Lindsay
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32 votesLindsay
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6 votes0 comments · How can we make the District of Columbia truly “One City?” » Building One City · Admin →Lindsay
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40 votes2 comments · How can we make the District of Columbia truly “One City?” » Skills for Living-Wage Jobs · Admin →Lindsay
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169 votesLindsay
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128 votesLindsay
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654 votesLindsay
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17 votes1 comment · How can we make the District of Columbia truly “One City?” » Building One City · Admin →
An error occurred while saving the comment Lindsay
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This is a great idea for the reasons that this person has already explained. I wanted to add another possible benefit based on personal experience.
I had the chance to spend some time in Brasil several years ago in a city that was using participatory budgeting (PB). I was familiar with the concept before travelling there, but I didn't understand what I think may be another really valuable aspect of the process until I spoke with a community member who had participated in it for several years.
In the city that I was in, they used the “caravan of communities”/priorities approach. Each part of the city is given some budgetary allocation (based on need) that its residents determine how to spend. A bus trip (“caravan of communities”) is organized so that residents from different wards, districts, etc. can tour the identified spending priorities of their neighbors. (Generally this results in projects from the poorest neighborhoods – projects that the residents there have said they want – in receiving priority when funds are scarce, when additional funds are needed for a major capital improvement, etc.)
It seems to me that the personal connection and broader understanding that this creates amongst participating community members of all backgrounds would be invaluable. I think that more understanding and engagement will be needed if we are to truly become One City and successfully address broad based challenges (ex: affordable housing, consistent, high quality neighborhood childcare and educational opportunities, etc.), as well as the persistent and alarming disparities in educational attainment, job opportunity, etc. that have a disproportionate and negative impact in specific areas of our city.
I don't know if they do this in Chicago or NYC which are obviously better comparisons to our own political system than Brasil is. (I would expect that they do initial resource allocation much differently than Brasil does for instance.) Knowing how broken our current budgeting process is, and after getting to sit with residents from all over the city of every background at yesterday’s summit, I’m going to spend more time learning about how PB is better involving Chicago and NYC residents in determining their cities’ future.
Here’s a link if you’re interested in learning more: http://www.participatorybudgeting.org/