Voting opens Tuesday for People’s Budget projects
Starting Tuesday, Richmonders will vote for the first time for projects they want in their neighborhoods.
This is the result of Richmond’s first ever participatory budgeting initiative – dubbed the People’s Budget – which includes $3 million to enhance neighborhoods.
“This whole process has been ideas by Richmonders, for Richmonders,” said Javion Peterson, who was chosen as one of the delegates representing the 7th District in the East End.
The distribution of the funds will not be equal, as more socially vulnerable districts will receive more money. Districts 6, 8 and 9 will each receive half a million dollars. Districts 3, 5 and 7 will each receive $300,000, and Districts 1, 2 and 4 will each receive $200,000.
Richmonder Staff
Delegates and other members of the People’s Budget team received and sifted through 1,900 ideas. They selected 10-15 proposals for each district that residents will vote on. Richmonders will then vote for three proposals listed on the ballot for their district and rank them.
Leidiana Delgado, civic engagement coordinator for Richmond City Council, said this will be the first time Richmond has used ranked-choice voting. Delgado said “it is much more powerful to ask residents who live on that street” rather than outside consultants.
Residents submitted a multitude of ideas, varying from topics like parks and recreation, environment and safety, and health and wellness. The ideas were collected through boxes placed at libraries and popular community locations. The majority of the ideas centered around public mobility.
Proposals on the ballots for each district include building statues, improving sport courts and parks, garden enhancements, murals, water stations and pedestrian safety.
People living in a district can vote on proposals in other districts, Delgado said. She’s hoping people don’t vote more than once.
“The goal here is to connect community members to the city in a different way, where it’s not just a survey,” Delgado said. “This is work on accountability and transparency and how we can better serve our communities.”
Focus on equity and impact
The initiative received 70 applicants interested in serving as delegates representing their district and 27 were chosen – three for each district. Constance Hull and Peterson were among the delegates representing District 7 who met weekly to work on the budget.
The process began last September with a brainstorming of ideas. Next, the delegates developed the proposals which residents will vote on.
Hull and Peterson said their district worked with 150 ideas that the People’s Budget team filtered down to 13 proposals listed on the district’s ballot.
“It's also like a testament to the People's Budget in a way that [the team] drummed up support and got people to come out,” Hull said.
Both delegates said they had many discussions among themselves and with civic associations and organizations to figure out what proposals would have the biggest impact and would be the most feasible. They scored each proposal based on impact and equity.
“We were given a pretty clear charge to focus on impact and equity, so everything that we viewed was through that lens,” Hull said.
Some proposals were not included because they were too expensive or they’re already in the pipeline, Hull and Peterson said.
The 7th District delegates were surprised how many people wanted a mural or statue recognizing Adm. Samuel L. Gravely Jr., a Richmonder and the U.S. Navy’s first Black admiral.
Peterson said that if people vote for the mural, they’ll see an example of Black excellence, but also what it means to have a government working for them.
Future funding in question
When Mayor Danny Avula unveiled his new budget this week, it did not include funding earmarked to continue the People’s Budget project.
"While this budget does not include direct funding for the People's Budget, our participatory budgeting process, we are committed to the concept, and to identifying dollars through our Department of Public Works allocations to support several of the built environment projects that are expected to come out of the ongoing, participatory process," the mayor said in his statement.
Delegates for the People’s Budget showed up at a recent City Council meeting to lobby for the initiative’s continuation.
“People's Budget is an answer to some of the challenges around transparency – to some of the questions that are asked of you all, ‘Where do my tax dollars go?’ and to some of the calls for building relationship between council and the community,” said Maisie Osteen, a delegate representing the 1st District in the West End.
“So for those reasons, I really hope that you all continue to include and support the People's Budget.”
Bringing transparency to budgeting
The People’s Budget has been an educational and empowering experience, Hull, Peterson and Delgado said.
“The thing that motivated me the most was just being in the room with people who wanted to see Richmond … improve,” Peterson said.
Hull specifically said she learned more of how the city operates, and hopes that the process encourages more transparency.
Their goal is for Richmonders to vote and that it becomes a yearly process.
“We want to make sure we’re listening to folks,” Delgado said. “It takes a village. We need folks to be engaged.”
People who are 14 and older, living, working or studying in the city can vote from April 1 to April 15 regardless of immigration and post-incarceration status. Voting will take place online and in-person on the weekends. Voters can find the proposals here.
Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org
