By Zach Chasnoff is a community organizer Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) working for economic and social justice in the City of St. Louis.
We are living in exciting times. Vibrant public discourse about the transparency of our government and the average citizen’s ability to access those systems of governance is happening on national and local levels.
The City of St. Louis is no exception. We have been grappling with this issue in the form of very low voter turnout and engagement as well as a lack of oversight, or even basic understanding, of how the city operates. As a community we are searching for solutions to both the problem of transparency as well as the problem of getting real, engaged citizen participation.
One answer has already made waves in some parts of the country and accomplished big things here in the 6th ward. It’s called Participatory Budgeting (PB). PB is a structured, step-by-step process by which citizens get a direct vote in how pots of public money are allocated. Through a bottom-up process, citizens decide what community projects are needed, determine a budget for expenditures of available ward funds, and work with city agencies to see the projects through to completion.
Starting in Brazil in 1989, Participatory Budgeting first appeared in the United States in Chicago’s 49th ward. After its successful implementation there, several other Chicago wards followed suit. Shorty thereafter PB was implemented in multiple New York City Districts. Later the entire city of Vallejo California turned over its budgetary decision making to its residents through Participatory Budgeting.
Brad Lander, the Council Person in New York City who initially implemented PB there, first introduced the idea to a St. Louis audience at the 2012 SLACO conference. A buzz was created in the city when Michelle Witthaus ran against Christine Ingrassia for 6th ward Alderman on a platform of direct democracy that included PB. Ingrassia won that race but believed enough in Participatory Budgeting that she reached out to Michelle so that they could work together to implement it.
PB is correlated with increased citizen participation. The Participatory Budgeting Project in New York states:
One of the most striking findings about who participated in PB is how the data compares to other types of civic engagement, particularly voting patterns in NYC elections. Across the districts, PB engaged communities that have traditionally been uninspired by politics. People of color, low-income people, and some immigrant groups turned out at higher rates than in previous elections. More than just getting people to vote, PB deepened the connections between residents and government.
In Chicago residents report that “…with this approach the people wielding power are not the rich or well-connected. Instead, they’re regular citizens who choose to put in the time.” This is civic empowerment that transcends the budgetary arena.
Working together, Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), Participatory Budgeting St. Louis (PBSTL) and 6th ward residents have recently completed the first phase of the first-ever PB process in St Louis. Turn-out has exceeded expectations and is representative of the racial and economic diversity of the area. Residents will move to vote on the allocation of 40% of the annual ward budget in capital funds by April of 2014.
PBSTL recently announced planned implementation in Scott Olgilvie’s 24th ward. Our goal for 2014 is to have Participatory Budgeting in four wards total by the end of the year. For this program to have a true impact on the city as a whole it needs to be in as many areas as possible. PBSTL is also interested in moving the process beyond the allocation of capital funds and into exciting diverse city arenas such as the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) and HUD allocation of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
One of the many beauties of Participatory Budgeting is its elasticity. A 6th ward steering committee has tailored the process to meet the unique qualities of their ward but the process will look a little different in the 24th ward and can be tailored to the CDBG process just as easily. For instance, organizations could submit their applications and St. Louis residents could be allowed to vote on the projects that they wanted most. Working with community organizations to get the word out will ensure diverse and meaningful participation from all sectors of the city population. The most important thing is that we get a broad spectrum of St. Louis citizens engaged and excited about civic participation.
Participatory Budgeting is by no means a silver bullet that will cure all of our civic woes, but it does open previously closed doors and provides clear one-to-one correlations between citizen input and tangible results. St. Louis has the chance to be a national leader in an exciting innovation. If transparency is the goal, then let’s open up the process. If we want to hear what the people of this city have to say, let’s listen to them, and let’s give them a vote.
For more information on Participatory Budgeting please contact PBSTL at pbinstl@gmail.com.
Articles in “From the Field” represent the opinions of the author only and do not represent the views of the Community Builders Network of Metro St. Louis or the University of Missouri- St. Louis.
