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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2018)
Page 10 Commentary Is the Portland region ready for participate BY JIM LABBE C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T hat is participatory budgeting? Participatory budgeting (PB) is a W deliberative democratic process wherein ordinary people decide how to allocate a portion of a municipal or public budget PB started in the 1980s and has spread rapidly in to Brazil well over 3,000 municipalities on all continents around the globe. Since PB launched in Chicago’s 49th Ward in 2009, dozens of U.S. cities, both small and large, have begun allocating small but growing portions of their municipal budgets using PB. PB varies from place to place but it usually consists of five basic steps. Essential elements are a dedicated source of funding, community-driven project development, and a binding Jim Labbe is one o f the coorganizers o f community-wide vote the A p ril 14 Forum or decision process in an d co-founder o f which the selected Participatory projects are B udgeting Oregon, implemented with www.pboregon.org. available funds. PB has been used to allocate funds for parks, housing and transportation improvements, criminal justice reform and social services. It has been applied atthe neighborhood or ward level, and citywide. Students in schools and tenants in publicly owned and managed housing have used participatory budgeting to shape public investments that directly impact their lives. So far, most PB processes in North America have allocated small amounts of funds relative to the size of municipal budgets and populations. But the simple appeal in an era of democratic malaise has undoubtedly fueled growth in the size and number of PB processes. PB gives ordinary people real power over real money to make decisions that affect their lives. It gives tangible and even fun reasons for ordinary people to participate in their local government PB often garners support from across the political spectrum at a local level, including those interested in government transparency, budget accountability and democratic transformation. The Obama administration’s Open Government Partnership Action Plan, Black Lives Matter, the Oregon Commission on Black Affairs and an abundance of academic research have all recognized PB as a potentially effective tool for increasing accountability, transparency and the number and diversity of people engaged in local self- governance and electoral politics. In many cases, PB is designed and implemented with explicit social justice objectives aimed at building power and leadership in underserved and, underrepresented communities. For example, PB is often designed to allow and invite participation and voting by non citizens, youth and people without a home mailing address - a major barrier to exercising suffrage rights in vote-by-mail states like Oregon. In Arizona, PB is being implemented in the Phoenix-area high schools specifically to prepare students to a global perspective on the founding and spread of PB as well as the research Participatory Budgeting documenting its positive impacts. Former The basic elements to participatory Seattle Youth Commission Co-Chairs Jess budgeting are: Juanich and Becky Scurlock shared their experience implementing Seattle’s youth- 1. Design the process based PB process Youth Voice, Youth Choice, A steering committee creates the rite s which launched in 2016. City of Seattle with city officials to ensure the process Community Program Strategic Advisor Amy is inclusive and meets local needs. Nguyen described the evolution of Seattle s PB into Your Voice, Your Choice - Parks & 2. Brainstorm Ideas Streets. This year the program will allow Through meetings and onlne tools, city Seattleites to allocate $3 million for parks residents share and discuss ideas for and streets funding across seven neighborhood districts. Finally Jamal T. Fox - projects. educator, professor and former City Councilor from Greensboro, N.C. - shared 3. Develop Proposals the perspective of a local elected official who Volunteers develop the ideas into successfully advocated for PB feasible proposals, which are then implementation in his city. In 2015, vetted by city experts. Greensboro launched the first PB process in the American South. 4. Cast a vote Following the presentations and panel Residente vote to allot the available discussions, forum attendees participated in funding among the proposals. two rounds of small group discussions and one round of real-time voting. Participants 5. Fund winning projects explored their concerns, questions and ideas about bringing participatory budgeting to the The city implements the winning Portland region. A major question during the projects, and along with the residents, discussion centered on how to ensure tracks and monitors implementation. participatory budgeting could most effectively challenge the status quo and not be subject become voting citizens. Much of the research to capture by the usual suspects. on the impacts of PB suggests it has been 'and can b^aiTefiective toôTfêFïïem ^âÎSzing Participatory budgeting, elite capture and clientelism How can we be sure bringing participatory budgeting to the City of Portland won’t merely reproduce existing power relations? This is the concern of “elite capture,” that PB will be dominated by the usual suspects, the “involvoCrats” with the time and resources to participate. It is an unsurprising concern at a time when an affordable housing Bringing PB . crisis appears to be squeezing out renters