One of the perpetual gripes in this city concerns our politicians’ fiscal recklessness. Well, now 49th Ward Ald. Joe Moore is giving a significant part of his financial power to the people.
Moore announced today that his constituents will decide how his $1 million of “menu money,” the funds allotted annually to each alderman for ward infrastructure improvements, will be spent.
“Next year, I am ceding my decision-making authority to the residents of my ward through a process known as participatory budgeting in which all 49th Ward residents will be eligible to vote directly on the infrastructure projects that will be funded in our community,” Moore writes in an e-newsletter. “I’m not just asking for your opinion—I’m asking you to make real decisions about how we spend our money.”
“The 49th Ward will be the first political jurisdiction in the nation to try such an approach,” Moore writes. “If this process works, I will make it a permanent fixture in the ward and hopefully inspire other elected officials to do the same in their communities.”
Starting November 3, community meetings will be held over the next couple of months, which will culminate in a ward-wide assembly for residents to vote on where the money will go.
How do you think Moore’s million should be doled out?
this is what i work on!
“How do you think Moore’s million should be doled out?”
If Moore had any personal integrity or any commitment to good government he would return the funding to the capital budget.
The only good government-oriented position on the so-called “aldermanic menu” program is its total abolition. The ~$1M/ward is an ear-mark, a set-aside in the capital budget. If you think earmarks in Congress and in Springfield are a good way to do the people’s binness maybe you’re in favor of the aldermanic menu program.
The only fiscally responsible thing to do with the $50M plus total is to turn it back to the capital budget. In tough times we do not have the luxury of this stunt experiment in civic participation. If our city govt were functioning properly, Streets & San and CDOT and all the City dept would of course be responsive to communities’ priorities. The aldermanic menu program is a sop, a band-aid which serves only to institutionalize more fundamental accountability problems.
The aldermanic menu program is one of the many ways the executive branch co-opts the legislative in Chicago. It is one of the primary mechanisms by which citizens are deprived of our right to representation. Giving legislators direct authority over spending blurs the executive/legislative distinction and sucks our elected representatives into executive roles.
Until our aldermen begin executing their oversight responsibilities as mandated under state law, we citizens should be very careful to do nothing to encourage them in their extra-curricular activities, including the make-believe “little mayor” personas they are only too happy to inhabit. Daley gives each alderman a mil to play dress-up with and they all look the other way on a $6B operating budget, not to mention various other issues facing Our Fair City.
“Moore announced today that his constituents will decide how his $1 million…”
It’s not “his.” It’s taxpayer money.
“Aldermanic menu” is the polite term for a set-aside, an ear-mark. The bucket of so-called aldermanic menu money is a $50M one-liner in the city of Chicago’s capital budget with no detail. Moore participated in that decision when he voted to approve that capital budget.
The tag line “participatory budgeting” Moore slapped on his charade is highly ironic. A more accurate description of the situation is that a legislative body ceded its solemn budgetary authority over $50M to 50 individuals split 50 ways.