Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat apparently decided that the offices which served former Mayors Uri Lupoliansky and Ehud Olmert and their staffs will not be satisfactory for his administration. Major renovations are taking place on the sixth floor of City Hall, including the mayor’s office and the offices of all his staff. The renovations will apparently include much more than cosmetics, and the new look will include state-of-the-art electronics and high-tech features.

According to a report appearing in the daily HaMevaser, the new mayor’s office will be enlarged, including the former office of the deputy mayor. The aides to the mayor will all be located in one large office, making them more available to the mayor, including his political advisor, media advisor and deputy mayor. All of the office furniture will be replaced and all monitors and screens will be traded in for today’s plasma screens.

Some of the advisors and aides to the mayor will be compelled to move to the fifth floor, while others will be exiled to different buildings in the City Hall complex.

Barkat explains the office was not redone for too long, and its appearance was unacceptable. He adds that he feels the new look and design will make the mayor more accessible to aides and advisors, and bring an end to the “era of seclusion” in which the mayor was sheltered and inaccessible. The mayor adds that ultimately, the changeover will result in savings for City Hall and bring an end to much waste.

Some citizens of the capital however are unwilling to accept the explanation, and are less than pleased with the major expenditure while the city is ailing in many areas.

The report quotes some as saying, “Even if what the mayor says is correct, the timing is poor, shortly after taking office, and already, the mayor is making himself a new state-of-the-art office”.

The mayor’s spokesman, Avitar Elad explains the new project and design are intended to permit increased functionality in the building, which will ultimately lead to increased revenue in the city’s coffers and increased efficiency in City Hall. The changeover will also permit integration between many aspects, including planning, sub companies of the city, and maintaining a channel of communications with residents, governmental agencies, and overall strategic planning capabilities.

Elad added the former office was the original, when the complex was constructed 15 years ago, isolating the mayor from everyone and complicating efforts for a team effort. The new system will permit a more enhanced team effort and result in a more effective well-oiled City Hall mechanism to serve the people.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)