Treyger joins council’s participatory budgeting program
He’ll let residents decide how to spend $1 million
When he was a teacher at New Utrecht High School in Bensonhurst, Mark Treyger liked to see class participation. Now that he’s a councilman, he still likes it when people participate.
Treyger (D-Coney Island-Gravesend-Bensonhurst) announced that he has decided to have his council district become part of the city’s participatory budgeting process.
Under participatory budgeting, average citizens get to vote on how to spend city money on capital projects in their home districts. According to the participatory budgeting website, the process came to New York City in 2011 through an initiative by council members Melissa Mark-Viverito, Brad Lander, Jumaane Williams and Eric Ulrich. The effort receives technical assistance from The Participatory Budgeting Project and the organization Community Voices Heard.
In the most recent round, 10 council districts took part in participatory budgeting.