Press Release

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel demands that the Mayor of Tirra immediately correct the administrative deficiencies in his municipality.
MQG claims that the Tirra municipality has been acting for many years against the law and against rules of proper government. Such conduct represents an assault on the local citizens' confidence in government, on their welfare and on the wellbeing of each and every one of them.
The Movement announces that if the mayor does not correct these deficiencies, it will be forced to take legal actions.

 

The letter, sent to Tirra mayor Kassem Halil, to the members of the municipal council and to the officer of freedom of information, comes after an audit report on that local government for the 2005 fiscal year (made by the local government audit department in the Ministry of the Interior). In its letter, MQG points out that the report revealed severe deficiencies, correction of which is vital for maintaining proper government administration. Those deficiencies include local tax debts, accumulated debts of public representatives, and mismanagement of contracts and lands registries.
The report notes that:
a. the public representatives' debts to the municipality totaled 265,000 NIS. The deputy mayor's debt alone is 146,000 NIS.
b. expenses from irregular budgets were made in deviation from the approved budget framework.
These deficiencies have caused and are still causing a severe and continuous waste of public funds which are the responsibility of the municipality. Furthermore, these funds were earmarked for the welfare of the city and its residents and this improper conduct severely harms their wellbeing.
In light of this, and out of growing concern for the local residents and their welfare, MQG demands thorough investigation of the improper conduct of the municipality regarding the irregular budgets, which were approved neither by the Ministry of the Interior nor by the municipal council. MQG thus demands that the municipality:
a. disclose every irregular budget totaling over 100,000 NIS executed since 2004.
b. make public all the protocols of the council meetings in which these budgets were approved.
c. reveal all contracts signed regarding every budget approved by the municipality, and regarding every unapproved budget, totaling at least 100,000 NIS each.
d. present copies of the approvals by the Ministry of the Interior sent to the municipality regarding every such budget.
e. list the actions taken by the municipality in order to supervise the execution of said contracts according to the approved budgets.
f. present copies of the resolutions made by the tenders committee approving activities in the framework of each of the approved irregular budgets.
The Movement for Quality Government claims that the Tirra municipality has for years been acting against the law and against the rules of ethical government. This conduct represents an assault on the local citizens' confidence in government, on their welfare and on the wellbeing of each and every one of them.
In light of all this, MQG demands to see all the relevant documents.
The Movement demands a formal response within 20 days so that it can consider its legal actions.

For further details: Shooky Levanon, MQG Spokesperson, 052-2860181