Participatory Budgeting Gleefully Expands at City Council

[hrmjustin]

Ross Barkan

Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and her colleagues giddily announced today that the number of council members taking part in participatory budgeting would more than double next year.

The process, which allows community members to vote on projects that council members than fund from their discretionary dollars, is increasingly popular in the left-leaning body.

“Already we have seen how this process engages and enfranchises New Yorkers that often sit on the sidelines when it comes to civic participation, providing youth, low-income, non English-speaking citizens a voice,” Ms. Mark-Viverito said at a City Hall press conference today. “Residents from all walks of life come together and brainstorm what they want to see in their communities and how we can make it happen.”

Read more at http://observer.com/2014/07/participatory-budgeting-gleefully-expands-at-city-council/#ixzz38JpVsNYb

[hrmjustin]

1. Participatory Budgeting: Catch the Fever!

http://www.citylimits.org/conversations/262/participatory-budgeting-what-s-the-potential