Good evening, everyone.

My name is Alika Ampri Samuel, and welcome to the meeting of the City of New Rochelle's Participatory Budgeting Steering Committee on June 2nd, 2026 at 7 p.m., taking place in the B1 conference room at New Rochelle City Hall.

The meeting of the new the meeting of the City of New Rochelle's participatory budgeting steering committee is now called to order.

Will the deputy city manager please call the role?

Absolutely.

Malika Ampri Samuel.

Here Anthony Bibo, not here.

David Charles, not here.

Giselle Reyes?

Here.

Jana Gullery.

Here.

Lauren Hurwitz, not here.

Victor Bowman Jr.

President.

Matt Stern?

Here.

Gino Frabasile, not present.

Makita Lewis, not present.

Also in attendance tonight is myself, Todd Costaldo, Deputy City Manager.

Pass the mic back over to Madam Chair.

Thank you.

Well, this is an exciting time to be in New Rochelle right now, right?

Everyone.

Yeah.

Okay, so we have a full agenda.

So first on the agenda is a discussion item to introduce members of the steering committee and city staff.

Okay.

So if you want to, if you'd want to start, just okay.

Um so I'll just first say that I am excited about being the chair.

Um, but I am also a proud, proud, proud resident of New Rochelle and a um a mom of a of a young man that graduated from the New Rochelle High School just two years ago, and I am excited about him coming home tomorrow to participate in this great work that we're doing.

Um now take it off to me.

Okay, thank you.

My name is Victor Bowman, a proud member of District One, a New Rochelle resident, I believe, for now for the past five years, and my family and I reside in the Feney Park area of District Park 1.

Glad to be a part.

My name is Jana Gullery.

I've been a New Rochelle resident for um probably eight years, yeah, just about eight years now, and um I live uh close to the hospital, so uh getting into downtown.

Yeah.

Hi, my name is Giselle Reyes.

Um I was born and raised in New Rochelle.

I live right around the corner from here, around Iona, and I am a proud New Rochelle resident too.

I'm Matt Stern.

I'm a city council member representing District 6.

I live off Pinebrook Boulevard and very excited to have sponsored the legislation that created uh participatory budgeting because I've seen kind of how powerful it is to involve more residents uh in how our city is run.

Um, and just hoping to create a stronger civic on ramp for more civic participation.

And uh my name is Todd Costaldo.

I am also a lifelong resident of New Rochelle.

Um I'm the deputy city manager, and I've worked for the city for about seven years, but again, I've lived here my whole life.

So pleasure to be the staff liaison to the participatory budgeting steering committee.

Okay, Todd.

And Matt, thank you.

Council member, thank you so much for even bringing this to light.

And um, we kind of go back a little bit when it comes to participatory budgeting, and I'm excited.

So thank you.

Thank you for your vision.

So, next up, second on the agenda is a discussion item regarding the overview of the committee organization.

So in your packet under item two, is um including your agenda packet is the city of New Rochelle legislation number 2026-7.

All right, the ordinance amending chapter nine of the code of the city of New Rochelle to establish a participatory budgeting steering committee.

Ordinance established this 10-person steering committee.

Seven of the 10 members are voting members of the committee, one adult from each of the six city council districts selected by the city council member serving that district, and one high school age youth selected by the mayor.

The remaining three members are non-voting members.

One current city council member, Matt Stern, selected by a majority of the city council, one current city staff member selected by the city manager, which would be Gino Frabasile.

Um he had a prior engagement tonight, um, and then one current City of Neurochelle school district representative selected by the superintendent of schools, who is Makita Lewis.

Um membership terms are for two years.

The chairperson is selected and appointed by a majority vote of city council for a one-year term.

The chair can serve no more than two consecutive one-year terms as chair.

A meeting quorum shall consist of at least four voting members.

The PB steering committee shall recommend rules and procedures for the PB program, oversee community outreach and engagement materials and strategies, review project submissions for eligibility and feasibility in coordination with city staff.

Present winning project or projects to the city council for approval.

And submit reports to the city council at designated milestones in the PB cycle.

The PB participatory budgeting steering committee shall serve in an advisory capacity only.

Final funding, project approval, and budgetary decision decisions shall remain with the city council.

Although the committee strictly serves in an advisory capacity and is not subject to OML, in the spirit of transparency and openness, a cornerstone to participatory budgeting, we are choosing to postmeeting agendas, record meetings, and postmeeting minutes.

With that, I hand the reigns back over to the chair.

Thank you.

So next on the agenda is another discussion item to go over the participatory budgeting process and the purpose of this steering committee.

All right.

So first, the very basics of what participatory budgeting actually is a way to increase civic engagement by democratizing a portion of the city's capital budget, allowing residents to propose ideas, have them vetted, and vote on them.

So we're gonna uh watch a video that uh shows this in action, and then we'll continue the presentation.

Right, if you live in this community, and you pay taxes, come on and vote and decide how your tax dollars get spent.

Participatory budgeting gives people real power over real money to make the decisions that affect their lives.

It's a democratic process in which ordinary community members directly decide how the spans are part of the public budget.

What is it different?

Because you're actually voting for where the money is going to be spent instead of allowing them to decide where to spend the money.

Who knows better about their community than the people that live in their community?

Not be afraid of the big words, participatory budgeting.

It sounds boring, but it's the opposite of that.

So, how does it work?

First, people brainstorm ideas.

They come together in meetings and assemblies and start to think of what kinds of projects they would like to see in their neighborhoods.

We had to think big.

We have a million dollars that we could use so we can fund parks, health issues, streets, and volunteers, work of experts to turn people's initial ideas into full project proposals.

We started with maybe about 40 projects, and so we had a series of budget delegate meetings, and we narrowed down the list into about four or five projects.

We met with the parks department, and we talked about what we wanted to see change in some of the parks and how we were gonna work with them.

What are the real needs of the community if you only have a certain amount of money?

What is it that you can do that's gonna benefit as many people as possible?

I'm dreaming of new benches, modern benches, seniors have no way to go.

Displays at bus shelters throughout the district, and it will tell people when the next bus is due to arrive.

We're asking for a projector and 30 MAC laptops.

