Voting is underway through September 30 in Albuquerque’s District 6 on how to spend $1.7 million on infrastructure projects. The voting is part of a democratic process known as participatory budgeting, in which community members propose projects and then vote on their favorites, deciding collectively how to spend ~1% of the city’s annual infrastructure budget.
This is the second year of the participatory budgeting process in District 6, which is represented by City Councilor Nichole Rogers. “I heard from constituents that they’ve given feedback to the city and we don’t do anything with it,” says Rogers, “so we’re trying to change that.”
District 6’s participatory budgeting is a pilot project ⎯ the only known such project in the state ⎯ but that means the only people eligible to vote must live, work, or study in District 6.
But middle schoolers — age 11 and older — can vote, too…