Participatory Budgeting Cycle 7

At the January 23, City council meeting a resolution authorizing the reallocation of $53,000 in Cycle 7 unspent funds from the “Reentry Program for Offenders” project to the “Rescue Equipment & Trailer” project was adopted. Read the Staff Report here.

"The Reentry Program for Offenders" project was allocated $53,000 of Cycle 7 Participatory Budgeting (PB) funds. The project's implementing partner, Solano County Probation Department’s Center for Positive Change, communicated with City staff that it was unable to execute this project and refunded the entire PB allocation for the project.

The Reentry project would provide services to Vallejo Community members who are reentering or reengaging with the community after a period of incarceration or other formal involvement in the criminal justice system. These services will help reduce the likelihood for individuals further involvement in the criminal justice system and enhance prosocial community connections in the City of Vallejo

Page 9 of the Participatory Budgeting Rulebook provides that funding can be reallocated to the next top-voted project. From the Cycle 7 vote results, the next top-voted project is the “Rescue Equipment &Trailer” project.

The “Rescue Equipment &Trailer" project will provide sufficient storage space for Vallejo’s USRA to carry equipment that it is currently unable to by the purchase and modifications to a 22-foot enclosed trailer needed to transform it into a Search and Rescue trailer. The trailer’s size will not only allow transportation of the USAR unit’s current equipment but also provide the ability to add additional equipment without impeding quick access during emergency deployment.

The updated quote for the Rescue Equipment &Trailer project was $55,622.80. This project will be implemented by the Vallejo Fire Department, which has confirmed that it can implement the project with partial funding of $53,000.

1,909 Vallejo spoke up and selected the winning projects. Check out the link below for the final results!

Cycle 7 Vote Results

Big news! The Cycle 7 vote will be taking place from September 7 - October 7. Right now, Staff and the Participatory Budgeting Steering Committee are hard at work developing an outreach strategy. If you have ideas, send them our way!

Stay tuned for more information.

On May 11th, staff took a temporary rulebook amendment and a PB update to Council.

(Council meeting recording and attachments can be found here - https://vallejoca.civicclerk.com/Web/Player.aspx?id=1338&key=-1&mod=-1&mk=-1&nov=0)

The rulebook changes were approved, and so staff will continue working on a timeline and outreach strategy for Cycle 7 with the Participatory Budgeting Steering Committee Meeting. Tune into the monthly PBSC meetings to provide public comments and hear the latest regarding PB.

On February 9th, Members of the Sacramento City Council Tuesday endorsed a recommendation from the Measure U Advisory Committee to launch a ‘participatory budgeting’ pilot project. The City Council provided $1,000,000 in funding for the pilot and is now busy at work getting their program up and running.

To support their efforts, City of Vallejo staff meet with the Measure U Advisory Committee members, presented at the Sacramento City Council Meeting, and meet with a City represent following the Council meeting. We plan to continue supporting them in this endeavor however we can...

Congratulations, Sacramento - and welcome to the PB family!

At the January 2020 PBSC, City staff provided an update on the various decision points that need to be addressed before moving forward with Cycle 7 - cycle schedule, voting methods and timing, current proposals, and funding allocation.

The PBSC decided that we start by allowing budget delegates to submit updated proposals because Cycle 7 proposals started development in October 2019 and since that time, much has changed including community priorities, the way we live, work, socialize, attend school, and how programs are offered and business is done.

The updated proposals will be reviewed at the March PBSC meeting and the Commissioners will make a recommendation as to which ones move forward. This recommendation will be brought to City Council for action.

Staffing

• Administrative Clerk, Flor Magallanes, continues to support PB efforts. In October 2020, interim PB coordinator Allision Mattioli transitioned to another role and Felicia Flores became the City's new contact for PB

Program Status

• PB was put on hold as of March 2020 due to COVID. The vote for cycle 7 did not take place as originally planned given the high reliance on in-person outreach efforts for community engagement and voting.
• The program continues to be on pause pending Steering Committee discussion and City Council guidance. This continues to be a focus of the PBSC.

Funding Allocation

• The Fiscal Year 20-21 budget called for the use of the following tools to help stave off financial impacts associated with COVID:

  (1) Reduce costs, most notably the freezing of non-public safety vacancies, producing salary savings. (2) Decrease discretionary spending (3) Deferral of capital projects, and large vehicle and equipment purchases (4) Judicious use of a small portion of our rainy-day cash reserves

• Because of the items listed above, PB funding allocation was reduced from $1,000,000 to $500,000 in the Fiscal Year 20-21 budget. This decision was explained in the Budget Letter -

  • One notable recommended discretionary spending reduction is in the Participatory Budgeting Program (PB). The proposed budget does not eliminate the program but calls to reduce the $1 million allocation to $500,000 for FY 20-21. Other discretionary spending, like the Participatory Budgeting, will also be reduced. We recognize that the City Council has been extremely supportive of funding our vast array of community programs, particularly in the areas of arts & culture, as well as youth programs, and that as a City, we are proud of the community engagement reflected in the PB process. For this next fiscal year, it is recommended that the PB program be modified to focus more so on concentrating the available funding on a reduced number of projects, particularly focusing on those priority areas of youth and arts & culture projects. Additionally, this next fiscal year, it will be necessary for staff to focus efforts toward modifying this program, which historically has been heavily dependent on in-person community engagement, to adapt to our “new normal.”

Administrative Updates

• Going into Cycle 7, there was a backlog of open projects. We have been working behind the scenes to check in with implementing partners, reconcile funding (including an internal audit and review of project balances and spending), and move pending projects forward, including executing some amendments to extend the term of grant agreements.
• City Staff continues to share progress updates at each PB Steering Committee meeting