Poll: Do you support the idea of “Participatory Budgeting” in St. Louis?

The idea of participatory budgeting has entered the local conversation. What is it? Glad you asked:

The process was first developed in Brazil in 1989, and there are now over 1,500 participatory budgets around the world. Most of these are at the city level, for the municipal budget. PB has also been used, however, for counties, states, housing authorities, schools and school systems, universities, coalitions, and other public agencies.

Though each experience is different, most follow a similar basic process: residents brainstorm spending ideas, volunteer budget delegates develop proposals based on these ideas, residents vote on proposals, and the government implements the top projects. For example, if community members identify recreation spaces as a priority, their delegates might develop a proposal for basketball court renovations. The residents would then vote on this and other proposals, and if they approve the basketball court, the city pays to renovate it. (The Participatory Budgeting Project)

Sounds like a way to get more people to participate in decisions rather than just complain after the fact. But how would this work on a local aldermanic level? We just need to look to Chicago’s 49th ward and Ald Joe Moore:

Over the past three years, I’ve asked my constituents–the residents of the 49th Ward–to decide how to spend $1 million in tax dollars.

Each alderman in Chicago gets over $1 million a year to allocate for various infrastructure improvements in his or her ward. This so-called “menu money” goes to resurface streets and alleys, repair sidewalks and curbs and gutters, put in new streetlights, and the like. I’ve also used the money to subsidize special infrastructure projects, such as the Harold Washington Playlot and the Willye White Community Center. This menu money is spent at the total discretion of each alderman.

Beginning with the 2009-10 budget cycle, I have ceded my decision-making authority to the residents of my ward through a process known as Participatory Budgeting, or “PB49,” in which all 49th Ward residents are eligible to vote directly on the infrastructure projects that are funded in our community.

The 49th Ward is the first political jurisdiction in the nation to adopt such an approach to public spending, and it’s been so well-received that I have pledged to make it a permanent fixture in the ward. Word of our success has spread. This year, three other Chicago aldermen have pledged to use participatory budgeting to decide how to spend their aldermanic menu money and other cities in the U.S., including New York City and Vallejo, California, are emulating our model. (source)

St. Louis, like Chicago, has funds available for each ward. These funds get allocated and spent each year with little to no input from the public. In some cases the money isn’t spent, the alderman decides to hoard the funds instead.

So what do you think, do you support this idea in St. Louis? The poll is in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson

Board of Elections Open Saturday March 2nd 9am-1pm

Are you one of those unable to get to your polling place on Tuesday? The St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners will be open Saturday March 2nd from 9am-1pm.

Presumably absentee voting rules apply:

1. Who is Eligible to Vote Absentee?

Any voter may vote an absentee ballot if he/she expects to be unable to go to his/her regular polling place on election day for any of the following reasons:

• Absence on Election Day
• Incapacity or confinement due to illness or disablity (sic)
• Religious Belief
• Employment as an election authority
• Incarceration provided all qualifications for voting are retained.

If voting on Tuesday will be a challenge I encourage you to vote Saturday.

— Steve Patterson

Where’s Tammika?

Last Wednesday evening ten candidates took time from their busy campaign schedules to appear at Trailnet’s Amazing Candidate Race:

Trailnet and the Livable St. Louis Network are proud to present the first St. Louis candidate forum focused on livability issues of land use and transportation. Come join candidates from the 5th, 6th, and 15th wards and the mayoral candidates for a lively discussion on the future of St. Louis.

How much do the candidates really know about multimodal transportation and sustainable development? Do they have special skills that distinguish them from other candidates? You’ll find out these answers and more at The Amazing Candidate Race! Civic participation has never been so fun.

When: Wednesday, February 20, 7:00-8:30pm

Where: Contemporary Art Museum

Invited Candidates in ballot order: Francis Slay, Jimmie Matthews, Lewis Reed (Mayoral); Michelle Hutchings-Medina, Tammika Hubbard (5th Ward); Christine Ingrassia, Damon Jones, Michelle Witthaus (6th Ward); Jennifer Florida, Lisa Miller (15th Ward)

So all candidates from most contested primary races were invited to attend. That’s great, a chance for voters to hear from the candidates so we can make an informed decision a week from today. Except those of us in the 5th ward haven’t had a chance to hear from both of the candidates seeking to represent us for the next four years.

