Advisory Committees and Participatory Budgets
Article by Andrew Hunniford
We need more participation in our local government, not less. London should strengthen advisory committees and bring in additional forms of participation using our new tools and platforms like the relaunched website. We would be using our strengths and opportunities to mitigate a threat and a weakness. Democracy itself should evolve and not remain a static system of inputs and outputs on fixed four-year cycles. In order to respond to the crises we are facing—housing, climate change, and a pandemic (among others)—we must relearn that the true value of democracy comes only with practice. What democracy requires is us not just its practitioners in power. Do not believe there’s a natural conflict between expertise and public opinion, but that we lack balance and symbiosis between the two. Although some on London City Council wants to replace municipal advisory committees with expert opinion, we need both for different reasons.
"No government by experts in which the masses do not have the chance to inform the experts as to their needs can be anything but an oligarchy managed in the interest of the few. And the enlightenment must proceed in ways that force the administrative specialists to take account of the needs. The world has suffered more from leaders and authorities than from the masses. The essential need ... is the improvement of the methods and conditions of debate, discussion, and persuasion. That is the problem of the public.”
- John Dewey (2016). “The Public and Its Problems: An Essay in Political Inquiry”, p.161, Ohio University Press
Municipal democracy should be a system where the people rule themselves, our city government is the level of government closest to us. We require a strong meaningful relationship, with a stake in the ongoing process. Requirements are gathered critically at the start. The processes by which that is carried out are incredibly important to the outcomes: whether that be elections, advisory committees, participatory budgeting, or something else. It is not enough to just participate in a democracy one day every four years; we must shape our system and progress the concept of democracy itself every day. Voting is not the extent of democracy, it is only a small part, and voting is not all the participation required of us. Democracy is hard work, but hard work is often the most rewarding. While change is constant, the rate of change is not, it is increasing exponentially. We must compensate for this additional velocity with additional control and input to respond to our needs. Using participatory budgeting, advisory committees, and technology can enable us to do that if we are willing to put in the work.
Regular citizen input can fill the gaps in institutional knowledge, leading to more equitable and innovative solutions. Want to bring the citizens and the government closer together as a community. In a participatory budget process, historically disenfranchised groups can participate, and historically marginalized ones tend to participate more, leading to the government hearing new voices. This process strengthens our society by creating new relationships, empowering new leaders, and generally strengthening municipal democracy.
Pierre Charles-André Malotaux (28 April 1923 – 14 February 2016) was a Dutch organizational theorist, business consultant, and Professor of Business Administration at the Delft University of Technology. His is known with Jan in 't Veld for developing a specific systems approach to organizational problems, called the Delft Systems Approach
What are the required parts of a participatory budgeting process? Dedicated source of public funding, agreed-upon process and schedule, staff to mediate the process, community volunteers to facilitate the process and outreach to neighbourhoods. We have all these, but we lack the will and the courage to put them to use. New York City has introduced participatory budgeting—too big? So has Labrador City, population 9,000, London is somewhere in between. Council's job is to represent their constituents, and yes, deciding how to spend tax money is a part of that job, but so is deciding what the decision-making process looks like in the first place! We need leadership that finds the courage to empower citizens to use participatory budgeting. Councillors will become closer to their constituents through this process. No new money required, this does not mean tax increases, just a change to how current budget funding is used. Start with specific departments to identify parts of the budget that are up to Council's discretion. Councilor Josh Morgan introduced the community decision-making program to London, and this is an extension of that in concept and expands on it. Recently funds outside our local government have materialized, these are great pilots for participatory budgeting. Use discretionary funds, there would be no need for new laws to begin a process and draw the eye of the Province. All that is required is a political commitment of the Council to implement projects that win.
We have unique opportunities going into 2021 that are converging. We have invested in our digital strategy and technology launching a new website. We are restarting our advisory committees finally, and the funding to respond and recover from the pandemic is coming from the Province and Federal Government. It won’t be enough to expect the technology to fix this issue for us though, our government shouldn’t just prop up a digital platform, it should become a platform and open itself up to more participation and not less.
“… for governments the key to digital transformation is not the technology itself, but the creation of a vision, the correct and faithful implementation of this vision, implemented by the correct individuals, and at the correct time, in order to achieve the desired cultural change. … Governments need a new way to interact with their stakeholders: citizens, constituents, and communities, as well as the various arms of the administration and the business community. The expectation of these stakeholders has grown considerably in light of technological change, and they will no longer be satisfied with such an obsolete and inefficient system.”
– Carla Cico, “Digital Transformation: The Challenge for Government”
Http://themobilecentury.com/digital-transformation-the-challenge-for-government/
Andrew Hunniford is a local husband, father, and community activist. He believes autonomous kids, not cars are our future. Chair of the Cleardale Highland Community Association, he's passionate about South London and London as a whole. He has had the good fortune to work for the likes of TDCT, Canada Life and Info-Tech, as an Analyst and Product Manager over the last 16 years. No matter where he's worked lived or shopped, Andrew has traveled by bike whenever possible. Andrew believes in civic engagement and the impact of government on our everyday lives.