"The municipalities of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, and Bnai Brak should be immediately consolidated into a single metropolitan municipality. I'm even prepared to resign in order to achieve this vision, to avoid accusations of being a megalomaniac and wanting to head this unified entity," said Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai during a tour organized by the Israel Center for Management (MIL) on Friday.
Huldai said the consolidation of the four municipalities into a single city would enable rational decision-making on urban development for metropolitan Tel Aviv. "Tel Aviv is a small urban entity that carries on its back larger local authorities, and absorbing travelers and workers triple its population. The result is conflicts between the local and metropolitan interests."
Huldai added, "Today, as the mayor of Tel Aviv, I have an interest in keeping Habima Theater within Tel Aviv, just as the mayor of Ramat Gan has an interest in keeping the Ramat Gan Municipal Theater in that city. If we were a consolidated city, the mayor wouldn’t have any problem to transfer cultural and sports centers from one place to another within the metropolitan city as needed."
Huldai said the number of local authorities should be cut to 30 or 60 at the most. He argues that the main reason for consolidating local authorities is not reducing the number of deputy mayors, the official reason for the measure, but to consolidate infrastructures, cultural needs, create social justice, and reduce gaps between local authorities.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on March 28, 2004