During the 2023 election season in Cleveland, Issue 38 – also known as Participatory Budgeting Cleveland – took center stage. Participatory Budgeting Cleveland (PB CLE) was a citizen-led initiative that called on elected officials to set aside $14 million, about 2% of the city’s general fund, for Cleveland residents to decide how to spend using participatory budgeting.

The ballot measure faced fierce opposition from elected officials and was narrowly defeated by 1,387 votes. Although things did not go their way, PB CLE was encouraged by the 33,000 votes in support of Issue 38 and wanted to continue to build off of the momentum. 

Now, PB CLE is back in action and moving forward with a six-month, grant-funded pilot program. Through the pilot, residents in one Cleveland neighborhood will propose spending priorities and then make decisions about how to allocate money in their neighborhood through a participatory budgeting process. 

Lessons learned

Jonathan Welle, a member of the PB CLE steering committee, helped lead the charge after the election.

“We were so encouraged to see the support from tens of thousands of Clevelanders who voted in favor of Issue 38,” Welle said. “They understood that it was important that residents have real power to make real decisions.”

PB CLE spent several months having internal conversations to discuss their best path forward. They were able to raise funds for the project from foundations, and local and national grassroots donors.

“We landed on the idea of trying to bring the people’s budget to life,” Welle said. “Not on paper, but in practice, in a particular neighborhood.”

Through the 2023 election, PB CLE learned a lot about themselves as organizers and as a movement. Welle thinks some of the lessons learned from the defeat will strengthen the coalition as they move forward.

“We heard from a lot of people that they were sick and tired of the status quo. People want an opportunity to make high-stakes decisions about their neighborhoods. If there is no real power on the table, then there are no real decisions on the table,” Welle said.

“When we would knock on doors and ask somebody what change they would like to see in their neighborhood, their eyes would light up and they would have tons of answers to that question. When we raise the stakes, people will respond.”

‘This is for the community’

Andre P. White, a resident of Lee-Harvard, is also a member of the PB CLE steering committee. White feels that now that PB CLE has the freedom to run the operation internally, the results will speak for themselves.

“If you look back at the ballot initiative, the City of Cleveland was going to have a lot of power in their hands with the program, they were going to choose who would have been on the steering committee,” White said. “Now we have ownership, so now, for the most part, we can do things as we see fit.”

PB CLE is now accepting nominations for which neighborhood the funding should be focused in. Nominations will remain open until April 15. White believes this type of civic engagement will activate local neighborhoods and allow them to make decisions on exactly what it is that they want to see change.

“People want to see school projects, beautification projects and safety projects,” White said. “They want to see an uplift of their neighborhoods because they do not see that at this present moment. This pilot can change that.”

Get activated

PB CLE will host a community meet-up at the gym behind Elizabeth Baptist Church on Tuesday, March 25, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This meeting is for people who would like to learn more information about the pilot or join the organization. Food will be provided.

“This project gives power back to the community, so we want to hear as much feedback as possible” White said. 

Elizabeth Baptist Church is located at 6114 Francis Rd. To RSVP to this event, click here. To learn more about PB CLE, click here.