The City of Boston has had a participatory budgeting (PB) process since 2014. In contrast to many cities, it is currently a youth-only process led by Youth Lead the Change (YLC), an initiative started by the Mayor’s office. YLC has engaged young people between the ages of 12 and 25 to propose projects, develop proposals with the support of city staff, and ultimately vote on the projects that will receive $1 million in city funding each year.

In the past, Boston’s youth have allocated PB funds for improving a homeless shelter, planting trees, creating more urban farms in food deserts, adding trash and recycling bins to streets that don’t have them, adding solar panels to city-owned buildings, making parks more accessible to people with disabilities, buying laptops for public school students, public art installations, and so much more! A full list of their projects, including which ones have been implemented and which ones are still in progress, can be found on the YLC website: https://www.boston.gov/departments/youth-engagement-and-advancement/youth-lead-change#the-process.

In 2021, City Council member Lydia Edwards proposed an amendment to the City Charter to create a city wide PB process. This change was approved by a majority of voters on a ballot initiative in 2021. At the end of 2022, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu filed an ordinance to create the office of Participatory Budgeting, an initiative that will now move onto a City Council vote in the next few weeks!
Grassroots groups are heavily involved in pushing to expand PB to be a city-wide process. Under the umbrella of the Better Budget Alliance, many groups have come together to demand the following from Boston City Council:

1. Dedicate at least 1% of the operating budget to participatory budgeting
2. At least 18 stipended community board members
3. Fund grassroots orgs to bring residents into PB
4. Make sure PB votes are binding
5. Have a rule book that defines how PB promotes racial justice
6. Have a regular evaluation process to ensure that equity goals are reached

Many community leaders spoke at a city council meeting last week, including Karen Chen of the Chinese Progressive Association (a member of the BBA), pictured above. Alliance members lifted up these shared demands and called on the City Council to support an equitable, community-led, and racially just Participatory Budgeting process. Stay tuned for the results of the vote!

As Richmond works to set up our Participatory Budgeting process, the RVAPB commission is lifting up many of the same principles being put forth by groups in Boston, like a commitment to paying community members to participate in outreach work, and setting up the process in a way that centers racial justice and equity. Have ideas for how to ensure the process aligns with these values? Come out to the next commission meeting to share your thoughts! https://rvapb.org/category/pb-steering-commission/.

‍

‍