Standing the art fitness center.

To put solar panels on a firehouse.

After volunteers share the top projects, the community gets ready to vote.

So we're validating every voice in our community and saying, you know what, whatever your position is, you live in our community, you have a right to decide.

And that me as a representative and government should respond and should listen to that voice.

Anyone could vote in this process.

Immigrants, whether you documented or not, young people that normally don't get to vote.

Most people they don't even notice.

Some of them are really surprised.

They say really, I think, yes.

They have a voice.

The projects with the most votes get funded.

The Red Hook Library Community Garden.

Right here.

The projects are then implemented over the next few years.

And the following year, the process starts again.

People brainstorm new ideas, turn them into new projects, vote on them, and fund more improvements for their community.

PB becomes part of the budget process.

It becomes a new way of governing.

I think this is like the greatest wave of democracy coming into the United States.

It started when Portugal Brazil in 1989.

From there, it spread all over Latin America.

It's over 1,500 cities around the world.

In Toronto, public housing tenants have decided how to spend millions of dollars on improvements to their buildings.

City council members in Chicago, New York, and other cities have engaged thousands of residents in allocating discretionary funds.

Entire cities have launched PB, such as in Vallejo, California for funds from a sales tax.

And in Boston for youth funds.

Even schools and universities have used PD.

This was a great opportunity for you to be a part of government and better the city you live in.

Who wouldn't want to take advantage of that?

You're creating a more educated platform of voters overall.

So I think this can only be good for the big project of democracy.

So I think that that video just does a great job of showing the possibility of what participatory budgeting can accomplish.

And so that's what I hope to be able to bring to newer shell.

In the US, the last number I heard was that there were 90 cities that have uh had participatory budgeting programs in New York.

Uh we've had Saratoga Springs and Buffalo.

Um this is the first uh PB uh program in Westchester County.

Um and then obviously New York City is the largest one in the country.

Um and it's where I first heard about participatory budgeting when I was living there.

Um and I I participated personally as a uh budget delegate.

Um I'll just also point out I mean, there are all different kinds of kinds of participatory budgeting.

Um it can happen in uh you know a strong mayor government in a city manager form of government, um you you see it across all types of government, and so um that's something that I you know I can think of like Cambridge, Massachusetts, for example, where they have a very similar size um population and form of government, um, and they've done it successfully.

The first step uh is in generating ideas.

This is really the heart of uh what participatory budgeting is about.

It's getting residents to actually submit their ideas and just picture and imagine like what do they want to see in their community.

Um and different places uh you know set their uh criteria differently of what is uh possible in in terms of those ideas.

We are looking at doing this just for capital projects, so things that usually cost at least five to fifty thousand dollars or more and are likely to last at least a year or five years, if not 20 or 30.

Um we try to get ideas from as many people as possible, um, truly making it something where um you know if you you were hearing it from your school, your religious institution, um, any kind of community institutions, um, and from the city itself.

Um, and hopefully you are allowed to and and you know feel empowered to submit those ideas of what you want to see.

Um they can be all sorts of different types of projects.

So there's everything from like environmental projects, um, kind of park projects, uh transportation and safety, um things targeted to either youth or older residents.

Um so you can look at it in uh a ton of different ways, and I think once you get those ideas flowing, people start to actually envision a lot of new things for their community.

Um here are some of those examples.

Uh we've got a pedestrian island in Chicago, a botchiball court in Saratoga Springs, um, school playground updates.

We have all kinds of those, um various street improvements, skateboard projects, bike lanes, murals.

Um when I was uh in in New York City, I was working on improving a playground and just helping uh get the the blacktop uh fixed and a fence fixed.

Like it can be really practical or it can be a lot more imaginative.

So after those ideas come in, this steering committee will work with our city staff to identify which projects are viable given the constraints that we have in terms of budget and timing.

And they will put those ideas that are the most viable ideas on a ballot, and then residents will get to vote.

And the winning projects are the ones that are going to get funded.

There's an example that we can see here from Greensboro, North Carolina.

There's actually a shared kind of voting platform that a lot of participatory budgeting programs use that we know is safe and reliable.

And then you know, each municipality can kind of put the winning project or the you know the projects for the ballot either online or in paper.

So there are a lot of different ways that people can vote.

So here's what they did in Greensboro, and it's a pretty simple process.

You can sometimes you can choose multiple projects depending on the budget.

And yeah, then you submit it, and this is not a real one because it's already happened, but you know, as an example, this is what it looks like.

Okay.

So jumping back to the PowerPoint.

Um so as um Mr.

Costaldo shared, uh, this year we have already formed our participatory budgeting steering committee.

Um we're hoping to make sure that we have clear guidance to the public and city staff about the scope of this year's program, which is part of what will be included in it in our rule book.

Um we are gonna formally create this process to you know submit ideas, develop the proposals, and have a vote.

Um we're gonna have robust civic engagement as part of this.

So you will be hearing the milly mouth phrase participator budgeting a lot, um, and hopefully it will stick because you'll have you know everyone will have heard about it enough.

Um and then I think all along we want to make sure we're really transparent and equitable in terms of how the message gets out, um, and you know, make sure we have really um wide participation.

And then in the background, we want to make sure that this is efficiently run and administered and evaluated after it's all done.

So I think a lot of this is a little bit of a recap given what we said, um, but the next thing that we are gonna do as a steering committee is actually create the rule book, um, which we have a draft of uh in the materials today.

Um we have lots of ideas for community engagement.

Um then ultimately after we go through the process and we have a vote and we have winning projects, the final step uh just in terms of approving those step uh those projects is the city council formally votes to include them in the budget, which you know is usually voted on in December.

So that is where the ultimate decision of which projects get funding lies with the city council.

Um but the hope obviously is that they will follow the public will there.

Um then the real magic, I think, is after the the public uh the city council vote to approve the budget, the participatory budgeting projects are actually tracked through completion publicly, so you can see where in the stage of development uh each project is.

This year we uh allocated 200,000 for the actual projects along with 20,000 for administration of the project.

Um as an example of what that 20,000 uh administration is going to, it's things like postcards, which we actually have on the front table, and we'll you'll see around the city uh very soon, just inviting people to submit ideas.

