By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
King County has announced that they will be bringing back their Participatory Budgeting process for another round, and they have appointed 29 steering committee members from five urban unincorporated areas who will help guide $11 million in community-driven funding.
Participatory Budgeting is a community-centered budget process where the community will dictate what improvements and services should be recipients of public funding in King County’s five urban unincorporated areas: Skyway, White Center/North Highline, East Federal Way, Fairwood, and East Renton Highlands.
In 2021, the King County Council approved Executive Dow Constantine’s new approach to community investment centered around racial equity. The newly appointed committee members will design and carry out this process, building on community strengths and addressing specific priorities identified by the community.
“This latest version of the Participatory Budgeting steering committee represents the continued commitment by Executive Constantine, the County Council, and the community to give residents a voice in how public dollars are spent,” said King County Local Services Director John Taylor. “Participatory Budgeting has shown that people truly care about their communities and want to help shape them for the better.”
According to proponents, participatory budgeting will allow these communities to identify, discuss, and prioritize public spending, as residents will help decide how money should be spent on capital projects (physical things that are bought, built, installed, or fixed up) or programs and services.
Funding for capital projects is backed by bonds, while the funds for each of the programs and services for White Center/North Highline and Skyway-West Hill will come from King County’s general fund and be supported by marijuana retail sales tax revenue.
The members of the Skyway/West Hill steering committee are LaCretiah Claytor, John Dickerson, Cynthia Edwards, Brandon Houston, Diane McClain, Ann Okwuwolu, and Terrence Williams. While Robert Baker, Ruth Contrearas Rodriguez, Justin Cox, Heather Patrick, Sarey Savy, Pat Thompson, and Vannra Yan will represent White Center/North Highline.
Jerry Jennings, Marcy Lang, Yamiletc Rodriguez, Deborah Salem, Tajiawnna Sterling, Barbara Tisi, and Jean-Paul Yafali will represent East Federal way.
Fairwood and East Renton Highlands are represented by Anthony Curtis, Jeremy Gitchel, Marilyn Schafer, Lorraine Swalley, Mario Bolden, Beau Ervin, Suzy Gillett, and Eric Tadeja.
“I am thrilled at the opportunity to again help give power to the community,” says Community Invest Committee Program Manager Gloria Briggs. “The first round of Participatory Budgeting was an amazing opportunity that centered on the voices of community members throughout the whole process.”
“It empowered residents, who turned out by the thousands to help shape how public money would be invested in their communities,” continued Briggs. “And while the first round was successful and provided a template for how PB can work, I have no doubt that the second round – with this new group of passionate community members – can be as successful, if not more.”
