Leawood has had a park dedicated to the Gezer Region in Israel since 2009. Now Gezer has returned the favor.
During the last week of October, a delegation headed by Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn and Leawood Council members Andrew Osman, July Cain and Carrie Rezac visited Israel and attended dedication ceremonies for two sites named in honor of Leawood — Leawood Square and Leawood Trail.
Mayor Dunn said the relationship between the two cities was formalized eight years ago, in 2003, following a couple of years of informal discussions.
Haim Cohen, special foreign relations consultant to Gezer Regional Council Mayor Peter Weiss, noted that “it is important to state that the sisterhood was initiated and based on the earlier warm connections between the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas and Gezer started by Alan Edelman and Todd Stettner.”
Dunn said the relationship is very valuable to Leawood.
“It has been extremely important to our community. There have been a number of exchanges both with youth and adults and with elected and non-elected officials,” she said.
The mayor pointed out that Leawood has “a particularly large population of Jewish residents.” She said that Leawood residents, along with many other people within all parts of the United States, have many connections to people in Israel.
“I do believe these friendships have been enhanced and are more fruitful since the relationship was officially formed,” she said.
Federation Executive Vice President and CEO Todd Stettner was in Israel in late October and attended the dedication ceremonies along with John Isenberg and the Leawood officials. He believes the relationship between the two cities is very important.
“I think it makes a statement in the general community of the relationship of Americans to Israel. I think it goes beyond just the Jewish community now. It’s a statement of America’s friendship with Israel. For me that’s very important. It’s beyond government, it’s really people to people,” he said.
He believes the Jewish population in Leawood is one of the reasons the partnership was originally established.
“There used to be covenants against Jews living in Leawood and (Mayor Dunn) felt this was one to say we’re way beyond that issue now. Not only are there many Jews that live in Leawood but we all also feel a connection to the Jewish state,” Stettner said.
Gezer’s Cohen said the visit from the Leawood delegation was “quite successful.”
“It will strengthen the already excellent ties between Leawood and Gezer, as well as promote the ongoing cooperation of Gezer with the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas,” Cohen said.
The square and trail
Cohen explained the square in Gezer features a sculpture of Shimon Hatarsi, the last son of the Hashmonaim, a pergola and several typical Israeli trees. He described the Leawood trail as a walking trail that will serve the citizens of Gezer who enjoy walking in the neighborhood.
Dunn said the art in the middle of the square is a beautiful piece designed by Enon DeGroot. DeGroot has shown his work here at the Jewish Arts Festival. Ironically, Dunn had a painting commissioned by DeGroot, which was given to the Gezer Regional Council.
“I didn’t know he had also been chosen to do the sculpture in the middle of the square. He’s quite a talented young man,” Dunn said. “The painting that we gifted them was a painting of our Gezer Park. We had taken photographs and sent them electronically for him to utilize. He did a great job.”
Dunn particularly enjoyed signs that are posted along the Leawood Trail in the shape of directional arrows. She explained that one points in the direction of the Gezer municipal offices and says, “Gezer Municipality 220 yards.” “The sign pointing the opposite direction on the same corner says “City of Leawood, Kansas, 6,887 miles. It was really quite creative,” she said.
The mayor went on to describe the trail itself as very beautiful.
“There are lots of plantings and they are planning to do more in the future,” she said.
Comparing the cities
Osman, who was elected to the Leawood City Council in April 2010 and represents the northern portion of the city, likes to point out that Gezer Park in Leawood has really flourished over the past two years and expects Leawood Square and Leawood Trail to do the same in Israel.
Gezer’s Cohen noted that besides the dedication ceremonies, the Leawood delegation got an extensive tour of the region. He said they visited schools (the education system in Israel is governed by the municipalities) as well as the Hills of Judea and the famous archaeological site of Tel Gezer. For Shabbat dinner on Friday night, Leawood officials dined with several local families.
Osman, who is a member of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah and visited Israel when he was a teen in 1992, enjoyed meeting the family he was paired with.
“They adopted me,” he said. “The entire eight-day experience was eye-opening and I’d love to go back next year on Federation trip.”
The cities are governed differently. Dunn said there are 28 people who serve on the Gezer Regional Council while the Leawood City Council has eight members plus the mayor. But Osman also noted the similarities between the two cities.
“Even though one city is in Israel and one is in the United States, we both have the same problems, such as expansion, housing, generating revenue to build parks and infrastructure,” Osman said.
“We talked at great lengths about how Israel comes up with funds for their city. They can’t use sales tax and they were amazed that 30 to 35 percent of our revenue comes from sales tax,” he continued.
While they were visiting Israel, Osman noted that a protest featuring about 100,000 took place in Tel Aviv.
“People were marching in the streets because there’s no affordable housing over there. That is the Israelis’ big concern,” he said. “Two years ago a house in the Gezer region averaged about $200,000 and now it’s between $500,000 and 600,000. And on the typical wage of the Israeli citizen at $35,000, it makes it extremely difficult to afford these houses.”
While in Israel, Osman came across a high-end shopping center designed by architect Moshe Safdie. He told his tour guides about Safdie’s work here in Kansas City and showed them photos online.
“They were amazed to see the Kauffman Center,” he said.