Your Money, Your Voice, Your Vote!

What if I were to tell you that we are the verge of making history in New York City? What if I were to tell you that this gives you the power over one million dollars in your taxpayer dollars? Sounds interesting, right?

Next Sunday starts the first-ever vote for participatory budgeting in the 45th District, which includes Flatbush, East Flatbush, Flatlands and parts of Midwood and Canarsie; voting will continue through April 1st. Along with three other council members (Brad Lander in Brooklyn, Melissa Mark-Viverito in Manhattan and Eric Ulrich in Queens), I decided last year to implement this process that gives our community the power to decide how to spend $1 million of my capital budget. This is a best practice of democratic governments across the world, yet only Chicago has employed this method before.

I decided to be a part of the pilot launch of participatory budgeting in New York City because I know the best answers often don’t come from elected officials or their staffs. They come from community members who understand the problems they face and have creative solutions on how to address them. At neighborhood assemblies in October,residents came together in churches, schools and community centers and suggested over 300 projects. The scope ranged from building a bowling alley to putting 24-hour WiFi in all local parks, as well as many great ideas in between. From there, our budget delegates worked with city agencies to vet the projects and determine what was eligible under this process. The eligible projects were then refined into , from which residents can vote for up to five for me to fund next year.

Democracy only works when everyone is participating and engaged. That’s why participatory budgeting has been such a success in its first year, even before the first ballot has been cast. Our budget delegates and our district committee, which organized this entire effort, was an entirely volunteer operation. Hundreds of residents came out to meetings over the last several months, including many that had never been active in their community before. This will only build into more involvement in local issues, more public education on the city budget, and a more empowered community for the benefit of us all. For instance, those who were committed to projects that were not eligible through participatory budgeting will be able to work with our office as we try to follow up on every good idea to make the 45th District a safe place for young people to learn and grow.

Now is the time to make your voice heard! Please visit pbnyc.org for a complete list of the voting times and locations for the 45th District, as well as a sample ballot that shows all the proposals up for your consideration. See you at the polls!