Um we've already established this in city ordinance.

Um obviously created our own steering committee uh membership, um, and then the city council really the next action uh that'll come before the council is gonna be approving those uh winning projects.

Um but just for some context, you know, sometimes people think what you're letting residents vote on the city budget.

It's a very small slice of the budget currently, especially because we're in a pilot phase.

Certainly I would like for it to be more in the future, but right now it's just 200,000 out of, I think it was even more than a 23 million dollar total capital budget.

Um I think we actually Todd already went over who is on the steering committee, so I'm just gonna move on.

Um the rule book itself is what we're gonna discuss today.

Um that will formalize what the timeline is.

It'll formalize the different details of our different phases.

Um it'll also formalize who's eligible to participate and vote in uh participatory budgeting along with the scope of all the projects for this year in particular, and then roles and responsibilities and what evaluation look like.

So just to address the first year pilot.

Um 200,000 uh doesn't get you a streetlight.

So we had to think how can we make this money go as far as possible and really make the biggest impact um for everyone in NeuroShell.

Um so we thought where what's like if you had to choose one place that most people in Newark feel a connection to, it would probably be the high school.

We've only got one high school in NeuroShell, um 3,000 plus kids a year.

Um this is a really a community gathering spot that not only has a high school, but a beautiful lake, playground, park, um, and then homes all around it as well, and it's right along, you know, one of our busiest thoroughfares, North Avenue.

So we decided to focus on all of the city-owned properties right around the high school, um, including the right of ways, so things like uh sidewalks along with the park and and the lake.

Um I think that'll be more manageable.

Plus, we also have kind of the beauty of having 3,000 students in that school who you know are in class every day.

We have they have a extensive civics curriculum, uh, and we have buy-in from the principal and those civics teachers.

I've already actually presented about participatory budgeting uh to the students and and started collecting ideas from them.

Um and so I think the the students at NeuroShell High School obviously come from all around the city.

So having that be the engine, I think is how we can really spread it citywide.

And then, of course, future years, we hope to have it you know throughout the city.

So this was the timeline as it was set uh in January.

We are very close to being uh uh on the timeline.

Um we I think at this point we will have our rule book formally finalized at our next meeting at the end of this month, so uh in June.

Um but we've already started collecting ideas.

That that also began last month, um, and it's gonna go through August.

And then between August and September, that's when the vetting process um is gonna go underway with uh this body and with uh city staff, create a ballot, and that ballot, both you know, the paper copy and the digital version will be up for voting in October so that we have time for people to vote and for the uh uh projects to be officially approved in November or December.

Okay.

Are there any questions or comments about this?

Can I just ask who's taking meeting minutes?

Oh yeah.

Yes.

Good question.

Excellent.

And actually, can I ask, you said capital projects, and what was the the I know there's 200,000 allocated.

What was the per project?

Um so that's the total budget for the project.

So you said some from one number to another.

Um I was talking about what defines a capital project.

Um I I think in a rule book it's defined as something that will last at least one year.

I've heard between one year and five years or more.

Um, and then you know, I think there's often a minimum dollar amount as well.

So I think the thought is that if you know we have a total of 200, if we get, you know, hopefully we get a lot of ideas, and as we go through them, you know, we might have in the ability to have some projects that are way under that, and maybe we get to do a number of different projects.

The cap is 200, right?

But I think you said there's a minimum, no?

Was it 15,000 is the minimum?

Um I don't know that there formally isn't.

I'm just thinking historically, like I know in New York City, I think the minimum was 50,000.

I don't know that we're putting that minimum on this.

Yeah.

I just have a general question.

Well um about the ideas from the high schoolers.

Can we know some of those ideas or would they be submitting them through this QR?

Yeah, so we want everyone to submit them through the official uh portal, which I can actually show you.

We because there was a post about this on social media inviting uh ideas.

We've already gotten several.

Oh nice.

So for example, splash and play at the park, um, a grounds update around the lake, solar gazebos, um twin lakes, eco tech pods, wellness trail, and hydration hub, uh, and then daylighting parka and clove.

So already getting a range of ideas, and you know, each one provides more details.

Um I'm just zooming in because I don't want to put people's names on blasts, but um, yeah, so already we've got five ideas.

Yeah, nice.

And we're looking to get with the postcards, I think we purchased 4,000 or 4500 worth of postcards.

So we're gonna I've in the process of speaking with the superintendent of schools to try and get them into the high school before school's over, but also into Albert Leonard and Isaac Young, especially for the eighth graders for the kids that are gonna be going to Neurish Hill High School next year.

It's gonna be their campus for the next four years.

So we want to get um get that done, um, waiting on response from the superintendent there.

You know, we've got a couple, we've got our summer sizzle concert series that is starting this Saturday.

Um, and there's a I don't know if you guys have seen it, but there's a huge screen that's like the backdrop to the stage, and prior to the music starting, we are allowed to utilize that screen to advertise for city events.

So one of those things will be you know, PBNR with the giant QR code.

So hopefully, as people are sitting there, they can they're waiting for the music, boom, go on, do it on their phones or whatever, and then a number of other places that we're looking to, you know.

We have Pride Day also this Saturday, we have Goat Fest this Saturday.

We have a lot of events this Saturday where we can have these cards out and hopefully get people to participate.

So and to answer your specific question about what the high school students um requested, just to give a great example.

Um they said they're often waiting for their bus in huge groups of students, and when it rains, there is a really tiny bus, you know, vestibule there.

Um and it would be great to have a you know enhanced bus vestibule.

Um what what we'll need to decide is you know if things get complicated with you know it it it is both city right away, but also maybe requires some county support.

That might be part of the process of working with city staff to assess viability.

Um but in the meantime, let's take all the ideas that you know people have.

This may be a silly question, but is voting age 18, or are high schoolers under the age of 18.

So that is something that the rule book uh can will establish.

Okay.

Historic it in general, it's usually lower than 18 as a way to get people you know feeling invested in you know civic life.

But in your um in the legislation, yeah, we decided for 14.

Yeah, we decided for 14.

So yeah, yeah, so the rule book the rule book did it propose 14.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, you did okay, yeah.

