A new proposal that would allow Cleveland鈥檚 residents to propose and vote on how to spend a portion of the city鈥檚 budget is headed to the ballot this November, but the city's elected officials aren't happy with it.
, a grassroots organization advocating for participatory budgeting, celebrated Wednesday after receiving news the city's clerk of council had determined the group submitted a sufficient number of valid signatures to qualify their proposal for a charter amendment vote in November. They鈥檙e calling it the 鈥淧eople鈥檚 Budget.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled,鈥� said PB CLE鈥檚 campaign organizer Molly Martin, citing more than 6,400 valid signatures of the submitted 10,582 collected over a six-week period; 5,906 are needed for a ballot initiative.
鈥淲e see this as a sign that the people鈥檚 budget resonates with people across the city,鈥� Martin said.
If approved, the proposal would allocate money to projects voted on by Cleveland residents. The amount would be equivalent to 1% 鈥� and eventually 2% 鈥� of the city鈥檚 general fund, or the city鈥檚 primary operating fund. PB CLE said at least some of that money could come from the city's capital budget, which finances capital construction.
City Council warns of layoffs, 鈥榙evastating impact鈥� on city
The group is going up against city leadership. Cleveland City Council doubled down on messaging against participatory budgeting. In a written release, a City Council spokesperson said if $14 million (2% of the city鈥檚 most recent general fund) was diverted to participatory budgeting, it could lead to 鈥渕assive layoffs鈥� and have a 鈥渄evastating impact on the city.鈥�
That $14 million could prevent the hire of 140 police officers, eliminate the entire Department of Public Health, eliminate all staff from the Division of Recreation, the entire departments of Aging and Building and Housing and half of EMS staff, according to the release.
鈥淚 believe the proposal presented will have devastating impacts on public safety and services in our city,鈥� City Council President Blaine Griffin said in a written statement.
But Martin calls their comments incorrect and misleading.
鈥淧B CLE thinks Council is using scare tactics to dissuade residents from having real power to make real decisions about how public money gets spent,鈥� she said.
She said the group is not asking for sweeping city staff cuts, but rather, to prioritize funding citizen-supported initiatives instead of putting tens of millions of dollars toward things like renovating sports stadiums.
PB CLE has been at odds with council for months over the idea, initially pitched as a pilot program alongside Mayor Justin Bibb. The group said they modeled their proposal off other initiatives in other cities like New York, which have allocated a portion of their budgets for citizen input and approval.
City Council shot down the proposal. Many members argued it went against the idea of a representative democracy in which citizens elect officials to represent their best interests, though four members, Stephanie Howse, Rebecca Maurer, Jenny Spencer and Deborah Gray, voiced their support.
PB CLE hopes the proposal will engage more people to participate in democracy in a city that suffers from low voter turnout, said Martin. Even non-registered voters will be able to make their voices heard in the participatory budget process.
鈥淲e see something like PB CLE as a great on-ramp to democracy and on-ramp to public service and civic education to residents of this city,鈥� Martin said in response to the council鈥檚 arguments about elected representation.
PB CLE loses mayoral support
Despite his initial proposal in support of participatory budgeting to council earlier this year, Bibb told 精东影业 he can鈥檛 get behind the proposed charter amendment.
Originally the group asked to set up a pilot program backed by the city鈥檚 one-time, half-billion dollar pot of stimulus dollars allocated by the American Rescue Plan Act. He said he no longer supports the initiative, as it is no longer a pilot program but a permanent change to the city鈥檚 charter, and it uses the city鈥檚 budget instead of stimulus dollars.
鈥淭his is very different from the initiative I proposed,鈥� he said in a written statement. 鈥淚 do not support this initiative because I truly do not believe it is in the best financial interest of Clevelanders, but it鈥檚 ultimately up to the residents of the City of Cleveland to decide.鈥�
Even still, PB CLE is determined to see their proposal codified by the November election.
鈥淭he most democratic way to decide whether or not to have a people鈥檚 budget is taking it directly to residents,鈥� Martin said.
Read the full charter amendment proposal here:
