People’s Budget Cleveland (PB Cle) last Friday officially began collecting signatures to get a ballot initiative before voters in November that would install a charter amendment to give residents a say in how up to $14 million of the city’s annual budget would be spent.
“Giving residents direct power over a small sliver of the city’s budget is not to disregard the nuanced compromises that public officials have to make, the charter amendment for 2% is much, much larger than that,” said PB Cle campaign manager Molly Martin. “It’s about breaking the grip that corporations have on our democracy, especially in states like Ohio whose political leadership is overwhelmingly hostile to communities of color.”
PB Cle will need about 6,000 valid signatures from registered Cleveland voters for the ballot initiative to appear in November’s election, and its goal is to collect 15,000 signatures by July 4. To accomplish this, volunteers and paid workers will collect signatures in different neighborhoods around Cleveland and at events like Pride.
If passed, the charter amendment would create an 11-member committee — five selected by city council, five by the mayor, and one city employee — who would gather ideas and organize voting, open to all residents older than 13, on what to use the funds for.
“I think that it would create a better community, people will be able to work together and also will help city council as well because you just can’t have the same people working in the same arenas, you need to have a lot more people with other ideas,” said community organizer Delores Gray. “Everybody should have a chance to make a difference in their neighborhood.”
People’s Budget Cleveland, originally called Participatory Budgeting Cleveland, was formed by activists in 2021 to give residents a say in how city dollars are used. With the support of Mayor Justin Bibb and several council members, the group brought plans for a $5 million pilot program before City Council, but the legislation was ultimately tabled as some in council balked at letting residents participate in the process.
At the time, Council President Blaine Griffin expressed concern over how the proposed $5 million would be spread equitably across the city, resulting in “more affluent, more populated, more middle-class neighborhoods” receiving more of the funding. Council member Kris Harsh also raised concerns about the pilot program in City Council in January.
“I’m actually very, very concerned that this is going to have an anti-democratic effect on our city,” Harsh said at the time. “We cannot send a message that the government doesn’t work and try to get more people in government. Those two messages are not going to work.”
Unlike the proposed pilot program, which would have been funded by ARPA dollars, the charter amendment would designate 2% of the city budget — $14 million, currently — to the People’s Budget.
Council president Blaine Griffin is still staunchly against the idea.
“We, City Council, are the representatives of the People,” he told Signal Cleveland in a statement. “It’s kind of disingenuous, dangerous, and misleading for a group of people to promote themselves as the only group of people that has a relationship and intimate and unique understanding of the needs of our community.”
Organizers say that misrepresents their efforts.
“They need to have transparency. What are you hiding? We’re not trying to take power, we’re trying to assist,” said Gray. “We’re trying to get help for our neighborhoods. I think a lot of it is about them trying to control and being fearful, as well. And it shouldn’t be that way, people should be involved in every aspect of what’s going on.”
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This article appears in May 17-30, 2023.