Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced Thursday that Boston will be partnering with the Participatory Budgeting Project, a group that helps cities manage public funds, to launch a program in which Boston’s youth will become involved with city funding.
The program will allow young adults to assist in allocating $1 million of the city’s overall budget toward Boston Public Schools, youth programs, supporting neighborhoods and improving the general quality of life in Boston, according to aThursday press release.
“Participatory budgeting has had a big impact on local communities,” said Josh Lerner, executive director of the Participatory Budgeting Project. “It has engaged new people in government, built stronger communities and new grassroots leaders and made spending decisions fairer and more effective.”
The PBP has collaborated with cities such as New York, Chicago and San Francisco on similar programs, but Boston will be the first city in the United States with a Youth Participatory Budgeting process.
“Young people spend more time than anyone in public schools, libraries, parks and streets, so it’s critical that they help decide how the city funds these public spaces,” Lerner said.
Although this specific type of project is new to the PBP, Lerner said in the release he is excited to be involved with Boston’s youth in such a hands-on way.
“Participatory budgeting is a real school of democracy,” he said in the Thursday release. “Young people across Boston will learn democracy by doing and decide how to spend $1 million on concrete improvements to their communities. I’m excited to work with the City and other community partners to build this groundbreaking new model for youth engagement and empowerment.”
Although the process will involve many different groups working together, Menino said young adults will be at the head of the operation by identifying in which projects they want to invest.
“Our most important collection of talent lies in our young people,” he said in the release. “It is so important to have our young people engaged in government, and to make sure their voices are heard when it comes to improving their neighborhoods. This process puts the power in their hands, and will show them what kind of impact they can make on our city.”
Several residents said they are wary of giving Boston’s youth such responsibility.
Clair Beard, 54, of Back Bay, said she did not want to see the money go to waste.
“It definitely sounds nice, but it also sounds like the kind of program which could fail easily,” she said. “It is a good idea for the kids, it will give them a sense of how far or short money goes, and it will get them involved in the government early. I’d like to see a fair selection of students from all across the city and a range of ages involved. They need to be sure to handle such a new program carefully and properly.”
Eliezer Carrasquillo, 30, of Dorchester, said Boston’s youth will know where the money should be allocated because they are the ones affected most.
“Educating our youth is vitally important, and our youth know what areas of their school and neighborhoods need funding,” he said. “There are a lot of people who get financial assistance when they don’t need it. As long as the money is used in the right way, given to the right people and the money gets into the right hands, which I think students will do a good job of deciding, it’ll really benefit the city as a whole.”
Sharay Pringle, 22, of Dorchester, said students are the perfect people to be deciding which parts of their communities get funded.
“They are our future,” she said. “It’s their community. They’re the ones seeing what’s going on around them … they know what programs they need, what programs need improving. It’s vital that they have a voice in how their community grows.”
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