Participatory Budgeting in the 49 th Ward Joe Moore Alderman, 49 th Ward Chicago, Illinois 773-338-5796 www.ward49.com The Participat ory Budgeting Project, led by Gianpaolo Baiocchi (Brown University), and Josh Lerner (The NewSchool for Social Research), provided guidance and technical assistance for this initiative. Additional support was provided by the Institute for Policy Studies , the Watson Institute , and the New World Foundation. Maria Hadden Program Coordinator Participatory Budgeting Project 773-575-0075 [email protected]
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8/6/2019 Participatory Budgeting in Chicago's 49th Ward
The Participatory Budgeting Project , led by Gianpaolo Baiocchi (Brown University), and Josh Lerner (The New School for Social Research), provided guidance and technical assistance for this initiative. Additional support was
provided by the Institute for Policy Studies , the Watson Institute , and the New World Foundation .
Community leaders were invited to participate on a steering committee to develop aParticipatory Budgeting process whereby residents of the 49 th Ward would decide how tospend the approximately $1.3 Million allocated by the City of Chicago for infrastructureneeds in the ward. T he Participatory Budgeting Project provided consulting services to thesteering committee.
These budgetary decisions are typically made by the local Alderman in each of Chicago s 50wards, with little community input. Projects are generally traditional infrastructureimprovements like street resurfacing, street light replacement, etc. Sometimes funds areused for larger capital improvements like the construction or repair of a public building.
Steering Committee Leaders were invited from all 49 th Ward:Community OrganizationsSocial Service AgenciesBlock ClubsCommunity Policing GroupsSchools and Local School CouncilsReligious Congregations
Community LeadersConvene to Develop
Process(July-August)
8/6/2019 Participatory Budgeting in Chicago's 49th Ward
Neighborhood Assemblies were conducted in eight geographicalareas of the ward, and a ninth session was conducted in Spanish.
Nine NeighborhoodAssemblies Conducted(September-October)
Alderman Moore provided the outreach funds for these meetings.Fliers were distributed to every household, and e-newsletters weresent repeatedly to the community.From these Neighborhood Assemblies, residents were invited toserve on committees to gather community input and researchprojects for consideration on the ballot.
The next slides demonstrate some of what the communityresidents learned at the Neighborhood Assemblies.
8/6/2019 Participatory Budgeting in Chicago's 49th Ward
Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a different way tomanage public money. It is a democraticprocess in which community members (YOU)directly decide how to spend part of a publicbudget.
8/6/2019 Participatory Budgeting in Chicago's 49th Ward
Services (e.g., health care services, homeless services, "Mealson Wheels," etc.)Programs (e.g., after school programs, day care, tutoring,sports activities, etc.)Personnel costs (e.g., salaries and benefits for teachers,police, fire, health care workers and any other public orprivate employees)Routine maintenance of public buildings
Extended hours at parks/libraries and other public facilitiesImprovements to facilities owned by not-for-profitorganizations, houses of worship, and privately owned homesand businesses
8/6/2019 Participatory Budgeting in Chicago's 49th Ward
Representatives transform the community priorities and needsexpressed at the Neighborhood Assemblies into concrete projectproposals. Over 60 representatives met regularly in six-themedbudgeting committees:
Parks & EnvironmentPublic SafetyTraffic SafetyStreets
TransportationArt & Other Projects
Six CommunityCommittees Deliberate
(November-March)
8/6/2019 Participatory Budgeting in Chicago's 49th Ward
Volunteersdevelopeddisplays toexplain andpromote theirproject s. Itemswere on displayin thecommunityweeks inadvance of voting, and atthe votinglocation.
8/6/2019 Participatory Budgeting in Chicago's 49th Ward
Commun i y G de n in Dubk in Park -Pub li gar de n in park locat ed at A shl an d an d FargoUnde rpa ss Mura ls -13 mura ls locat ed at 4 CT A an d 5 Me tra si tesTraff ic/P edes tr ian S igna l on C lark at C hase -Ne ar C hicago Mat h an d S cie nc e A ca de my
P r ojectsS idew alk Re pa ir s -18 locat ions throug hout t he war d
Bike Lanes -Willcove r Rog e r s from R idge to E a s tlak e , A shl an d fromPratt to Rog e r s , an d Touhy from W es te rn to S he r idan
Dog Fr iendly A r e a at Potta wattom ie Park -Willbe si ted at t he north e nd of the park
8/6/2019 Participatory Budgeting in Chicago's 49th Ward
The voting process will work the same as last year except a new question will be added tothe ballot regarding street resurfacing.
The new question will ask voters to vote on a specific percentage of the 2011 aldermanicmenu budget that will be devoted exclusively to street resurfacing.
The voters will be asked to vote for one of eleven options ranging from 0% to 100% (i.e.,0%, 10%, 20 %, 30 % and so on up to 100%). The ballot question will include the estimatedcost of resurfacing an average block in the ward (last year it was $32,000) and the
approximate number of streets that will be resurfaced under each percentage category The votes on this separate question will be tallied and an average calculated. That
average will determine the percentage of the 2011 aldermanic menu budget that will bedevoted exclusively to street resurfacing.