South Side residents unveiled plans for new sidewalks, a community
garden and other infrastructure needs to be created with Ald. Leslie
Hairston's (5th) $1.3 million in “menu money” at the ward's final participatory budgeting expo.
The projects are set to go up for a community vote next week.
Aldermen
typically decide how to spend their pot of discretionary funds for ward
improvements like fixing potholes and adding street signals, but
participatory budgeting puts the decision-making process in the hands of
the community.
"With your voice and your help, not only do you
get a better understanding of how much things cost and what it takes to
get a project from conception to completion, but also, I think, it helps
to walk down the street and see a light post and know that you had a
part in putting that light post there," Hairston told a few dozen
residents at the expo, held at the Catholic Theological Union over the weekend. Read more »
Residents of the 45th ward are able to contribute to the
decision-making process for discretionary capital funding for the first
time this year, as Ald. John Arena (45th) joined three other aldermen in the Participatory Budgeting Project.
“The exciting thing is that residents get to decide which aspects of community improvements they want to focus on,” said Arena.
Participatory
budgeting allows residents to vote on which infrastructure upgrades should
receive financing from $1.3 million in city funds, known as “menu money.”
Uptown residents laid out their plans last night on how they’d like
to divvy up the 46th Ward’s $1.3 million “menu money” budget as part of a
new participatory budgeting process some Chicago aldermen are adopting.
Each year, Chicago aldermen receive
city funds and decide how to use the pot of money for infrastructure
needs in their wards, such as improving sidewalks, traffic signals and
streetlights.
The participatory budgeting process allows residents to decide how the money is spent based on a community vote.
Prior
to participatory budgeting, Ald. James Cappleman (46th) said he and his
staffers would ride their bikes down streets and alleys looking for
areas of improvement in the ward, which was “very inefficient.”
“This
(participatory budgeting) process understands that those people who
know the ward the best are those who live in it,” Cappleman said to
about 30 residents at an expo yesterday showcasing the proposed
projects. Read more »
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will present her 2013
budget today to the county board and is expected to include
a $1 increase in the county cigarette tax.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced yesterday that his proposed 2013 budget will provide $4 million more to after-school and summer programs for at-risk teenagers.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office might propose raising the city's
cigarette and amusement taxes to help close a projected $369 million
budget hole.
The Chicago Public Schools management team breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates voted
to suspend the CTU strike and let their membership consider a new
contract. But while teachers are expected to green light the deal, CPS
does not know how to pay for it.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel gave his initial budget forecast for next
year, and the mayor touts that the city faces a $369 million budget gap,
or about half of last year's projected $741 million budget deficit.
Dozens of community activists and angry CTA riders protested bank
deals which they claim take money from transit agencies in the lobby of a
Chase Bank at 10 S. Dearborn St. Thursday morning.
Pointing to a report released this week titled “Riding the Gravy Train,”
which details “toxic swap deals” between Wall Street banks and 12 state
governments, the group said nationally taxpayers are losing more than
$520 million a year.
That’s money that could be used to stop public transit service cuts or pay for infrastructure repairs, the protesters argued.
South Side residents unveiled plans for new sidewalks, a community
garden and other infrastructure needs to be created with Ald. Leslie
Hairston's (5th) $1.3 million in “menu money” at the ward's final participatory budgeting expo. 
Residents of the 45th ward are able to contribute to the
decision-making process for discretionary capital funding for the first
time this year, as 
Uptown residents laid out their plans last night on how they’d like
to divvy up the 46th Ward’s $1.3 million “menu money” budget as part of a
new participatory budgeting process some Chicago aldermen are adopting.
Dozens of community activists and angry CTA riders protested bank
deals which they claim take money from transit agencies in the lobby of a
Chase Bank at 10 S. Dearborn St. Thursday morning.