AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/tag/budget/)
About 390 residents cast votes last month to decide how to spend Ald. Chris Taliaferro’s $1 million menu money. Sixty-five percent will go to street and alley resurfacing, while $312,500 will be spent on four community projects.
Voting runs through Nov. 20th on five neighborhood projects on the list to be funded out of Ald. Chris Taliaferro’s $1.3 million “menu money” budget. This is the second year those living in the ward have been able to take part in “participatory budgeting.”
The focus should be on showing West Side residents that students can receive an equitable and well-resourced education at Austin’s existing high schools, writes resident Dwayne Truss.
West Side business owners, parents and social workers met last week in Oak Park to discuss the potential and challenges facing the school. The conversation was moderated by Reesheda Graham Washington, executive director of Community First Association and owner of the LIVE café, where the meeting was held.
The layoffs will hurt West Side students and the community as a whole, educators and advocates say.
West Side schools in the state’s largest district will see fewer teachers, staff in September when classes begin, warn community activists and others.
The first of three meetings being held to discuss which neighborhood projects should be funded with “menu money” is set for June 14 at Amundsen Park. Two other gatherings are planned for Rutherford-Sayre Park and the Columbus Park Refectory later this month.
It’s one of 13 events CPS is holding before classes begin next week. The Aug. 30th event takes place at Prosser from 2 to 5 p.m.
Find out how your school will fare under the new spending plan CPS just released to principals.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro says $700,000 in funding will pay for six projects – ranging from community gardens and murals to pedestrian islands and park equipment. Six months of community meetings and two weeks of voting determined how the menu money will be spent.