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Thursday, 14 May 2009 18:18 |
 By James Ginderske
Alderman Joe Moore (D-49th) announced that his ward will attempt to be the first government entity in the United States to implement Participatory Budgeting.
According to literature distributed by Moore’s office: “In the past 20 years, Participatory Budgeting has spread to over 1,000 cities in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America.”
Participatory Budgeting allows groups of citizens direct control over how money is budgeted for programs within their communities. Moore wants to explore its use to allocate his annual Ward Infrastructure funds, popularly known as “menu money.”
Menu money is a $1.5 million allowance given to each alderman for use on infrastructure improvements in their ward. The current system, as described by Moore, involves collecting requests and driving through alleys and streets to essentially make judgement calls about which projects are most critical in a given year.
Moore held a meeting on April 29 at Loyola Park to roll out the basics of the concept with various community leaders. Guests included Josh Lerner and Gianpaolo Baiocchi of the Participatory Budgeting Project, and Karen Dolan of the Institute for Policy Studies.
A film was shown depicting a raucous Participatory Budgeting session in England where funding for social programs was discussed (such social programs are not eligible for menu money here). It was followed by a lengthy question and answer session.
 Moore expressed a belief that if Participatory Budgeting can be done successfully in the 49th Ward a strong case can be made for its expansion elsewhere. It was evident from both this evening’s questions and the past experience of implementing other programs that a new model will need to be designed to fit Rogers Park’s notoriously contentious community.
It was also clear from the questions and concerns raised that much will have to be done to organize a process that is fair and effective.
Rather than dwell on the minutia of how such a process may look in the end, the meeting primarily showcased the theory of Participatory Budgeting, why it is effective elsewhere, why Moore wants to attempt it here, and the parameters of what will be eligible for funding.
If Alderman Moore’s vision is successful, citizens will be given control over whether to comprehensively upgrade traffic signals, at $230,000 dollars each, or install left turn arrows at just $70,000 a piece.
Other eligible expenditures include police cameras (from $12,000 to $36,000); street lights (from $65,000 to $150,000 per block); street resurfacing ($31,500 per block); and speed bumps ($3500 per block); along with at least 24 other options.
Also eligible are special projects, such as the Willye White Park Field house that was built with the help of significant amounts of Aldermanic Menu funds.
Moore hopes to have the Participatory Budgeting committees functioning in time for the 2010 budget cycle, as the 2009 funds are already awarded.
Editor’s note: The Urban Coaster will follow this Participatory Budgeting process closely, and regularly put relevant documents and news about meetings as they become available on our website. |
