Participatory Budgeting timeline maximized for grass roots organizing

By Press release submission

Dec 21, 2021

City of Grand Rapids issued the following announcement on Dec 16.

The initial timeline for the Participatory Budgeting Grand Rapids (PBGR) initiative has been extended.

At Tuesday’s Grand Rapids City Commission’s Committee of the Whole, Participatory Budgeting Grand Rapids Steering Committee Co-chair Michael Scholten announced that the current phase of outreach and idea collection will go through May 2022. A submission portal will be shared with the community when finalized.

PB is about democracy and active resident engagement in the budget process. The extension of the timeline allows PBGR to engage more neighbors across Grand Rapids with purposeful intention. The PBGR Committee will organize and engage with community during this pilot year. PB is a new process to Grand Rapids and everyone, from student to executive, can participate in this initiative if they live in one of the three wards.

“Investing in ourselves is meant to be an inspirational process – where we invite ourselves to dream and reach our potential,” Scholten said. “The PBGR Committee wants the community to have the time and information they need to engage. We hope that they do so.”

The PBGR Committee is finalizing agreements with community partners across the City to support outreach and education. More information will be available in the new year on how neighbors can learn more, volunteer and support outreach in their communities.

“We expect to be stronger as we move through each phase of this process together,” Participatory Budgeting Committee member Doug Booth said. “We’ve experimented and learned a lot in a short time and we believe the foundation we’re building clears the way for equitable engagement now and in the future.”

To download the PBGR PowerPoint update to the City Commission, CLICK HERE. To watch Tuesday’s update on YouTube CLICK HERE. For more information, visit www.pbgr.org, follow us on Facebook or Twitter @PBGrandRapids, or email pb@grcity.us to sign up as a volunteer.

Original source can be found here.