When the pandemic hit last year, one of so many things we lost was participatory budgeting. In those grim early days, the projects that had been developed the previous fall just did not make sense. With such urgency to get PPE to our hospitals and food to our neighbors, PB vote week had to be cancelled.  

So it gives me great joy today to announce that participatory budgeting is back this year in District 39 (and a few others). As we begin to recover from the pandemic, PB can help us come together (though in a still socially-distanced way) to build a city where we take better care of our neighbors, where we care more about equity, and that’s more resilient so we can face the future together.  

Today, I’m thrilled to announce the ballot projects for District 39 for this year. 

Our PB volunteers -- your neighbors -- have been working throughout this challenging pandemic year. They collected your ideas for projects, researched and determined their feasibility, engaged City agencies and community organizations that could sponsor projects, and developed a great ballot full of projects.

The citywide PB process was cancelled by the City Council this year. But several City Council districts -- District 5 Manhattan (Ben Kallos), District 33 Brooklyn (Steve Levin), District 38 Brooklyn (Carlos Menchaca), and our District 39 Brooklyn -- believed it was important to offer our communities this chance at participatory democracy at this urgent moment of renewal. 

So our offices banded together to run Cycle 10 on our own. This year is the 10th anniversary of PB in the City Council. I’m proud that our district has participated since the start back in 2011 -- and that we are continuing forward this year, and hopefully long beyond.

Vote Week is coming up April 5-14. Please take some time now to look at the great projects that will be on the ballot. Many of them address issues amplified by Covid -- food and diaper need, tenants rights, creating engaging open spaces where we can safely celebrate the arts, science, sport, (and just good old fashioned fun), and making sure our schools and libraries have updated infrastructure to welcome our kids back next year. 

As in past years, have two sections to the ballot: capital projects ($1.5 million) that represent longer-term construction projects usually completed by City agencies such as DOT or Parks, and expense projects ($50,000) that mostly fund local, non-profit community organizations to offer one year’s worth of programs, classes or a study, or pay for items such as equipment. Voters can vote for up to 3 capital projects and 4 expense projects. 

After looking over the ballot projects, I am sure you will agree that even with the allowance for multiple votes, it will be difficult to pick just a handful of projects -- they all clearly address needs in our district and deserve funding. So please begin thinking about your votes, follow us on social media @pbnycC39 to get updates, and check out the District 39 PB website. 

You’ll be able to vote online April 5 through April 14th on the website. And please save the date: the evening of Wednesday, April 7 we will host our virtual PB Expo where you can learn more about the projects and meet many of our volunteers. More details to follow soon.

Given continued social distancing guidelines, this year voting will be online -- but you can watch out for GOTV pop-ups during vote week in your neighborhood. Volunteers will be out in safe numbers to encourage folks to vote. 

We’ve tried to make the ballot as accessible as possible. In addition to English, there will be Bangla and Spanish versions. And there are only 3 restrictions when it comes to voting: 

• You must live in District 39
• You must be at least 11 years old (or in 6th grade or higher)
• You can vote only once! 

As long as these criteria are met -- the whole family can vote!  

Feel free to reach out to my office if you have any questions about the projects or need more information, or if you are interested in volunteering during vote week. Additionally, if you live in District 33 or 38 and wish to cast a vote during vote week, let us know and we can direct you to the online voting information for those districts (we are all sharing the April 5-14 vote week).

You can email [email protected] or leave a message at 718.499.1090 and someone will call you back.

With gratitude for one more opportunity to shape the budget for our neighborhood, together, 

Brad