Yeah, and the beauty of 14 is that um you can capture middle school students as well.

Um and that's a very common uh youngest age to allow to participate participate.

Um I've seen as low as 11.

Um but I think 14 is a good manageable number to start, especially given the high school connection.

Yeah.

Today I'm missing our member.

Yeah, our youth member.

Oh, yes, yeah.

Okay.

So uh thank you, Councilmember Stern.

And you already teased what's up next.

Yeah.

Uh but I did want to point out from the video that someone mentioned that when you think about participatory budgeting, or you just think about budget, it sounds boring.

And this may sound a little cheeky, but uh was sitting here thinking budgeting is not boring.

Like we've already created a buzz, right?

So I'm thinking budget buzz.

Okay.

Yeah, that's that little point.

Right now, I love it.

And another thing that popped out for me that I just have to say, um, someone mentioned this is ordinary citizens, local community members have an opportunity to decide how your tax dollars get spent.

And that's the biggest piece of this, right?

Like true civic engagement, that is very exciting.

Um, so the next item on the agenda is our discussion to create the rule book.

And it's found in the head and back.

Yeah, item number four in the packet.

I believe it starts on page 27 of the packet.

Um so staff has and I guess staff meaning me.

Literally.

Oh, I'm on my thumb.

Yeah, literally.

So staff.

Um we we looked at a few different examples.

Um, one of one being from Durham, Raleigh Durham, and then one being from Boston.

Um, and I really kind of I the Durham one was a little short for for me.

So I really kind of gravitated more towards the Boston one, which was a just had a lot more meat to it.

So that is a basis for what I've provided here.

And you know, you guys the committee can change anything in here, but this is I wanted to give a starting point for you.

And I, you know, my recommendation would be that we go through each section tonight.

Um and the committee provides me with some changes that they think are necessary.

Um I will make those changes, you know, and hopefully bring back what we can consider a final product at the next meeting to move forward from there.

Sounds like a plan.

Um thank you for providing it.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

No, not a problem.

Can I actually I had one question uh around the type of inch information that will be required from residents to submit ideas?

We include name, address, email address, and phone number, and then phone number says not necessary.

I'm just wondering if we uh need to include email address as necessary, um, or if that can be not necessary.

Where are you?

Uh sorry, I'm on page packet page 38.

I think I don't know.

Almost a question, it'll be a question almost for comms.

I don't know if our website will require like an email address to to submit.

Yeah, um, that would be my only thought process there, but we can confirm that, and if it's something that we you know, if we want to remove the phone number and the address completely, email address completely, we can um as long as it doesn't affect our ability to actually catch the vote.

Sure.

Um have we discussed any expectation of folks submitting a project having any kind of responsibility after submission?

Like would the person who submits an idea be in any way responsible for any next steps, or is it simply like I have an idea I'm submitting it and I go on my way, and if it's chosen or not chosen, it's beyond me now.

I haven't seen any requirements.

Um I think it's nice to especially to have contact information so that if we wanted to learn more about what they meant, you know, with their idea, we can follow up, but I haven't seen any requirements put on people to submit ideas.

I think the idea is you want it to be a pretty low bar.

Yeah.

Um so we're just making the suggestion that the phone number and email be optional before they submit the total the vote.

Is that what we're or we're just saying to totally kind of redact the phone number and email?

I I I would just ask staff to look into the possibility.

Um if it's required or not.

Just because I there are people who still don't have email addresses, and I want them to be able to participate too.

I think if we're able to leave the option, we should maybe add in there, like what you mentioned, like put an option whether they would want to be contacted if we need more information from them.

That's why I asked if if they have any responsibility after, because if if they do, then we certainly need that information.

But if not, then you know we can discuss.

Um will the full submission form also be available in Spanish?

Yeah, so our website will uh is fully convertible.

Yes, it has the ability to translate into like a hundred and something different languages.

So you'll notice that the postcard is also English and Spanish.

Yeah.

Pretty much everything we will send out will be dual language.

So just from what I'm hearing here, um, we can if email address can be optional, we can put that as optional.

Uh same thing with phone number, we'll just put it as not not necessary.

We'll take away not necessary and just make it optional and maybe add a qu and add a question about would you like to be contacted if we have additional or you're open to being contacted if we have additional information or questions about your idea?

I think so.

Okay.

Um I know we had also mentioned before.

Yeah, I wanted to throw out another idea.

I'm thinking about how we evaluate the success of this program, and part of it is are we truly reaching all communities?

And so I'm thinking about based on things like age and like race ethnicity.

Um so I'm I'm wondering if we propose making those optional questions as well, where you can you know, choose an age range or choose your rights or ethnicity or something that you can submit.

Um, and you know, leave it up to people whether they want to, but that will allow us to see how representative of New Rochelle is it.

Okay, yeah.

Would there be a way of like using the people at like the people's address to like um identify them through the district?

Is that a way to say anything about that?

But then I wonder if anyone's nervous about putting in that but I think the address would be necessary to prove that you're from like one of the questions I wrote down is just like how do we verify these people are actually new Rochelle?

Are we just trusting?

Yeah, well, that's also a criteria, like so.

If you look if we look through item seven or section seven, um, you know, I have highlighted unless otherwise specify the steering committee or city council, you know, the eligibility of any resident of Neuroshell might participate in the ideal collection, any full-time employee of Neurochell High School, any resident meeting the minimum voting age of 14 established for PB cycle may vote.

Um and then we just say the proof of citizenship or voter registration shall not be required to participate.

Um but I don't know if there's anything else you guys think is important to add here, but this was kind of the baseline that the baseline, and even as going back to the address portion, we could just have the option of neural shell resident or non-resident opposed to the whole actual literal mailing address.

Mailing address.

Yeah, because that may be a hot topic.

You could I mean we you could also, and this is a I'm not on the committee, so I'm just making suggestions, but you could put maybe zip code.

Oh, okay, yeah, because that's very identified.

Yeah, because that could be I mean with the three zip codes that we have in Neuroshell, it's one-way to one covers a lot of a lot of area, but um, you know, that's another way of saying it, so at least I think that I think people might be a little bit more comfortable putting the zip code.

