Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process, by which a community decides how to spend a portion of their government’s budget. The City of Tacoma has made a long-term commitment to developing a participatory budgeting program, which involves building relationships with grassroots leaders, establishing a community leadership team and transforming City systems, such as budgeting and contracting, to be more transparent and responsive to community priorities. The City started has now begun work in the Council District 2 (downtown corridor, NE Tacoma, North Slope). This area includes several public high schools and one public university, and we strive to include voices, including younger voices that are often not engaged by our City. Our current Community Leadership Team is made up of grassroots leaders representing different cultural communities, students, and others who live, work, play and learn in this Council District. We will collect ideas about how to spend $1 million in this area with the help and direction of our Community Leadership Team. Then we will prioritize through a feasibility process 3-6 ideas which will be voted upon by our community and then implement the one that gets the most votes. Voting is done through QR codes and informal paper ballots. It is civic engagement at its best. This meeting will be held on the third floor Cheney classroom. There will be a second meeting on June 20 in our main floor event space.
