PB Cle Delivers 10,500 Signatures for Participatory Budgeting Ballot Initiative

PB CLE coalition organizers and members gathered at City Hall to submit the signatures. Credit: Maria Elena Scott

People’s Budget Cleveland (PB CLE) submitted more than 10,500 signatures to the Cleveland Clerk of Council in an effort to get the issue of participatory budgeting on November’s Ballot. The charter amendment would give Clevelanders a say in how two percent of the city’s budget — about $14 million — would be spent.

“We are here today not only to officially file these petitions, we are here to celebrate and acknowledge what it looks like for people to come together collectively to participate and the democratic experiment of keeping power with the people,” said PB CLE campaign manager Molly Martin.

If passed, the charter amendment would create an 11-member committee — five selected by city council, five by the mayor, and one hired as a city employee — who would gather ideas and organize voting, open to all residents older than 13, on what to use the funds for. The group says there’s no reason why the general fund would be greatly affected.

In order for the amendment to reach voters in November’s election, PB CLE needed about valid 6,000 signatures from residents registered to vote–roughly 10 percent of the number of voters from the last municipal election.

Since kicking off signature collections at the end of May, the group has been internally validating signatures and registering voters, as signatures are only eligible from city residents who are registered to vote. PB CLE registered nearly 900 voters in their collection drive, according to Martin.

“Now is a really important moment for people to come together,” Martin said. “Two of three Cleveland residents don’t vote. Ballot initiatives matter and it’s the route we’ll need to take to preserve majority rule in one person, one vote in Ohio.”

The signatures will now be sent to the Board of Elections which will have 10 business days to validate the signatures. If the number of valid signatures is insufficient, PB CLE will have a 15-day cure period to collect more.

“The $14 million that PB is asking for is half of the $30 million that the Cavs are asking for for an escalator improvement despite having a recently renovated stadium,” said community organizer Moses Ngong. “It’s a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars that we’ve invested in sports stadiums in the last few decades and so, if the public can make an investment on an asset that no one will ever see a return on, they can certainly make an investment on democracy and the neighborhoods that make Cleveland such a special place to live.”

Most of city council is opposed to the effort and previously shot down efforts from Mayor Justin Bibb to create a pilot program using ARPA dollars. Council president Blaine Griffin has been on the record before but added this weekend in a tweet: “Adversity is Nothing More than an Opportunity to Organize and make you stronger. There continues to be citizen led initiatives to change are City Charter and can be harmful to City Services. Please learn about the issues this upcoming election. There are consequences.”

Organizers also spoke against Issue 1, which will be on the ballot in the August special election. PB CLE members encouraged voters to vote against the proposed constitutional amendment, which would make it harder to pass future constitutional amendments.

“We understand that it is common sense legislation to say ‘no’ to Issue 1 August 8, and to say ‘yes’ to PB CLE in November,” said Erika Anthony, executive director of Cleveland VOTES. “Understanding this connection is critically important because at the end of the day it is about taking power away from people.”

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