I think that's a good idea.

Because like you said, there are only three zip codes, you can only pick, but it's either you know either one, right?

And then I would also bring up that if it is a full-time employee of Nourishall High School, do we have them?

Would we prompt a question?

Do we want to prompt questions of are you a resident?

Yes or no?

And then if you're not a resident, are you an employee of NeuroShell High School?

Because that's gonna be the other pin.

Because I I'm what I'm hearing is you guys we want to keep it to residents or the employees.

We don't want somebody from I own it.

I own it, like uh a college student that doesn't necessarily live here full time, or you know, somebody who's you know from yonkers voting and I know that that was also when we talked about this in front of city council.

That was something that was brought up about how would we control the idea generation and also the voting, which we'll have more to talk about.

Yeah.

So I'll add questions of one question, like it'll be the first one will be are you a resident of Neurochell?

And then if if your answer is no, are you a employee of NeuroShell High School?

A full-time employee of Neurochell High School.

Yeah.

And that's again for this round of PB for the pilot, right?

That might be something we don't if we expand on it in the future and hopefully cover more districts, maybe the employee factor kind of goes away, because you know, so just the thought there.

But I'll make these changes.

Um then we'll be able to use the data.

And if 95% of them are from the faculty.

Right, I think.

So they just allow us to see.

Yeah.

Um, I do wonder I'm on um packet page 38.

The question under idea generic idea generation, is this project on public property?

I don't know that we can expect people to know that.

Yeah.

I agree.

Um so I don't know how helpful it would be just because they probably guesses, you know.

I mean, we would have to, I mean, there is that category, the project location within a required limit.

So if they're gonna say, I mean, this is that would also we would look at that part, right?

So they can we could almost put it as project, you know, to your best to the best of your knowledge, is it's not you know, because these are just more of like the the base the set of rules that we're gonna have moving forward, right?

It's okay.

Right, these would be the what you're seeing, project title, project description.

If you were to go into this QR code, that's the fields that you're gonna see in the online form right now.

Now we'll have we'll tweak that based on how we adopt the rule book.

Yeah um, but you know, for you know, I think it to the best of your knowledge, because when Gino's here and as city staff and as a city engineer, we're gonna look at it and say, okay, yeah, this is definitely not on city property, whether it's on the school district property or it's on private property, right?

You know, we would basically have to disqualify that project.

Yeah.

So I think maybe putting something like to the best of your knowledge just so it makes it so it's like, oh another idea is like we could say like describe in as much detail as possible the location of your project.

Yeah.

And you know, let them describe it and we yeah, I would I just would be worried.

Um I don't want any questions to deter someone like ooh, I don't I don't know that it's not gonna throw the whole thing.

Yeah, yeah.

So maybe that I kind of like that better.

Yeah.

So maybe so taking is this project on public property, take that out, maybe, and then just have maybe with the project location within required limits, maybe putting a parentheses, please describe location, you know, with the most as detailed description as you can give us.

Yeah.

Um currently, does the application have a map?

Um no, it doesn't.

We don't have, I don't think we have I'm not sure if we have that capability.

We're doing all this through our city website, so it's not a hyper functional.

Um but you know, it can s we've tried to identify Huguenot Park and the streets around the high school.

Um there's an image, yeah.

Yeah, okay, okay.

So project location with the remote cover limits, please include as much description as possible of the location or something.

I'll click and just okay.

Yeah, let's go back.

The executive summary is kind of the PowerPoint presentation that we just went through.

Um, just in focus again, just identifying that for the first year pilot, the program will focus on public property, city of Neuroshell owned property around Nourish Hill High School.

Yep.

Whether that be Huguenot Park to Twin Lakes or nearby sidewalk streets, crosswalks within the city's right of way.

Sorry, go ahead.

We are not asking idea submitters to provide any budgetary um like any any budget estimates or okay, sorry.

Um we will that'll be a part of the technical review.

Okay.

Um that Gino will spearhead when we get these ideas.

That might be helpful to just describe what that's like.

Like when we get to that phase, um, there'll be the community meetings or like a forum where you have the agencies or the the technical folks standing in front and describing it and providing examples of what you can do with 200,000.

And the folks hopefully throughout this process will attend these sessions and kind of get an idea or sense of what 200,000 can actually buy.

Yeah, and then that will hopefully um provide them with like ideas, and that will then lead to the submissions, right?

So yeah, I think that was a kind of a key reason why the city manager selected Gino.

Um he's the city engineer, deputy commissioner of DPW, but also the city engineer.

So oversees all of our engineering projects.

He's really the main person to that can look at something and say that's a half a million dollars, not 200,000, or that's only 50,000.

You know, he'll be able to look at things pretty quickly.

So you know, I think he he'll have a really well, and he's a great guy.

So maybe he can do a video.

Definitely do a video.

And to that end, I think it'll be good then to have some idea of what might be 50 or 100,000 ideas so that people submit those as well.

Because if we can get like two ideas that, you know, pass muster, right?

Um that you know uh can be within the 200,000 dollar budget, then I feel like that money's going even further.

Yeah, absolutely.

And that can be a part of our campaign to just kind of you know, we have this introductory campaign that John and Comms is working on with the city manager, the mayor, and the council member.

Um, but then some additional videos that could be, hey, what is 200,000 by you?

And it we could kind of try and give some examples.

I mean, it's it's tough now.

Things are really really expensive, you know.

You know, a traffic light is a quarter of a million dollars to a half a million dollars, depending on how big it is and how many lights on it.

So you know, we thought 200,000 was in a good ballpark.

Um, but yeah, that's we can definitely try and give some ideas of what you know, especially when then you're talking about a specific property or areas of property, you know, crosswalks or bus shelters, and see how much these things would really cost us.

So in selecting how these capital projects are funded.

How much weight, if any weight, are we giving to like ongoing costs?

So, for example, like a splash and play, like we're paying for all that water for then all the time after.

So are like are we considering that?

Is it I believe it's in here?

Um there is a section in here, and I just saw remember is it's a good thing.

Where there's the limit is funding parameters.

Yes, yep.

Projects should generally be one-time expenditures, it admin costs associated with operating the PB process, maybe funded separately from project allocation.

