Dear John

Watching the news these days, it’s hard not to be reminded that our democracy is only as strong as we make it. Participatory Budgeting is one of the things that gives me hope about the possibility of bringing grassroots democracy, real participation and accountability in our governing process, to scale.

There is one week left to submit an idea online for Participatory Budgeting consideration this year. Check out ideas submitted by your neighbors here [[link removed]] , and add yours to the website here [[link removed]] .

Through Participatory Budgeting, we collectively discuss what matters to our community and make investments in infrastructure and programming to make our neighborhood better. Every year, my office allocates $1.5 million dollars for the community to spend on improvements to our neighborhoods.

In the last few weeks, we’ve been collecting ideas across the district, at neighborhood assemblies at the Park Slope Library and P.S. 230, at the subway station in Carroll Gardens, at school dismissal, at libraries, and at public plazas while also registering people to vote! We talked to 5th graders getting out of school, and to congregants leaving Friday prayers at Kensington’s Bangladesh Muslim Center. Some themes are starting to emerge: community members want more public art and community murals, more programming for immigrants, more accessibility upgrades at parks, more green infrastructure.

Please send in your ideas here [[link removed]] and stay tuned for next steps as we moved towards developing these great ideas into concrete project proposals.

In past years, we have funded sewing classes for survivors of domestic violence in Kensington, freeze-resistant water fountains in Prospect Park, workshops for talking about race and ethnicity in schools, a new machine to clean scum out of Prospect Park lake, and much, much more. Check out previously funded projects here [[link removed]] .

Excited about a specific idea and want to help develop the project? Love meeting your neighbors through collective planning for our neighborhood’s future? You can get more involved by volunteering to be a Budget Delegate for this cycle. Come out to the park Slope Library on Thursday October 10 from 6 to 8 pm , to learn more about the role, or contact Shahana Hanif, [email protected] [[email protected]] .

Brad

P.S. If you don't live in District 39, visit the City Council's Participatory Budgeting portal to submit ideas for other districts here [[link removed]] .

[[link removed]]



Council Member Brad Lander
456 5th Avenue
Third Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11215
United States

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