“How do we hold you accountable, and how do we know the decisions you made are going to truly be honored in the end?” 

Those were the questions asked to Telitha Floyd, Community Engagement Director for the Seattle People’s Budget. They held a session to teach participants and citizens of Seattle about the Participatory Budgeting process, which involves the plan for dispersing $27.25 million across the Black and Brown community.

“As a lived experience outreach person, it’s my job to go out into the community and make people aware that they have this money, and find out what they see in their community that they want fixed,” community member Zsa Zsa Floyd said. 

Mano, who serves as the Community Investment Strategic Advisor, says the process is based in the history of police violence that has impacted Black, Brown and Indigenous communities. 

“We recognize that the ways we address those issues can’t just be the same ways we’ve been doing it,” Mano said. “The strategies that will work in these situations is to make sure community is intricately involved in the solutions.”

The process puts the decision making in the hands of the community, allowing discussion and decisions on how tax dollars should be spent to happen among the PB committee. Similar groups are in action across the country and in Canada, with over $386 million total across all Participatory Budgeting groups.

The process is currently in the proposal development stage, where steering committee members are working on presentations to the public which you will then have the chance to vote on between October 1st and October 15th. 

You can keep up with the process at pbseattle.org and learn how you can vote.