A New Era for Anglos in Beit Shemesh At a meeting with community leaders, the Mayor signed on commitments that will make the Municipality of Beit Shemesh as Anglo friendly as the city itself * The Anglo Accessibility and Amenities Agreement is the natural continuation of the important steps taken in the Mayor’s first term. At a meeting with prominent members of the Anglo community in Beit Shemesh, Mayor Moshe Abutbul signed on a commitment to continue making the municipality more accessible and user-friendly to thousands of English speaking Beit Shemesh residents. The meeting came after weeks of consultations with key figures and community leaders centering on all of the accomplishments in this area over the last five years, and what remains to be improved on in the future. The Mayor was quick to recognize the longstanding deficiency in this area over the past few decades in which the municipality’s various institutions and departments were not adapted to accommodate the thousands of families of American, Canadian, British, South African and European olim who have made Beit Shemesh their home. Upon assuming office five years ago, the Mayor took steps to begin correcting the neglect of past administrations. Among other measures, the Mayor established a branch of the Finance Department in the RBS A Community Center, staffed by an English-speaking clerk. In addition, the Mayor also appointed Yisrael Silverstein to serve as a volunteer community liaison to the English speaking community. The Abutbul administration also added an English-speaking engineer to the Construction Department, who is in charge of service to the Anglo sector. The Mayor announced his plans to establish an English Department staffed by at least two full time employees, who will serve as liaisons between English speakers and all of the various municipal departments. These staffers will be members of Beit Shemesh’s Anglo community who will make it their mission to provide any assistance necessary to any English speaking Beit Shemesh resident to the best of their ability. The section will be located at the new City Hall, adjacent to the Mayor’s office. In addition, Dr. Ephraim Rosenbaum has accepted an appointment as Special Advisor to the Mayor for Anglo Affairs. In this voluntary position, Dr. Rosenbaum will oversee the establishment of the English Department and have direct access to the Mayor at all times in order to ensure the effectiveness of the new system and to bring the burning issues affecting the community to the Mayor’s attention in a most timely fashion. The Mayor also presented his detailed plans to construct Beit Shemesh’s first baseball field for the benefit of the many baseball enthusiasts who reside in the city. To date, Beit Shemesh residents who wished to enjoy the amenities of a standard baseball diamond had to travel to Modi’in or other venues to engage in the American national pastime. The field, which will be constructed on land allocated by the city and receive funding in the amount of at least 500,000 NIS is sure to fortify Beit Shemesh’s status as one of the top ranked cities for North American olim.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 22:33:52 +0000
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