How Would You Spend $600,000 to Improve Cambridge?

As part of the city’s second Participatory Budgeting Process, Cambridge residents age 12 and older are invited to vote online or at designated locations from Dec. 5-12, to help decide how to spend $600,000 of the FY17 capital budget.

Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a democratic process through which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget.  In August 2015, community members submitted 540 ideas about how to spend $600,000 of the City’s FY17 Capital Budget.  From September to November, volunteer Budget Delegates worked to research and evaluate those ideas and develop final proposals for the ballot.  There are 23 fantastic projects on the second PB ballot.  Between December 5-12, residents will be able to vote for up to six of those projects on the ballot. 

The PB Vote Kickoff will take place Saturday, December 5 from 12-4 p.m. at CambridgeSide Galleria, 100 Cambridgeside Place, near the Food Court.  Voters will have a chance to view project displays and talk with Budget Delegates.  Other voting locations include Cambridge City Hall, libraries, senior centers, youth centers, the Community Art Center (119 Windsor St.), and many Cambridge Housing Authority residences.  Paper ballots at voting events will be available in English, Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Spanish. 

Residents can also vote online at pb.cambridgema.gov.  Online voting will be text message authenticated: voters will enter their cell phone number online and then will receive a code via text that must be entered online for one-time access to the ballot.  If residents wish to vote online but do not have a cell phone, they will be prompted to email or call the City’s Budget Office to receive a code.  The online ballot will be available in English and Spanish. 

During the City’s first Participatory Budgeting cycle, six projects won $528,000 in funding:

1. 100 new trees and tree wells
2. 20 laptops for the Community Learning Center
3. Bilingual books for children learning English
4. Public toilet in Central Square
5. 8 bike repair stations
6. Free public Wi-Fi in 6 outdoor locations

What projects will win this time is up to participating voters. Visit pb.cambridgema.gov or stop by one of our many voting events from Dec. 5-12, 2015 to cast your ballot. 

For more information, please visit pb.cambridgema.gov or contact the Budget Office at pb@cambridgema.gov or (617) 349-4270.