Ward 49 Holds First Fall 2010 Participatory Budgeting Assembly to Discuss $1.3 Million

After glancing at the blank look on my mother's face while discussing the upcoming participatory budgeting neighborhood assembly for Ward 49's 2011 ballot, she said she'd never heard of anything like that. My father agreed. If no other alderman in the nation really gives his ward the opportunity to share their thoughts on what to do with the $1.3 million given to each ward by the City of Chicago, then apparently Ward 49 citizens lucked out. So off I went to the Loyola Park Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. on Mon., Sept. 27.

Twenty-seven people, excluding myself, were there. Alderman Joe Moore from Ward 49; Elizabeth Vitell, the Executive Director from Rogers Park Community Council; and Luis Klein, the staff assistant for participatory budgeting, introduced themselves around 7:15 p.m. and the meeting started.

Alderman Moore explained how the process worked last year and what would be different in 2011. Before 2010, Alderman Moore would use his own judgment and observation about what he felt was best suited for the neighborhood and what the $1.3 million should be spent on. Major spending was done on street resurfacing, alley resurfacing, sidewalks and street lighting. In the pie chart he showed us, it was obvious that other residents had different ideas last year.

But before the group shared more ideas, they had questions for Alderman Moore to answer:
"Why don't other aldermen do democratic voting on the budget?" The answer was, "Most politicians don't want to surrender power easily. This has never been done in the United States until this past year. This is a resident-driven process. I'm taking a backseat."

"Wouldn't your office know better which streets to resurface?" The answer was that although the leadership committees from 2010 had walked or drove around the neighborhood finding potholes and uneven pavement, the community still wanted to give their opinion on which streets should be fixed in case they disagreed.

"What happens if there's money left over from the percentage being used on street resurfacing?" The answer was that in previous years, "There were enough streets to spend the entire budget on. Voters (also) don't have to vote on resurfacing." The idea of too much money left over from repairing streets would be unlikely even if voters chose to use 100 percent of funds on street resurfacing. Voters also have the option to choose zero percent for the amount on resurfacing.

"What will happen with the cobblestone streets?" The answer was that cobblestone on streets like Glenwood would be preserved.

In 2007, the three biggest expenses were street lighting for $705,000 (51 percent), alley resurfacing for $199,614 (14 percent) and street resurfacing for $195,877 (14 percent).

In 2008, the three biggest expenses were street lighting for $1,001,300 (73 percent), street resurfacing for $181,219 (13 percent) and sidewalks for $88,744 (6 percent).

In 2009, the three biggest expenses were street resurfacing for $937,278 (61 percent), street lighting for $325,000 (21 percent) and sidewalk repairs for $92,889 (6 percent).

Then Alderman Moore got the community involved in 2010, and less traditional suggestions came about. Some of the new expenses were things like a community garden, convenience showers to wash feet after being at the beach, dog-friendly parks, solar-powered garbage containers, benches and shelters at el platforms, artistic bike repairs, historical markers and public murals. This was in addition to street resurfacing, traffic and pedestrian lighting, sidewalk repair and residential street lighting. The $1.3 million was split from 2 percent to 19 percent (the highest being $290,000 for traffic and pedestrian lighting).

After the Q&A with Alderman Moore, Klein gave a status rundown from the 2010 projects. He emphasized that voting results may not be finished by December of the same year. Examples include the mural that is currently being painted on Farwell and Rosenwood after 600 more residents voted on 12 finalists. That project is now three days in the works after a painter was chosen.

Then the room was split into three groups. Everybody gave their feedback, some volunteered to be community representatives and the meeting adjourned by 8:45 p.m. There will be eight more meetings until Tues., Oct. 19, for others to attend before the second phase, the representative meetings.