmel psychiatric hospital, and everything will be fine!
The best thing in Carmel Castle is the kebab.
Everything else is a bluff
Carmel Castle looks like Ofakim and if not for the services of Haifa, it would become a ghost town.
Why is there pressure to open the Dania-Tirat Carmel road? Because many established families have moved to the new neighborhoods in the Carmel Castle and they want the children to study in Reali, because there are no good high schools in the Carmel Castle. This is the reality. We built huge neighborhoods - but the schools don't exist, now they are building.
The residents of the Carmel Castle also rely on Haifa for other services. We drive to the train station in Haifa and fill up the Matam intersection and the beach parking lots. Why? They should pay for parking in Haifa. It's time for the Carmel Police to open its beaches and employ its own lifeguards and maintain promenades. It's easiest to send the residents to the stadium in Haifa, to the beach in Haifa, to culture in Haifa.
Residents outside of Haifa have to pay for the services and parking in Haifa. Close the beach parking lots and charge a fee with discounts for Haifa residents. Like they do in the beach estates in Tel Aviv.