So I would like when we talk about a splash pad.

Um we have a few of them in the city.

Both I believe are freshwater splash pads.

Meaning you turn them on and the water just runs and the meter keeps going.

There are other versions of that which will recycle the water, they are obviously more expensive, um, but they are much better at saving water in the future.

Comes along with a little more health department requirements because of the filtration system, but that's just one idea there, right?

Because yes, the ongoing costs of letting these things run is significant.

I'm just I mean, I'm I'm reading this.

I'm just wondering uh on packet page 20 uh 40.

I'm just wondering if we're giving any weight to ongoing costs in selecting the projects.

But um I think we would have to, and I think that would be something that Gino would have to look at as well and say, you know, you know, putting up a playground, you kind of put it up and it's and it's there.

Your expenses after that are maybe for minor maintenance of it if something breaks, but a splash pad or something else like that might be different is different depending on the type.

So is everybody okay?

I don't know if everyone's looked at kind of uh number th section three, which is the purpose and goals, and then also number four, which are just kind of our guiding principles.

Um again, based it off of Boston with a combination of Durham there.

Um so just you know, but so it's section four packet page 34.

I guess just for the public at home, we've got equity, civic engagement and empowerment, transparency, accessibility, community empowerment, accountability, inclusion, and partnerships and trust.

So there might be some overlap there, and leave that to you guys to identify if there's anything you want to change or remove, add I think I'm okay with what's um red.

I liked what was there, yeah.

You hit them all.

Um can I ask packet page 42 under section 11 three four, excuse me, phase four.

Um it says eligible ideas shall be refined.

Are we jumping around again?

Sorry.

So are we finished with five and six?

Well, what do we do?

I can wait.

I can wait.

Yeah, let's wait.

So we can just try and get through the whole document.

Yeah.

So we'll go with four.

That's that the consensus.

Yeah, yeah.

Yes.

Okay.

Um number five, which is the equity framework.

Yeah, I like that part.

I liked it too.

Yeah.

Number six is just roles and responsibilities.

This is kind of what we've seen in the presentation and what was in the legislation.

I guess the difference here, this has obviously a city council's role, the steering committee's role, the city staff role, my role, and my office will be to administer and coordinate the PB process, conduct project eligibility and feasibility reviews, and that's in consult with uh DPW, Gino.

Um obviously a lot of this property is in our parks.

So Commissioner Parisi and the parks department will all have also have to be involved in the process.

Um coordinate voting logistics, implement winning projects, and provide regular implementation updates.

And then we just I thought it was important, and I guess Boston did too, to have you know what is the community participants' role.

Uh submit project ideas, attend meetings and workshops, assist in proposal development, participate in discussions and vote on the final proposal.

So and then the budget delegates.

I've I've no I've seen that in other communities.

I don't know if that's something that we want to look at.

Um so I I left it as optional.

Um I don't know in New York City, do they think that requires a level of administrative support that we don't have yet?

Okay.

Um that's essentially managing a huge group of volunteers.

Um so I think in future years, definitely a possibility.

But I'll leave it here, I'll leave it in, but as optional so that we're not tied to it, right?

Yeah, at this point.

And it was a separate budget for that too.

I'm sure.

Yeah, wasn't it?

Yeah.

Oh seven, we've kind of went over it, went through pretty well, and I I have a bunch of notes here.

Eight is just your project criteria.

I'm sorry, actually, can we under six under city staff?

Six, okay.

Um are the city staff refining the ideas into the final proposals, or is that the uh role of the committee?

I think it's a combination of both.

Would be my is that yeah, I think you know, we're gonna Gino's gonna have to keep us in a realistic world.

Um, but refining the proposal, you know, for public consumption at the voting process, I think it's gonna be both both parties.

Do we do we want to list those under rules and responsibilities, or do we feel like that's implied?

For the steering committee?

Yeah, for the for both for both, I suppose.

What's the question again?

What is that?

Um the idea.

I'm wondering whose role it is to refine to build out the final project proposals from the ideas that will then be voted on.

The city Gino?

I think it I think it's Gino from the whether something is realistic and and feasible.

Um, but I think the committee has a a say in also how we maybe package it.

I yeah, because right, the public has to vote on a proposal, so we have to write up a proposal that's probably a little bit more refined than the initial idea submission that we received.

Okay.

So I'm wondering whose role that is and if we want to put that in here.

I think we put it under both, and we kind of say um refinement of proposals under the steering committee we refinement of proposals will be will be done in in concert with city staff, and then flip it for the for the other one.

I could imagine, for example, let's say we get a thousand ideas, and if a hundred of them are all about um transportation, you know, pedestrian bike, you know, car infrastructure and like the streets.

But most of the ideas are five hundred thousand dollar ideas.

And if city staff were to say, well, these ideas are too expensive.

Our you know, the steering committee might then say, well, you know, there were a lot of ideas all about you know the streets and and you know the infrastructure there.

Like, is there a 200,000 idea or 100,000 idea that is feasible?

And like I could see that being a discussion that the steering like the steering committee has that kind of perspective to bring.

Um I like that.

And what do we call in uh so that would be uh so I'm looking at this, right?

The coordinating the voting logistics and then implement the winning project.

So it's a it's that space between this is the the the idea that comes in, and we sit around and we make a decision on what could be this was an idea.

We've given it some more thought.

Okay.

Yeah, I can see that, but uh we would have that conversation as a steering committee, but we would be working with the city to polish it.

To polish it because this is yeah, the city is the one who would be implementing this, right?

Right.

We're the city's staff is gonna implement whatever is selected.

We're gonna implement it.

I would just under city staff number three provide or number two and three, conduct project eligibility and feasibility review.

Wait, where um city staff shall under the roles and responsibilities for the second bullet under city staff shall this conduct project eligibility and feasibility review?

I feel like that is the city side of it that we're gonna Gino's gonna look at and say, okay, this is this is eligible, this is feasible, this falls within the the budgeted dollar value, and then you know that the steering committee could say, okay, that works, but how do we package it for a ballot, right?

How do we package that project?

Because we're getting, you know, maybe a couple sentences on the on the website.

