At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Madeline, Maya spoke with Drashti Brahmbhatt, Participatory Budgeting Project Management Director at the NYC Civic Engagement Commission. We were fortunate to have Drashti discuss The People's Money and its goals for bringing New York City one step closer in having everyone’s voices heard in government on the very day the campaign launched! The People's Money is NYC's FIRST citywide Participatory Budgeting process through which New Yorkers across the five boroughs have an opportunity to vote on how $5 million of the city’s budget should be spent on ideas in their communities.
Drashti recognizes that people’s experiences with government in the countries they’ve immigrated from colors the ways in which they look at government. As a city of immigrants, she believes The People’s Money has the potential to influence their initial outlook on New York City’s government for the good. The power that comes with having a database of ideas created by, and funded by, New Yorkers is truly inspirational and can be what is needed to instill long lasting change to our city. The People’s Money campaign launched on May 10 and so far, people are really enjoying the concept of having the economic power to bring about growth and change in their communities.
Looking ahead into the future, we would love to see far more funding devoted to The People’s Money in order to ensure that all the prevalent issues in our city don’t go unnoticed and get addressed. One of the best things about The People’s Money is that anyone age 11 or older of any immigration status can participate and get involved in democracy in New York City. As such, there’s a path for the engagement of people who aren’t traditionally seen or heard when it comes to voting and civic participation, which is really exciting. Needless to say, young people are a vital target in this campaign and we are excited to engage as many young people as we can between now and when the campaign closes on June 25. Please be sure to vote and encourage everyone you know to vote at on.nyc.gov/pb Thank you for listening!
