As part of a Coursera class on citizen engagement, this proposal is part of the final project. Can participatory budgeting work for street repair (potholes, sidewalks, etc.)?

1. Participatory Budgeting
for Street Maintenance in
Seattle, WA (US)
Coursera “Engaging Citizens: A Game Changer for Development?”
Final Project -- Digital Artifact
Brian Hsi

2. Background
● Approximately 950 miles of streets in Seattle
have no adjoining sidewalks
● Funding for sidewalk enhancements is set to
expire in 2015
● Seattle will be moving to district elections in
2015
● In addition to sidewalks, a significant number of
potholes still need to be filled*
Seattle districts in the 2015 election http://www.seattle.
gov/Images/Clerk/DistrictsMap.jpg
*Up to date map on potholes filled or to be filled http://web6.seattle.gov/sdot/potholemap/

3. As Seattle moves to district elections, why not allocate
some funding for street maintenance (sidewalks, potholes,
etc.) towards participatory budgeting?

4. How does this work?
● Citizen advisory boards
(Pedestrian, Bike, etc.)
need to be engaged
● Neighborhood Councils
need to be engaged
● City Council members
need to introduce municipal
code changes based on
citizen input
● Mayor needs to sign
Foundational work Participatory
budgeting
Districtelectionsheld
● District residents determine
funding priorities
● District residents also serve as
“sensors” gathering needs
assessments
● Department of Transportation
(and other agencies) serve as
subject matter experts for
residents
Implementation
● Department of
Transportation
completes work (or
not)
● City Council
Member works with
City departments to
ensure the work gets
done, provide
transparency, etc.

5. Risks and mitigations
Well off areas (from a sidewalk, pothole,
infrastructure perspective) continue to
outpace other areas less well off
Limit the program only to those
areas in most dire need of
improvements
Determine funding to districts based
on overall need
Only those districts with robust social
infrastructure to organize will benefit
Use established Neighborhood
Councils (or de facto proxies) as the
central point of organizing
POSSIBLE RISKS POTENTIAL MITIGATIONS

6. Measuring for success
How do we know if the participatory budgeting exercise is successful? Here are a few metrics to consider:
● Completed projects -- an initial baseline will be established, and this will be compared with
historical data of completion of projects in a given district.
● Time for completion -- again, an initial baseline will be established and compared against
historical data.
● Percentage of residents engaged in the process -- an initial baseline will be established to
see how this percentage changes over time
● Tenure of council member -- this will be an indirect measure at best, but there is a relationship
of the ability of the council member to get something accomplished and their support from district
residents