Put Budgeting in People’s Hands. Our vision for a City where all people can participate actively in democratic governance and community self-determination demands that the City scale up its investment into Black-led and centered participatory budgeting (PB). PB is a democratic process by which community members decide how to spend a portion of a public budget and it has been a practice in Seattle since 2015. Power comes from the people and our budgeting decisions should too. We should develop our budget solutions together, following the lead of those most impacted and those actually doing the work on the ground. Primary recommendation:
The 2022 budget should grow the PB pot by double and invest $60 million additional dollars into the process that is being implemented right now.