Press Release from City of Cambridge
Vote on Participatory Budgeting Projects December 1-8, 2019
How Would You Spend $1 Million to Improve Cambridge?
Cambridge, MA, November 19, 2019 — Participatory Budgeting (PB) is back. Cambridge residents age 12 or older (including all 6th graders), can vote from December 1-8, 2019 to decide how to spend $1 million on projects to improve the city. This process is open to everyone in our community, including non-U.S. citizens and university students.
In June and July 2019, community members submitted over 1,600 ideas about how to spend $1 million of the City’s Fiscal Year 2021 Capital Budget, beginning July 1, 2020. From August to November, over 40 volunteer Budget Delegates worked on five committees to research and evaluate those ideas and develop final proposals for the ballot.
Thanks to our dedicated Budget Delegates, there are 20 exciting projects on the 2019 PB ballot. Residents can vote for up to five of the following projects:
Residents can vote online at pb.cambridgema.gov. Online voting will be text message authenticated. When voters enter their cell phone number on the PB website, they will receive a code via text to enter online for a one-time access to the ballot. The online ballot will be available in English, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, and Spanish. If residents wish to vote online but do not have a cell phone, they can contact the City’s Budget Office to receive a code, at 617-349-4270 during office hours (Monday 8:30 a.m. – 8 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Friday 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.) or by email, pb@cambridgema.gov.
Residents can also vote in person at one of the following PB voting events:
Paper ballots at voting events will be available in English, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Find out which projects win funding. The PB Results Party will be held on Tuesday, December 10, 6-7 p.m., at the Citywide Senior Center, 806 Mass. Ave., Central Square, Cambridge.
Past winning PB projects include critical resource kits for the homeless, musical instruments for students, tree planting, water bottle fill stations, and many others.
For more information, including a full list of in-person PB voting events, or to vote online Dec. 1-8, 2019, visit pb.cambridgema.gov or contact the City of Cambridge Budget Office at pb@cambridgema.gov or (617) 349-4270.