to the Portland region and helping preserve Portland’s past as a white-dominated City despite demographic On April 14, more than 100 people from around the Portland-metro region gathered at trends in the nation and even in the state and region toward a multi-ethnic majority. Many thé Rosewood Initiative in East Portland to Portlanders facing rising housing cost explore PB. Organized by’volunteers with burdens have the time and knowledge to help from Healthy Democracy, the event participate. brought together diverse community leaders, Nevertheless, the concern begs a elected officials and local government staff to question: How could the status quo of learn about participatory budgeting, hear Portland’s largely consultative or advisory from outside “experts” and discuss and “public involvement” processes become any explore its potential implementation in the less exclusive by a process that directly region. Specifically, the forum sought to shares power over public resources by explore the following questions: supporting more people to participate in ■ How does participatory budgeting work decisions of real consequence? The City’s and how is it different from other forms of current budget advisory committee process governing? is notoriously opaque, arcane and ■ What are the potential benefits for increasing government accountability, making disconnected from the budget outcomes. Moreover, there is growing evidence that participation more meaningful, transparent, Portland’s much heralded system of and inclusive, and building trust and neighborhood associations, born from the community?. insurgent 1970s, no longer provides a viable ■ What can we learn from other mechanism for fostering new, diverse voices. municipalities before experimenting in Some neighborhood organizations may be Oregon? making authentic strides toward creating ■ How can we build the necessary more welcoming and inclusive spaces for community awareness and capacity to be successful? What goals or strategies would be young, black, brown or immigrant Portlanders most threatened by involuntary important to consider in Oregon? displacement Nevertheless, in too many A mix of guest speakers shared a diversity cases, neighborhood associations have of perspectives and case studies. Boise State University Professor Brian Wampler provided become barriers, not pathways, to new power and building trust and community. In recent years, PB has finally come to the Pacific Northwest. Seattle launched it in 2016 and Victoria, B.C., in 2017. Vancouver, B.C., and Tacoma, Wash., are initiating PB pilots in 2018. But so far this process has yet to còme to Oregon. That could change soon. diverse leadership in city governance. The recent controversy over the attempt of the Overlook-Neighborhood Association to exclude houseless people from association membership highlights this trend. But for years observers like civic historian Steve Johnson and environmental justice advocate Jeri Jimenez have documented the decline and limits of neighborhood association participation. “Elite capture” is already a problem with the status quo. Isn t it the time to create and expand alternative, more equitable and meaningful pathways for participation and self-governance in Portland? Research oh participatory budgeting suggests a sustained effort to increase the number of people with transparent, deliberative and binding decision-making power over public budgets has a number of positive impacts. These impacts begin with giving a tangible reason for underrepresented members of the community to turnout, get involved and learn how to participate more effectively. The evidence suggests creating these opportunities gets more and more diverse people involved in local self-governance. One recent analysis also found that PB increases voter turnout; people are more likely to vote in subsequent elections after participating in PB. PB has also been linked to the growth in civic society organizations, stronger communities, shifts in government policy - priorities and improved public health outcomes especially among vulnerable populations. Moreover, research also indicates that by strategically designing PB processes to allow fuller and more diverse participation, the positive impacts can be amplified and overall quality of municipal self-governance improved. This may be because, far from perpetuating an “elite capture,” PB erodes clientelist relationships wherein elected officials or influential elites deliver limited public resources in exchange for political support or power, a dynamic that can thwart more systemic or transformative change. The presentations and deliberations at the April 14 Community Forum shaped a draft Forum Report that includes specific recommendations to local governments interested in implementing participatory budgeting in our region. Many of these recommendations incorporate proven strategies to make PB more inclusive and accessible to underserved and underrepresented populations. Portlanders who missed the forum can watch the presentations and panel discussions, review the forum report and recommendations, and find out how they can help bring PB to | Oregon at www.pboregon.org. Participatory budgeting is not a silver bullet. Its effectiveness at renewing and expanding democratic participation can be greatly increased by thoughtful, strategic, commmunity-based design and implementation. But PB offers one powerful mechanism of participatory democracy that can advance systemic change by sharing real power over real money in shaping the decisions that affect everyone’s lives.
