People's Budget Chicago: Austin [in-person]

The People’s Budget Chicago is a project of Chicago United for Equity (@cueChicago). It asks:
- What do our communities need to be safe and thriving?
- How do we build a city budget that works for all of us?

The city’s budget determines what programs and services are funded and has a huge impact on your daily life. But the budget-setting process is not very accessible to people outside of government. CUE is trying to change that.

Typically, Chicago’s mayor publishes budget recommendations for the following year in October. City Council holds hearings with each city department over the course of a couple weeks and the budget is usually approved before Thanksgiving.

In 2020, City Council approved Mayor Lightfoot’s $12.8 billion budget for 2021—but it was far from a rubber stamp. The vote was 29-21, the most opposition a budget has received in decades https://www.citybureau.org/newswire/2020/11/25/lightfoots-pandemic-budget-passes-but-with-the-most-opposition-in-30-years

But, plot twist, this year Lightfoot plans to release her budget a month earlier! https://news.wttw.com/2021/06/22/lightfoot-speeds-2022-budget-deliberations-delays-decision-how-spend-federal-relief-funds

There’s grilling and three art activities: a wheat pasting tutorial, button making and painting https://t.co/NyyckDdmGe

Wheat pasting https://t.co/jDX5jvtkL5

One participant selected a poster that says “Restorative not punitive: community resources.” Facilitator Sarah explains the connection between the word punitive and punishment.

Another, who works as a remodeler, selected a poster that says “Homes are human rights” because a lot of the homes in the neighborhood are not in good condition. Another woman agrees and shared that she became homeless when her mother had a stroke.

“If people heard my story they’d look at me like ‘how you’re you still alive.’”

The budget activity has started. Participants are sharing their names, pronouns, and what brought them here today.

Facilitator Sarah explains the value of group agreements: listen from the inside out, make space take space, be open to learning and resonating with what others say, etc.

Facilitator Avery leads the group through an activity. They are writing down what their community needs to be safe and thriving. https://t.co/2CG7tVJWpR

Responses include free therapy, housing, more public low cost clinics, parks. https://t.co/bbDlKNkyt8

What do our communities need to be safe and thriving? More responses include trade classes, free housing, a non-cop mental health response, safe places, funding, help finding jobs post-incarceration, good mentors.

Participants want to make sure facilitator Avery shares; he says drug rehabilitation centers and job training.

Participants are going to decide how they would allocate $100 of the city budget. The categories were focusing on are health, early childhood education, housing, community resources, infrastructure and the carceral system (police and police accountability). https://t.co/JIaZn7GjSH

Participants decide where they would put their first dollar: 6 on housing, 2 on infrastructure, 1 on community resources, 1 on health, none on education or the carceral system. https://t.co/MCQG9k7Nsn

Participants share why they put their first dollar where they did. One participant says other categories are important but they chose housing because “how are you going to get involved in the community if you don’t have a place to rest your head?”

Another participant chose infrastructure because he believes we shouldn’t have to pay for water. Water quality and roads should also be improved.

“You can just tell that a lot of money goes into the neighborhood that I stay in,” a college-aged participant says, comparing it to the vacant buildings she sees on the South and West Sides.

Initial budget allocation:
Carceral 1
Community 17
Infrastructure 10
Housing 26
Education 16
Health 29
(I know this adds up to 99 but idk where the last $1 is!) https://t.co/MyVuwXvjEL

A participant asks if People’s Budget Chicago has a say in how the budget gets set. Facilitator Sarah explains that it gets set by the mayor but everyday people have the power to put pressure on their alderperson

“Everybody find out who the hell your alderman is!” Go to their office, participants suggest

Several participants had negative educational experiences, so they would invest more in community resources.

Participants now have the option to propose moving dollars. One participant proposes moving the $1 from carceral system to infrastructure. This passes by a majority vote.

A participant proposes moving $5 from infrastructure to housing, but other participants speak to the importance of water access, street repairs, heat. They decide not to move.

Correction: apparently there was another chip hiding on the health section, so the initial total was 30.

Final totals:
Health: 30
Education: 16
Housing: 26
Infrastructure: 11
Community resources: 17
Carceral system: 0 https://t.co/8B0SF9m6Eq

Here’s how their budget compares to the actual city budget https://t.co/Upm67l6Ylg

Participants suggest putting these flyers in people’s mailboxes, or posting them in a public space.

We’re wrapping up! Participants volunteer to contact their alder or record their thoughts on video. https://t.co/mMh9VvkA3u

This concludes my coverage of this People’s Budget Chicago event. For more information, visit http://documenters.org #CHIdocumenters @CHIdocumenters