Wave Staff and Wire Reports
LOS ANGELES — Six neighborhoods in the city — including South Los Angeles and the Leimert Park/Baldwin Hills communities — will receive a total of $5.4 million to fund various community improvement proposals approved by residents.
The City Council voted unanimously Aug. 13 to approve the funding as part of the Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department’s first-ever participatory budgeting pilot program, known as Los Angeles Reforms for Equity and Public Acknowledgement of Institutional Racism, or L.A. REPAIR. Last year, the city allocated $3.1 million to three other neighborhoods as part of the program.
More than 1,000 ideas were generated by residents in the second group of neighborhood recipients.
“L.A. REPAIR Participatory Budgeting represents a direct investment in Los Angeles’ most underserved communities, empowering them with real decision-making power over significant funds,” Capri Maddox, general manager of LA Civil Rights, said in a statement. “We are grateful to the City Council for supporting this innovative approach to budgeting and advancing direct democracy in our city.”
Participatory budgeting is a process that has been implemented in more than 7,000 global cities, including New York City and Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Participatory budgeting allows community members to decide how part of a public budget may be spent on services or programs.
City officials said L.A. REPAIR is community-led from start to finish, with advisory committees guiding the process in each REPAIR Zone, gathering ideas and administering the vote, which was open to anyone over 15 years old who lived, worked, studied, or was the parent or guardian of a student in the zone.
Winning proposals will be implemented by local community-based organizations, ensuring allotted funding stays within REPAIR Zones, according to the department.
“I’m grateful to Capri Maddox and the Civil, Human Rights and Equity Department for helping make this community reinvestment idea into a reality,” said Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who chairs the council’s Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee. “This program helps build a critical bridge between government and underserved communities throughout Los Angeles and I’m excited to see how we can create more positive change together.”
“The city is taking monumental steps towards healing and equity for everyone,” Councilwoman Heather Hutt added. “The L.A. REPAIR Participatory Budgeting will empower communities to drive the success of their own futures. This budget process is a testament to our commitment to dismantling institutional racism and ensuring that those most affected are leading the charge for change.”
In South Los Angeles, programs receiving funds included: the Girls Club of Los Angeles, which provides health services and case management for 450 individuals and families; the Los Angeles Urban League, offering job readiness services for 200 people from ages 16-35; Social Justice Learning Institute, providing college and career assistance for youth; and the South Los Angeles Community Foundation, an on-the-job training program for up to 56 youth.
Two other programs getting funded included the National Diversity and Inclusion Cannabis Alliance (NDICA), which will provide filmmaking vocational training for 100 at-risk, justice-involved youth; and the Teapot Gardens, a project to create an herb garden and free after-school garden and art education to residents.
Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, who chairs the council’s civil rights committee, said “This landmark program should serve as a model for how we allocate resources to benefit our city and stop our decades-long neglect of working class communities of color.”
Other neighborhoods receiving funding were Arleta and Pacoima, the Harbor Gateway and Wilmington areas, Skid Row and Westlake.
