Participatory Budgeting Arrives in San Francisco

PB Arrives in San Francisco PBP is excited to serve as technical assistance partner for a new participatory budgeting process in San Francisco! David Chiu, President of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors (the equivalent of City Council) announced the launch of a PB process in District 3 last week, with support from the Office of the Controller, PBP, and our friends at the Right to the City Alliance. During this abbreviated pilot program, residents will directly decide how to spend $100,000 of discretionary funding. Programs and activities will be eligible, along with capital projects. The initiative will serve as a model for potential broader application, including for the tens of millions of dollars allocated through the city’s controversial “add-back” process. While this initial program is small, the potential is big. See the press release for more info, and read more about the spread of PB in the Bay Area here and here. $11,760, 6 Projects, 34 Votes Less than a month ago we launched our very own PB process - aka our first fundraising drive. Through PB2, we're inviting you to decide how to spend half of the money we raise in donations in the rest of 2012. If you donate, you get to vote for how the donations are spent, and help chart the future for PB. So far, we've raised $11,760! We are especially humbled by the 60  supporters who gave $6,756 on GivingTuesday, in our first real fundraising day! We thank everyone who gave, tweeted, posted, emailed, and reached out to friends and family - and especially our two donors who contributed matching funds! It goes to show that once people learn about PB, they want to spread the idea! With the money raised so far we can fund at least one of the six critical projects on the PB2 ballot. Check out the first three project pitches written by PBP staff - for a New PB Video, a Youth PB Campaign and Office Furniture & Equipment! Will you help make two (or more) projects a reality? Read more here, and please vote! So far, 34 votes have been cast, so you can make a real difference! US Election Results for PB Several PB supporters ran in the recent US election. Below are some highlights, and you can see a full list of results here. If you know of more that should be added to the list, let us know. San Juan, Puerto Rico Carmin Yulín Cruz won a tight race to become the next mayor of San Juan. She has promised to launch participatory budgeting in her first 100 hours in office! New York City Council Members Eric Ulrich and Dan Halloran, who are implementing PB with their Council Member funds this year, both lost their bids for higher office, but they will remain in their City Council seats. San Francisco San Francisco Supervisors (the equivalent of City Council Members) David Chiu and John Avalos won easy re-election. Fayetteville, Arkansas Matthew Petty won re-election to the Fayetteville City Council. Speaking Tour We're on the road a lot this fall, raising awareness about PB and supporting local organizers. Some highlights so far: Executive Director Josh Lerner spoke in Buffalo and Toronto, meeting with elected officials, community groups, and funders to plant the seeds for PB in both cities. Project Coordinator Maria Hadden spoke at the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation conference in Seattle. Project Coordinator Donata Secondo traveled to Iceland, to speak at a conference for local officials and meet with the Icelandic Minister of the Interior and the Mayor of Reykjavik. Check out her appearance on Icelandic national television (don't worry, it's mostly in English). Big thanks to our hosts and allies in these cities - we look forward to working with you more in the future! And thanks to NYC Council Member and PBP Advisory Board member Melissa Mark-Viverito, for accompanying us on several of these talks! Packed house for a community organization briefing in Buffalo. Next Up: December 5th: Josh speaks in Sacramento at the forum What's Possible: New Ideas for Our Fiscal Path Forward. December 10th: Josh speaks at the Redesigning Democracy Summit hosted by North Carolina's Institute for Emerging Issues Stay tuned for more talks, and let us know if you want to join forces at the Allied Media Conference. PB Internship Opportunities We're seeking several interns for Winter/Spring 2013: New York City Council Member Interns, to work on PB for individual Council Members (Deadline December 10th) Policy, Design and Operations Interns, for PBP's New York office (Deadline December 14th) PB Vallejo Intern, to work with PBP staff at City Hall in Vallejo, CA to implement PB (Deadline December 28th) Please share with anyone who might be interested!