"We are doing everything to maintain a routine at the same time as the state of emergency" • Dodo Cohen, Mayor of Tirat Carmel, on the challenges of the coming year

(haipo) - The Mayor of Tirat Carmel, David Cohen, took office last April. In the months that have passed since Cohen took office, Cohen is dealing with preparing the city to deal with the security situation that is expected to continue for quite some time, alongside preparing for the daily urban challenges. In preparation for the new year, we conducted a festive interview with Cohen and heard from him how he combines the fields.

Is Carmel Castle ready for the security situation in the north?

"I took office about six months ago," says Cohen, "the first thing that stood before my eyes was the need to increase the level of preparedness at the Carmel Castle. We are currently in a very good situation, but of course there is still much to be done. We are working in cooperation with the security forces, the rescue system We also have a close relationship with the police, fire and rescue, who have been trained to respond to the residents. We also provide information and mediation to the residents during emergencies Responding to emergency activity, such as what to do when the power system goes down.

In the last week we had 3 alarms, and this requires us to deal with the protection gaps in the city. We have old neighborhoods, where the residents have no shelters and shelters. There are about 4,000 residents who have neither a shelter nor a shelter at home. We are trying to help them with the directives of the Home Front Command - to find the most protected space available, whether it is in the spaces of the stairwells or internal rooms. We are trying to promote urban renewal projects in order to reduce as much as possible the number of residents who do not have protected spaces and to make the buildings more durable.

In the Carmel Castle there are also educational institutions that do not have a correctional shelter. We have schools that were built 50-60 years ago and their shelters do not meet the standard. In some of the old schools, the students study in other schools, where there is an MMD. Beyond that, they study in capsules. We also have 10 kindergartens in problematic buildings, or very old or dilapidated buildings, H (a light structure built with prefabricated construction) in any case, there are no shelters in them. We operate in a hybrid manner in order to keep the children safe and yet continue the activity as much as possible. I hope we will return to normal as soon as possible."

What is your impression of the residents' coping with the security situation?

"Without a doubt, the residents are showing maturity and resilience. Of course, there is apprehension and concern, but by and large they are showing maturity and responsibility. We send WhatsApp messages and do short live broadcasts to keep the residents informed and it works. The more information there is, the easier it is to deal with.

The missile that was over the bay two days ago caused some stress, but I trust our residents. We returned classes to the schools together with Haifa and Nesher when we moved to mode 2. There are parents who did not send the students, which is of course legitimate, but we think it is possible to return to a certain routine alongside the alarms."

What is planned for Carmel Castle for the coming year?

If we put security aside for a moment, the ambition is for Carmel Castle to be a leading city. This means a high quality of life and excellence in education. We chose to focus on special education and for the first time opened a growing elementary school for special education "Yuval" with the holder of the education portfolio, Emi Apomedo. This is a growing elementary school for children with low and medium functioning. At the same time, within a few months, we established new schools with a team of teachers and an institution symbol, which is my main achievement. We would like to promote the pursuit of excellence, so that the children will have as good a springboard as possible. Along with formal education, we will invest in informal educational institutions and open new community centers."

Next to the education system, what are the plans in terms of real estate?

"We have a neighborhood in very advanced stages of occupancy, Nof Yam, it is currently at 90% occupancy. We have another neighborhood that is being built on the side of the "Ayelet HaCarmel" mountain and at the same time we are promoting urban renewal projects all over the city.

We intend to rebuild several schools: the students will move to the new building and then we will destroy the old one. These are the Ephraim Zemach and Ariel schools and after that the Yigal Alon school. We will build 5 new schools in total. If in the last 20 years we have built 3 schools, we are currently building 5 schools and this is a huge challenge for the city. Carmel Castle has tripled itself and this is a very complex project."

Is there anything that surprised you in the role of mayor?

"I didn't expect to deal so much with emergency and security. Quite a bit of my time is dedicated to that now, naturally. I expected it to be much shorter. But of course this is the current security situation, and Carmel Castle will be ready for as long as it takes."

What would you like to wish for the new year?

"We have an amazing city with amazing residents, I am proud to be the mayor, and together with the residents we will make the city an amazing place. I wish all of us a happy new year. On a national level, I hope that we will return the kidnapped to their homes, that we will know only good and that we will deal with the essential things that are not just security ".