Northwest Examiner: Participatory budgeting measure a cheap gimmick

A participatory budgeting initiative, Measure 26-267, is on the November ballot, and anyone claiming to know how it would work is guessing.

Campaign manager Eddie Kurtz of Your 2 Cents, who made his case at a Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting last month, said it’s about time the taxpayers got to decide where some of their money goes.

His most repeated lines were, “It’s only $16 million from an $8 billion budget,” and the reason public officials oppose it is, “They don’t want to give up control.”

The money raised would be spent on projects selected by citizens participating in a yet-to-be-defined process. It could not go for staffing or government operations, which leaves capital improvements, such as playground equipment in parks or public benches.

Read the rest at nwexaminer.com.