Progress Illinois

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 »

Rogers Park residents gathered for the final installation of the 49th ward Participatory Budgeting Project Expo last night and listened to proposed infrastructure projects for their community.

The meeting, which was entirely in Spanish, was geared specifically for Rogers Park’s Hispanic residents.

Project organizers said they hoped the Spanish-language meeting would boost civic engagement from the community’s Hispanic population.

“It’s been a challenge to get the Latino community to participate, and the idea was that if we provided them with a space where they could dialogue about the projects it would be easier for Spanish-speakers to participate,” said Jose Melendez, a volunteer mentor to the Participatory Budgeting Spanish Language Committee and member of the Participatory Budgeting Leadership Committee.

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