Reinventing Urban Democracy in New York and Somerville

Date: 

Wednesday, April 10, 2013, 4:10pm to 5:30pm

Location: 

Starr Auditorium, Belfer Building, 2nd Floor, HKS

Joseph Curtatone, Mayor of Somerville, MA; Brad Lander, Council Member, New York City; and Hollie Russon-Gilman, Ash Center

Co-sponsored by the Regional, State, Local & Tribal Governance Public Interest Council, HKS

About the Seminar
What would happen if citizens got together to decide collectively how budgets are spent? Participatory budgeting began in Brazil, where it is used in more than 100 cities, and has just recently spread to the United States. Council Member Brad Lander helped to spearhead the efforts of eight New York City council members to put their capital budgets, totaling around $10 million, up to this democratic process. He will speak about the vision, the benefits, and the challenges of this exciting new experiment in urban democracy.

Somerville’s Mayor Curtatone has also placed renewed emphasis on the importance of involving citizens in planning. Somerville’s ResiStat program engages residents in forums in each of the city’s seven wards, as well as with specific populations, multiple times each year. These forums provide opportunities for citizens to discuss neighborhood development, challenges, and solutions with city officials and with the Mayor. What impact have these forums had? How does citizen participation transform government? Mayor Curtatone will share his thoughts.

About the Speakers
Joseph Curtatone, as mayor of Somerville, MA, has successfully implemented a wide range of reforms and new programs that have earned the city many distinctions by regional and national organizations, including the designation by Boston Globe Magazine as “the best-run city in Massachusetts,” by America's Promise Alliance as one of the “100 Best Communities for Youth,” and a winner of the 2009 “All America City” competition. Curtatone earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston College in 1990, and a J.D. from New England School of Law in 1994. Prior to his election as mayor, he had served as an attorney in private practice and a volunteer assistant football coach at Somerville High School.

Brad Lander is a New York City Council Member representing Brooklyn’s 39th District, and a leader on issues of affordable housing, livable communities, the environment, and public education. Named one of “Today’s Social Justice Heroes” by The Nation magazine, Lander is co-chair of the Council’s Progressive Caucus and was one of the first council members to bring participatory budgeting to his district, giving residents the power to decide which projects to support with their tax dollars. Prior to serving in the City Council, Lander directed the Pratt Center for Community Development and the Fifth Avenue Committee, a nationally-recognized community development organization.

Hollie Russon-Gilman is a Democracy Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Innovation and Governance where she works as a member of Harvard’s Transparency Policy Project (TPP). For over two years, Russon-Gilman has supported the Transparency and Accountability Initiative, funded through the Open Society Foundation, to provide strategy with NGOs in the developing world for the most effective ways to use Internet Communication (ICT) for greater citizen power in holding government transparent and accountable.