Who's literally building out the voting platform?

And I assume that's the city.

Yes, yeah, yeah.

And that's a decision for probably later on of what platform we, you know.

I know this PB Stanford was the one that Greensboro used.

Um that's the one I've heard a lot from other places Durham as well, I think.

Yeah, um, seems to kind of be the I don't want to say the gold standard, but one of the standards for P Bay.

So and I believe it's free.

And it's free.

Which is awesome.

So I guess from this perspective, I get what I just the refinement of proposals will be completed, you know, in concert with city staff under steering, and then just flip it just to give some onus on both parties there.

Yeah.

Does that work for you guys?

Or okay.

So seven were good.

I think that was good.

Eight um project eligibility criteria.

Again, this kind of just reiterates the location.

Um give us examples of those eligible projects, which are all kind of capital in nature.

Uh street and sidewalk, park and playground, public art, sustainability, and environmental initiatives, accessibility improvements, recreation and community space enhancements.

Yeah.

Are these things are gonna be on the website to get people who are submitting ideas?

I think we do have, I don't know if we have it as as detailed as this, but I do believe we would like an idea.

We give an idea of like could be a playground or it could be this or maybe that.

Yeah, okay.

Um I'm gonna throw this out there, and please feel free to say no.

Um I do this stuff with my students sometimes, and they are really focused on like events.

So is do would we um would it be worth specifying?

Like we're not funding events right now, we're funding capital projects.

I don't know if um it may already be clear.

I'm just and it it we could already be meeting those requirements.

I'm just throwing that.

So on the in this next section, the following types of projects are generally ineligible, the programmatic projects is kind of what I was trying to capture in that would be like events or specific kind of programs.

Okay.

Um I think it's fair to add programmatic projects and events, yeah.

Yeah, I'll put that and events perfect.

I'm gonna I'm getting into that section too.

Yes, yes.

Okay, okay, funding parameters.

Um council set shall establish the amount of funding allocated for each cycle, and that'll be a part of the city's budget process.

Um funding allocation may include capital funding, expense funding, or a combination thereof.

When I speak of expense funding, I mean that implementation costs for getting postcards and you know, potentially having maybe to rent the space or any of those kind of operating expenses.

Um one-time expenditure, admin costs with operating, maybe funded separately, and then individual project cost caps may be established by the steering committee or city staff.

Um I think the keyword there is May.

Um just to keep that, you know.

If we get, I think if we start because of how thing how expensive everything is now, I don't think we want to.

I don't think you guys want to necessarily do that, but that is up to you about putting a cap on it.

I mean the main cap is the 200.

Yeah.

So the timeline was basically meant to follow the schedule that was in the presentation.

Um, so try to keep it as similar to that.

But I know I know we already set the timeline for this year, but as the years continue with the with this um committee.

We're not gonna be well with the program and stuff like that.

Would they be able to then change the timeline of community outreach to a little bit like early spring, just because I I know that I know we started a little late into the year, so it's a little bit more difficult to get the ideas from high schoolers and like maybe middle schooler mill middle schoolers.

So like maybe somehow we start early spring just so we can have a little bit more time of them getting to understand what the program is and then I know as it continues to people will get more familiar with it, but just a little bit more of an outreach earlier start.

I think that's definitely a goal.

I think being the first year we were you know we were presenting to council in January and working on a lot of the stuff.

Okay.

So it's like basically subject to change as it's yeah, I think this is a rule book you're probably I would presume this hearing committee is probably gonna tweak each year.

Oh, okay.

You know, because it's part of the process that says that some.

Yeah, that it's reviewed every year and because the high school might, you know, that pilot, that area is gonna have to change regardless.

Yeah, cool.

Would the voting in person be at City Hall or like at high schools, or that just is that a different budget?

Because it would cons it would have to be someone from this community at the high school, right?

Okay.

Yeah, I mean that's gonna kind of fall on you guys to see where.

I mean, obviously, I think this building should be a location, would be my suggestion.

Um but yeah, I also think about like the high school age kids, the middle school, they're probably more apt to do it on no pun intended app, but to do it on their phones than to maybe submit a paper ballot.

Um, you know, maybe there's a a ballot at like the Doyle Center for the senior citizen, you know, a senior center, um, because that's probably more the speed that they would look to participate in.

Um so we're covering all the different has neurochal looked into like maybe participating with businesses around the like in New Rochelle, especially in districts, like in on union on Webster, where they could talk to the um business owners and be like, hi, can we post this poster in your in your in your business so we can get more community outreach?

So our business ambassador um uh Mariana actually took a ton of postcards from my office this morning and went out to is going out to businesses and bringing these postcards to them.

Um and she has a lot of businesses that are right on Union Avenue.

So this will get in there.

I mean, we can look to do maybe if we want to do some posters, um, we can look to procure that and and get them up in the city hall and some of the other areas that's definitely doable.

Um but yeah, no, we definitely and the thought was you know, let's make sure we get them around the high school.

Let's get them in Starbucks, let's get them in McDonald's, Chicken Joe's, karate's, the barbershop that's there, let's get them in all those places because the kids walk by them every day.

Yeah, you know, the Avenue Delhi, the Mirage.

Um really saturate that area.

I think the other thing I would add is in an ideal world, like I remember in in Brooklyn when I the first time I voted, it was outside of a C town because someone had a table set up and they were there to facilitate voting.

Um in our first year, I don't know that we're gonna be able to do that everywhere all the time.

Um, but I would like I think part of the value of this committee is there are many of us compared to the number of city staff who are able to work on this all the time.

Um so I think if we can you know actually set up a schedule where we each commit to doing a two or three hour shift somewhere, and you know, like we can think about the train station or the you know, different grocery stores or you know, outside of you know, synagogues on Saturday and churches on Sunday, you know, like whatever it is to get you know as many people um voting.

I think to the extent that we have the manpower to be able to do that, I think the better.

Yeah.

I love the transition.

I mean it's it's amazing how many people go through there every day.

Um and I we could we could put a ton of these 500 of them and within a couple days they'll all be gone.

People will pick them up, and so that's another location we need to I need to make sure we hit to get the cards there.

I think there's enough events between now and in the fall in even into the winter when it's over.

