While Councilman Andy Cohen has been the only member in the Bronx to begin the process of participatory budgeting in his district, Councilman Ritchie Torres has already come out and expressed a commitment to start the process with his constituents in the coming months, as one can see in the video below from a Bronx Park East Community Association meeting Thursday night.
Participatory budgeting democratizes the decision power of which community groups and development projects in a district will receive funding by allowing community members to brainstorm and vote their preferences. Councilman Melissa Mark-Viverito was the only member with Bronx constituents to engage in the process last year, along with a relatively small number around the city. While Mark-Viverito will again utilize participatory budgeting in her community again in the coming year, there is no word on the other members of the Bronx delegation including Jimmy Vacca, Vanessa Gibson, Fernando Cabrera, Maria del Carmen Arroyo and Annabel Palma.
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