Cleveland advocates for a “people’s budget” are in the final stages of a six-month, $100,000 pilot program in Slavic Village meant to demonstrate that residents can successfully identify neighborhood priorities and direct the funds to support them.
Participatory Budgeting Cleveland (PB CLE), the group behind the effort, fell just short of convincing voters in 2023 to force officials through the city charter to give residents a direct say over a small portion of the city budget. But the group says its pilot program – which is conducting a neighborhood election through Aug. 22 on which projects to fund – already shows community governance is possible.
More than 150 people have voted so far, though some neighborhood residents are raising concerns about the voting process and how projects were vetted. Designed as a beacon for a more inclusive model of local decision-making, backers acknowledge some friction but said the project is nonetheless working as intended…