Residents of the CRD are invited to vote directly for how $50k will be budgeted towards making the city better. A small group of volunteers have been working with the City of Victoria to introduce participatory budgeting in municipal decision making since last May. Participatory budgeting is a democratic process in which a municipality allocates a portion of its budget for residents to propose and vote on community projects.
All projects proposals came from the community, in an open call for ideas last summer. Initial submissions were shortlisted based on feasibility and legality, in consultation with the City. There are now eight diverse projects on the ballot, with voting open to CRD residents of all ages.
The shortlisted projects are:
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An art and music program for seniors with dementia.
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A pop-up garden and native bee art installation with educational workshops.
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Solar power and batteries for the aquaponics system at the Compost Education Centre.
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An employment training program, connecting vulnerable adults with local employers.
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An arts program for marginalized people in the Victoria area.
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A new electronic community resource board at Victoria High School to serve the Fernwood community.
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A pedal-powered Victoria Bike Music Festival and summer concert series.
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A community learning garden in the courtyard by the Downtown Branch of the Victoria Public Library.
The projects that receive the most votes from the community will receive funding. More information on the project and the vote can be found at www.victoria.ca/pbvic or in person at City Hall until January 20th.
Here's a video of what PB looks like in other cities https://www.youtube....h?v=dLrPJghHIzg
This year's process is a small pilot project, but if this is something Victoria wants to see, we'd love to keep it going.
As a volunteer steering committee member, I would love to hear people's thoughts on what they think about the concept. And don't forget to vote now!
Link to vote: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/pbvic
Link to project descriptions: https://goo.gl/fkyAVj