Ideas are flowing @RVAPB
Happy October Richmond!!
Welcome to the monthly Richmond People’s Budget Newsletter. A place to connect and keep up with all that is happening to listen, educate, and empower residents about the city budget. Our Money. Our City. Our Ideas.
In this months newsletter we have:
How to submit an idea
Upcoming events and collaborations
Help us turn ideas into reality
A story about an RVAPB idea
Things that are inspiring us
How to submit an Idea
Check out these new videos that walk through how to share an idea online or in-person.
Upcoming Events/Collaborations
Turn ideas into reality
Do you have the skills to help make community ideas real? Sign up to be a budget delegate and help the Richmond People’s Budget prepare for voting next Spring.
More information and to sign up go here . . . https://www.cfengage.org/opportunity/a0CNw00007k9QyGMAU/delegate-volunteer
Story of an Community idea
Over the last few weeks, the Richmond People’s Budget has been meeting the community where they are at. That includes being online, at meetings, markets, community events, or just walking through the neighborhood. All with the focus of connecting and listening to #communityvision. We wanted to share the story of one idea that has had a unique life.
A new water fountain for Fulton. . .
Back in May, the Richmond People’s Budget attended a community meeting at the newly renovated Powhatan Hill Community Center in Fulton. A group of people from around the community were there to discuss community needs, talk about city policies, and get updates on projects happening in the neighborhood.
After giving giving a short presentation about the Richmond People’s Budget, a firefighter from Fire Station 8 pulled us aside and shared an idea. “Kids at the basketball courts come over to the fire station all the time for water. When we are here, we happily share, but when we are on a call we can’t help the kids. I think we should put a water fountain next to the basketball courts.”
This is a great example of a possible Richmond People’s Budget idea. It is a simple effort to make a Richmond neighborhood better. Though, we need to dig a little deeper to see if the idea is truly possible. Questions come up. Is there a fountain near by? What are the hours of the community center? What do the kids really want? So we started to talk to a few people and we found out a few things.
There is a water fountain at the park. It is just at the shelter in the center of the park. This isn’t the most convenient to the courts, but not too far away. The community center is open September to June from 1:30pm - 10pm and June to August from 7:30am to 8pm. So, maybe we just need to put up a sign at the courts to let the community know they can stop by the center if they need water.
Then we went back to the community to hear what they had to say. The responses we heard were interesting. Some didn’t know their was a water fountain over by the shelter. Many thought it was broken. A few people mentioned that the water didn’t taste very good.
This is exactly the type of conversation that the Richmond People’s Budget is hoping to create. We listen deeply to a community idea, reach out to City Staff to learn more, and then work with residents to find a better solution. All of this is with the goal of making Richmond work better for its residents. These are the types of conversations that we hope to have more as we collect ideas, develop proposals, and eventually vote on projects.
Things that are inspiring us
Richmond Inspire - If you haven’t heard, the Parks and Rec Department is doing this great master planning process. They are listening to community ideas for making our parks better.
Boston PB - Check out the work that the City of Boston is doing to bring community voice into their budgeting process.
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