But there's just enough events around this amazing town that we can all hit up.

Um are we good 11 with the phases?

Just a shift page, right?

Did you say 52 feet?

Yeah, you know what?

I think that was taken care of and in an earlier yeah.

I think in six we kind of hit the same.

Yeah.

And I think phase four is kind of what Matt was talking about about um refine it to formal project proposals, but we may conduct community meetings and workshops to gather additional public inputs.

So maybe if we like you said, all those roadway improvements, maybe we have a meeting and say, hey, we've got all these ideas, they're a little too high, but how can we refine them to maybe get an eligible project?

One thing I also might suggest is with voting may occur, it says at designated public locations.

I think you can strike the word public, right?

Like just it's indications throughout the city.

Yeah.

Section two on the uh the next section 12 is on voting results and procedures.

Voting rules and procedures.

How would we prove that they're above 14 I mean this is kind of my thought was this is where we where I really need to talk to other communities that have done this.

I mean, the question I did ask not so much on the age question, but like I remember talking with Durham and saying, how do you guys like prevent somebody from voting 17 times like I used to for the all-star game with baseball for Garantia or something like that?

You know, and they really their response was it kind of is what it is, and we just hope that people will like honor the beyond us and and honor the process.

Um I mean, we're since we're gonna be requiring names, we will be able to filter the results and hopefully get an idea of what I mean.

That's probably what we're gonna have to do unfortunately.

You can also have them affirm, you know, they have to affirm that they have met all the requirements that are listed.

So make them, you know, affirm that.

Um and then I think the actual app that they vote through, you know, it it's able to check like the exact time that something is done, and I don't know if it can check the location, but like that could be a means of looking, oh, there were suddenly like 400 votes that came in at three o'clock in the morning from this IP address or something like that.

Like that.

So where there is an ability to implement like fraud prevention measures, I think that's our responsibility to do, and and I think we would take that very seriously.

Okay.

And that's listed here for a prevention.

So is everything for 12 or I think it's good, yeah.

Oh, I can't made a note here.

Um voters may select multiple projects up to the number permitted on the ballot.

So we're gonna have to figure out, I guess, like how we're gonna on that ballot, like what would be are we gonna is it's like ranked voting where you're gonna, you know, this is my favorite project, I'm giving them a five, this is my second, it's a four, or are we just saying like you know, pick your favorite project and and that's it.

So I think we should we probably should identify that in this now, I would guess.

I think a ranking a ranking will be a good idea.

Okay.

Or is New York, how does New York City do it?

I know you you can choose a certain number in each section.

At least this was many years ago when I was when I participated in it.

Um but yeah, generally I see that they up to the uh number of either the the budgetary limit or just like a certain number that they set of number of projects you can vote for, you know, they can then parse it out um uh among the categories.

Okay.

Um or it's one ballot and you get to choose a certain number or up to a certain budget amount and they list you know the estimated budget there as well.

So I I do think you're right, we should decide like whether it's like you get to vote for any number of budgets up to a total of 200,000 worth, or is it you can choose two and you know we'll tally all of them.

I don't know.

If just a suggestion, the simpler the better, I feel like we're gonna get ballots that are not filled out correctly, and then it's gonna be like what do we do with these?

Yeah, how do we count these?

Yeah, I my just me, my experience with ranking, I think it becomes very complicated for voters to understand and for um for folks behind the for administrators to to then deal with after that.

So and I I worry that especially when there's many proposals to vote on that folks will just like okay, I'm overwhelmed and I'm just gonna pick whatever.

Right.

I think that sometimes happens too.

I wonder if given the budget this year, for the sake of this year, we you know, let people choose up to two or three projects.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's probably I think keeping it simpler, just thinking on the back end, like you said, the administration of it, like having to count the ballots and a is that a hanging chad there, or is it what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

It's a pilot.

Yeah.

So I guess top like up to three.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Do we envision having categories like you mentioned in New York City?

Or perhaps not for this pilot.

I don't know about this year.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's more limited.

And that makes it simpler.

You know, in future years, if you know, six city council districts, assuming we break it down by district, that's gonna introduce its own level of complexity.

Um I'm gonna enjoy the simplicity while we have it.

I would just make suggest I wrote it down too on where it's a city may establish under number twelve.

I just think we because it's saying that the city may establish, I think the steering committee may establish.

Um want there to be confusion that they're council establishing it or staff, it think that's your the choice of the committee.

Yeah.

I think 14 is also good.

13 and 14 were good.

Fifteen.

Um what does it mean by voting participation levels?

Or 16.

I'm guessing just how many votes we get, right?

Like, do we do we have you know city of 80,000?

Do we only have a thousand people voting, or maybe do we get 10,000 people to vote?

Like, I think that you know, probably be lighter in the beginning this year, but hopefully we'll increase as we move this program along.

Right.

I think that part's good too.

I would also recommend we add uh racial and racial slash ethnicity.

Um eighteen is good too.

And our capital project will be prevailing wage.

Oh, I guess I'll be not there's gonna be work.

Thankfully it won't be you guys, it'll be the contractors so they're not doing their job.

Okay, not right.

So if we're cool, I think we're ready to move on to the I don't mind.

Oh I think I will so just give it, I'll incorporate, I'll go through all the comments that we've made tonight, I'll watch the video again probably three or four times to get everything.

I will assemble the book, and then once we get I'll post the next meeting agenda and I'll be in there.

Um if you guys think of anything else, feel free to email me, and then I'll have a list of I'm gonna try and come up with a list of everything we talked about so we can go through it systematically so the public has every idea of what we're doing.

So great.

Okay.

So moving along on the agenda.

We have no old business.

We have no old business.

So um new business.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June thirtieth, two thousand and twenty-six.

Yes.

Well, I'll I'll identify the room closer.

Um we possibly will be back up in the room or back upstairs.

Um in uh the council conference room.

So or it could be here, but it's gonna either be one of the two.

So great.

Okay.

So that is it.

This is good.

This is good, everyone.

Is there a motion to adjourn?

Is there a second?

Second.

All in favor.

Meeting adjourned.

Is that what you want to say?

Meeting adjourned.