Elections in French Hill - now is you chance to have an impact!

In one week's time (20/12/2012) elections will take place for the management committee of the French Hill neighborhood's Community Center. These will be the first elections in more than a decade and will have far reaching consequences on our area. It is important for all the residents of the neighborhood to go out and vote for an activistic committee that is ready to fight against the city on issues that touch all of our lives, especially the dangerous bike paths! There are some candidates who even now have put forth this difficulty as one of the primary issues they will be tackling.

They have published a flyer regarding their election group. Please familiarize yourself with them and with the voting procedures (see the community center's website for further details).

A First Ruling on the Bike Lane Legal Case

Below is a letter that we received from the 'North Jerusalem Residents for Safety and Quality of Life' amuta regarding the ruling of the administrative court case, which they had submitted against the bike path project in the French Hill area. The amuta has given permission for us to publish its letter on the blog. They note that their efforts continue, and that the ruling places them in an excellent position for moving forward especially regarding anything that pertains to the safety issue that stands at the heart of the matter.

Dear Neighborhood Residents,

A ruling has recently been given in the court case of 'North Jerusalem Residents for Safety and Quality of Life (registered amuta)' against the Jerusalem Municipality, regarding the bike path project in our neighborhood we all live in. After receiving an explanation about the ruling from the amuta's lawyer, we would like to inform you about this development.

The first thing that must be noted is that the judge's ruling focused on a general legal matter, and that there was no final decision regarding the specific issue of the dangerous nature of the bike paths in French Hill. Thus the struggle still continues while the ruling has actually given our side a good position to pursue this undertaking. Regarding the general legal matter, the judge decided that the Municipality is permitted to build bike paths without submitting a "taba", as long as this is done within the confines of the public space of the road and according to the safety guidelines of the Ministry of Transportation. For this reason the judge did not give an order for the bike paths to be dismantled on a legal basis. Of course, we had hoped that the safety issue along with other issues, such as the exclusion of the public from the decision making process and the need for the proper planning and management of municipal projects, would be resolved in the context of the legal case. While, unfortunately, this was not accomplished, what has been accomplished is the placement of focus and emphasis on the safety issue by the judge himself. The safety issue was brought up numerous times in the court proceedings because it had become clear to the judge that this, more than any other issue, stood at the heart of the neighborhood's struggle against the bike path project. The amuta submitted an preliminary expert opinion expressing a number of serious safety deficiencies within the project, and the judge even requested that the municipality provide an expert opinion of its own regarding the safety issue. Since the municipality failed to submit its own expert opinion, the judge expressed sharp criticism towards them in his summation within the ruling and subsequently decided not to hold the amuta responsible to pay the city's legal fees for the case due to this behavior. The ruling created legal documentation putting forth doubts and harsh warnings regarding the safety of the bike paths, that give much support to our side for the next step of the struggle. However, the case was not based around the safety issue and therefore no ruling was made about that specific matter.

The next step in the struggle is to now challenge the municipality over the dangers it has put into our neighborhood through the project. Just recently we met with an 11 year old boy, a resident of the neighborhood, who was seriously injured by the defective paths. The narrow width of the path and its high curbs caused his bike pedal to get caught while he was riding in an area whose proclaimed intent is to protect bicyclists. Instead of receiving this protection, he was flung from his bicycle (that was also damaged in the accident), broke his arm and suffered blows to the face and head. He is now starting the school year with his arm in a cast. A similar occurrence also happened a year before to the president of the Hebrew University. But, despite cases of this sort and clear and repeated warnings, the municipality chooses to turn a blind eye to such self evident dangers. The judge himself warned the respondents in a number of the hearings, that until the safety issue has been taken care of, the municipality and even various private individuals within its structure, can be held liable for the injuries caused by the project.

The expert opinion in our hands shows that the bike path project does not follow the instructions of the Ministry of Transportation, and that if it were to follow them it simply could not fit within the confines of the public area of the road (which according to the ruling makes the project illegal). In addition to the expert opinion, which clearly shows the deficiencies in the planning and implementation of the bike paths, the next step of the struggle will include the collection of documentation about troubling incidents like the one mentioned above. This will bring to a convincing integration of professional analysis and hard facts, which the authorities will not be able to ignore. However, to do so we need your assistance on a number of levels, about which we will notify you in due time. The current, most immediate of these needs is reports about injuries cause by the bike path. If you know about any such cases, please notify us and help us contact the relevant parties and collect information along with concrete documentation. We also have a strong need for donations and volunteers to help further the effort. In order to contact us, please write to the amuta's e-mail address: njerusalemneighborhoods@gmail.com.

The court case has left us in a good position to continue our efforts, which can now focus on the primary and most pressing issue - the safety of our streets; However, it will take a concentrated effort on the part of all the residents of the neighborhood to win.

Sincerely,

'North Jerusalem Residents for Safety and Quality of Life (registered amuta)' 

P.S. The ruling is attached for your convenience.