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On Thursday, March 10 at 5:30 p.m., grassroots coalition PB CLE (Participatory Budgeting Cleveland) will virtually host “How Do We PB CLE?” to share the latest from its campaign (including support from the Bibb administration to allocate $30.8 million from ARPA funding to let residents decide through a participatory budgeting process), to source ideas from residents on how we implement participatory budgeting in Cleveland neighborhoods, and to get residents to take action towards winning the support we need from City Hall.
PB CLE is a group of Cleveland residents and grassroots coalitions that have asked the City of Cleveland to incorporate residents’ voices, visions, and decisions in determining how to spend $30.8 million of $512 million in American Rescue Plan funds through participatory budgeting. That number represents the percentage of Cleveland residents living in poverty – the residents PB CLE believes need to be fully centered for a just recovery.
The coalition consists of 270 people living in Cleveland and is endorsed by over 60 local organizations and coalitions. PB CLE is actively working to win a people’s budget in Cleveland by building a strong coalition of support on city council, within the Bibb administration, and across Cleveland through education and engagement events to center the voices of everyday people, especially under-recognized voices in spending decisions at the local level. PB CLE believes that Cleveland residents are the experts in what they need, and that we should be using participatory budgeting as part of every budget cycle going forward.
Cleveland will receive the second half of the ARPA money in May and now is the moment for PB CLE supporters to make their voices heard now that city officials are making decisions about the funding allocation.
Cleveland residents and interested guests can register for How Do We PB CLE here?. A list of organizations and coalitions endorsing PB CLE can be found here, and past earned media can be found atwww.pbcle.com/media