Participatory Budget is a democratic process by which community members decide how to spend part of a public budget. Residents work together to generate ideas about improvements they’d like to see in the 30th Ward, then vote on which project they wish to see funded.
Back in September when my office hosted 3 town halls across the ward, we wanted to give folks a lot of opportunities to engage with the PB process. This included selecting 10 categories to generate and focus ideas on and the creation of a volunteer-led PB Committee (comprised of residents throughout the ward for equity and transparency). We also wanted residents to vote for how much of the $1,000,000 would go towards streets and alley repaving.
After several months of idea collection and voting, majority of residents voted for 50% of the funds to be allocated toward street and alley repaving. As such, voting this year will consist of as many ideas related to the winning categories as possible up to $500,000.
With final ballot voting now beginning, residents will have a chance to vote on projects and ideas submitted by 30th ward residents! When voting ends, the top winning projects will be funded.
How would you like to see infrastructure dollars used to improve our community?
