Who hasn’t watched, with great exasperation, politicians fuss and feud over the latest budget, thinking to him- or herself: “Just let me at the damn thing; I could sort it out without all this bickering and drama.”
Well, here’s your chance: next Monday, Springfield Technical Community College will host a forum on “participatory budgeting,” a concept that means pretty much what it sounds like it means: constituents taking part in decisions about how to spend their tax dollars.
The concept, which began in Brazil about 20 years ago, had its first U.S. trial in 2009, when a Chicago alderman named Joe Moore turned a $1.3 million discretionary budget over to his constituents. In the end, 1,600 people voted on the spending plan, which included funds for street repaving, community gardens, bike lanes and new traffic lights. And Moore, not incidentally, handily won re-election.
Could such a strategy work in Springfield? That’s the question on the table at next week’s event, which is sponsored by STCC, the Springfield Institute and several Amherst College groups. After a presentation by Gianpaolo Baiocchi, a Brown University professor of political sociology, “a dynamic group of officials and community leaders will consider the value of such a model for their own constituents, and audience interaction will follow,” according to an announcement from organizers. That dynamic panel will include Moore, Springfield City Council President Jose Tosado; David Panagore, former development chief for the city of Springfield, who now works as chief operating officer for the city of Hartford; and Michaelann Bewsee of Arise for Social Justice.
The event is Monday, April 11, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at STCC’s Scibelli Hall, 7th floor. RSVP to the Springfield Institute.
For more information on PB, check out the Participatory Budgeting Project.
