Rehovot / Municipality waives debts owed by employer of mayor's son

The Rehovot Municipality gave preferential treatment to individuals with connections to the mayor and deputy mayor, raising suspicions of conflicts of interest. In one case, benefits were granted to a college that employed the son of Mayor Yehoshua Forer and the daughter of then-deputy mayor Haim Avraham. In another case, a consulting firm that worked with Forer before his election was chosen to provide public relations services for the municipality.

In the case of the college, the mayor attended meetings with the college's CEO regarding matters including tender-exempt land grants, despite suspicions of conflict of interest due to his son. State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss notes that the municipality agreed to offset the college's electricity debts, estimated at NIS 232,000. In practice, the municipality exempted the college from paying any of its electrical bills for about five years. The value of the electricity was equal to the rent the college paid the municipality over three years.

The municipality initiated relations with the Danus-Naveh media consulting firm, which worked for the mayor during the 2003 mayoral elections. The municipality's legal advisor maintained that a company could be hired for such a job only after a tender was issued, but the mayor went with an external legal advisor, who approved the relationship. After a temporary contract with Danus-Naveh was signed, the municipality considered a few firms and then ultimately chose Danus.

The comptroller says that this raises the suspicion that the municipality examined other firms only to create the impression of fair competition.

"This kind of behavior may harm public trust in elected officials and local government, and undermine the foundations of the system of national government," wrote the comptroller.