Perhaps Ald Hubbard is confused, thinking she’s a ghost employee. Hubbard was a no-show for the 3-way candidate forum in December 2011 when we had to select someone to finish the term of April Ford-Griffin. The Board of Aldermen is no place for someone unwilling to face her challenger(s) in public and respond to questions from voters.  If you live in the 5th ward please vote for Michelle Hutchings-Medina March 5th.  If you have friends in the 5th ward please encourage them to vote for Hutchings-Medina.

I detailed Hubbard’s fictional accomplishments here but this race is too important to the entire city to ignore.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Thoughts On Drone Use in Missouri?

You thought drones were just for warfare in far away lands? Thank again. As I watched the CBS Sunday Morning report Drones: Eyes in the sky (w/video) I liked the idea of using a personal drone to get good aerial photos to use here.

Suppose you’ve got a dangerous hostage situation; an unmanned aircraft can track the gunman. It can evaluate flooding, or help firefighters cheaply and safely without endangering lives, the argument goes.

(snip)

But today, you or I could go online, order a drone kit for a few hundred dollars, and fly the thing anywhere, legally.

Terry Kilby, a smartphone app designer, and his wife, Belinda, an art teacher, use theirs to take bird’s-eye view photographs of Baltimore.

“We can get something that is a totally unique and fresh perspective on images that you would ordinarily think that you’ve already seen before, but now it’s a completely new take on it,” said Belinda. (CBS Sunday Morning)

Their photos shown in the CBS report forced me to imagine the possibilities, although the cost is too steep for my purposes:

Now they shoot with a custom hexicopter, an approximately $3,000 flying photography studio that can climb as high as 400 feet. It’s outfitted with two cameras, GPS to lock and hold an altitude, and a gyroscope to keep it level. There are goggles Kilby can strap on to see exactly what the drone is seeing. (Baltimore Sun)

But Amazon has one for $299 that I could control from my iPhone (pictured). But I also thought I’d be concerned about someone controlling a drone outside my 4th floor windows.  In December a bill was introduced in the Missouri House regarding drone use:

The bill proposed by State Rep. Casey Guernsey, R-Bethany, would require law enforcement officers to get a warrant before using drones to gather evidence or other information about criminal activities. It also would ban people, organizations and state agencies from using unmanned aircraft to conduct surveillance of people, farms or agricultural operations without the owner’s permission. (KMOX)

The bill is HB46.

The poll this week seeks your thoughts on drones. Would this bill protect your privacy or infringe your rights to use a drone? The poll is in the right sidebar, mobile users need to switch to the full layout.

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis Municipal Primary Just Two Weeks Away

In two weeks voters will decide the winner in some hotly contested primary races, including mayoral. Haven’t seen any independent candidates or competitive third-party candidates so the Democratic primary will likely decide these races. Remember independent Scott Ogilvie won a seat on the Board of Aldermen in the April general election, defeating the winner of the Democratic primary.

Four years ago seven candidates ran in the 23rd Ward Democratic primary, it was an open seat then. Now with an incumbent running for reelection nobody is interested. This is how incumbents become entrenched, nobody challenges them.

At least the local Green Party has a number of candidates on the ballet but here the primary is costly. Since there are candidates for two citywide seats (mayor & comptroller) ballots must be printed for availability at all precincts.

Of the 17 races in the Democratic primary only 8 have a challenger. As I’ve said before, St. Louis should consider dropping partisan primary elections. Put all the candidates in one election with instant-runoff voting when you have more than two candidates seeking the seat.  Hopefully we can get this change passed in the next decade so it can become active at the time the reduction of the Board of Aldermen happens.

Tomorrow night is a chance to hear from some of these candidates.

The Amazing Candidate Race, Wed, February 20, 7:00pm – 8:30pm

How much do the candidates really know about multimodal transportation and sustainable development? Do they have special skills that distinguish them from other candidates? You’ll find these answers and more at The Amazing Candidate Race. Civic participation has never been so fun!

Trailnet and the Livable St. Louis Network are proud to present the first St. Louis candidate forum focused on livability issues of land use and transportation.

Contemporary Art Museum 3750 Washington Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63108

Who: Mayoral candidates (in ballot order) Francis Slay, Jimmie Matthews, Lewis Reed and Aldermanic candidates Michelle Hutchings-Medina (5th Ward), Damon Jones, Christine Ingrassia, Michelle Witthaus (6th Ward), Jennifer Florida and Lisa Miller (15th Ward) (see flyer)

Glad to see Trailnet hosting such an event.

— Steve Patterson