An Albuquerque city councilor is holding public meetings this week to get input from the community on how to spend state funds. District 6 Councilor Nichole Rogers says the community is often left out of these discussions and she wants to change that.
Rogers is partnering with Participatory Budgeting of Albuquerque, which is a part of an international citizen engagement process where community members decide how to spend part of a public budget.
Rogers has designated $1.5 million for capital projects within District 6. These can be used for lighting, street improvements and infrastructure.
“Community, they are our eyes and ears in every nook and cranny of our district,” she said. “I am just one person, and so if the community is bringing me issues that they see in their community that we could fix through this process and with this funding, then this just helps me better represent them.”
Rogers said this is the first time that this has been done in Albuquerque where the government is being transparent, welcoming input, and educating people about funding.
“How do we get it? How we can spend it, the timeline on spending. So it really opens up government in a way that a lot of folks that we're talking to don't have access to,” she said.
She said she would never tell her colleagues on city council what to do but she’s hopeful that they will follow her lead.
“I would love for more of them to do it, and would be willing to help them and share everything that we're doing.”
Rogers said many in her community may be skeptical about government and perhaps distrustful but...
“We want your involvement. We need your involvement.”
She said her district faces a lot of challenges.
“But if we're in this together, I know we can overcome those challenges, and we can really see a change that we can see and feel in our community.”
The community can submit ideas until December 15th. She and city staff will then develop them into plausible proposals. Then the community will be able to vote on them and decide which one to send to the legislative session in January. Rogers hopes to bring members of the community up to the capitol to advocate on the finalized proposals.
District 6 will be hosting two assemblies on Wednesday November 20th and on Saturday November 23rd for residents within the district to give input on their concerns and how they want to see capital funds spent. They can also submit ideas online.
Meetings for participatory budgeting:
- November 20, 2024, 6-8 PM
Heights Community Center
823 Buena Vista Dr. SE
- November 23, 2024, 4-6 PM
Albuquerque Community Safety Department HQ
1210 San Mateo Blvd. SE
Support from this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
