CLEVELAND — Earlier this year, a coalition of citizens in Cleveland, called People’s Budget Cleveland (PB CLE), asked city council to allow residents to decide how a portion of the city’s budget is spent with a pilot program. 

What You Need To Know

  • In November, Clevelanders will vote on whether residents should handle 2% of the city's budget.

  • The process, called participatory budgeting, has been implemented in dozens of cities across the country, like New York, Chicago and Grand Rapids.

  • Proponents say it will give more power to residents and get them more involved in civic processes.

  • Several city council members oppose the idea, saying it's dangerous to give power to unelected officials.

When the council didn’t approve, PB CLE gathered enough signatures to put a city charter amendment on the ballot, which would allocate public money to be handled by residents every year.

Aleena Starks and Moses Ngong, organizers with PB CLE, spent a lot of time this summer talking with residents as they collected signatures.

“A lot of people were surprised that there’s not something like it already,” Ngong said. “And so, we’re excited to give voters a chance to realize the opportunity that is the People’s Budget and to have a say over 2% of the budget.” 

Their proposed charter amendment would allocate $350,000 to a “People’s Budget” in the first year, 1% of the city budget in the second year, 1.5% in the third year and 2% for the following years. 

Cleveland residents older than 13 are invited to be a part of the process.

“The earlier that people are involved in the voting process, in the electoral process, and even in just general civic engagement, meaning they understand what’s going on in their neighborhood, they understand what issues are going on and how they have a say in what they can do to change it, the better our city is for everyone,” Starks said.

Participatory budgeting has been implemented in dozens of cities across the country like New York, Chicago, Grand Rapids and more.

In Cleveland, the process would be broken down by neighborhood rather than ward, and guided by a steering committee appointed by city council and the Mayor’s office. 

“This brings opportunity right to community member and voter’s doorstep, where they get to choose what’s important to them,” Starks said. “And if they’re already doing great work in the city, this gives them the opportunity to amplify that work and bring in more community members.”

Several city council members, like Council President Blaine Griffin, oppose the proposed charter, saying it’s dangerous to give this power to residents when the budget is needed to pay civic employees and maintain infrastructure.  

“I think right now, when we just balanced the budget, that we can’t afford an experiment at this time,” Griffin said. “Especially with an unelected, unaccountable, inexperienced body of people that don’t understand municipal finances and understand what we have to do in order to keep this city solvent and operating in an efficient way.”

Come November, Cleveland’s voters will determine whether it’s a process they want to implement. 

Ngong said he’s hopeful. 

“This is Clevelander’s chance to definitively say that we’re here, we have a voice,” he said. “We have wisdom in our own communities, and we don’t necessarily need council to make all the decisions about how Cleveland runs without us. We’re capable, and we’re going to in November.”

Related Stories