TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Tucson community has the chance to make their voice heard and have real decision-making power.
The City of Tucson's Ward 1 office is giving community members a direct say in how how a portion of the discretionary budget is spent by participating in Budget de la Gente.
People can can submit project ideas and compete for grant funding. This year, $200,000 is available to disperse. The 20 projects chosen will each be awarded $10,000.
There are five project focus areas:
1. Arts and Cultura
2. Youth investment
3. Mobility Justice
4. Sustainability beautification
5. Community cohesion
Giselle Taylor, Community Engagement and Small Businesses Coordinator, says Ward 1 is the only ward office in Arizona that does this, and hopes it gets people involved.
"People get to put in their ideas for how they want it to be used, say they want a project implemented to the community such as beautification or a mural or a special event or something, they get to put in their idea and they have a chance to get a grant," Taylor said.
About 30 ideas have already been submitted. Proposals include street resurfacing, a dog park at Joaquin Murrieta Park, lunches for the El Rio Seniors Club, and more.
Arianna Luna, owner of La Bella Luna Boutique in the MSA Annex, loves what Ward 1 is doing. She says she likes the idea of different organizations coming together to cater to more people in need, instead of reinventing the wheel.
"I saw a lot of ideas that had to do a lot with helping the elderly but also helping the kids and I feel like being able to connect with organizations that have already been doing the footwork and doing that kind of thing and connecting with them so we can reach more of Tucson," Luna said.
Luna is involved with community events herself, running the annual Cultura x Chicano Vibez Festival and showcases other local artists in her shop. She said the money can even help the festival expand and bring other businesses.
"I know my event is only once a year and so a lot people are like, 'This is great. It would be awesome if we can have this more often.' It's just the work that it takes for it to be free, for it to be accessible to everybody. It does take time but even a little help like something like that to connect with the small organizations and events that I do, would be such a great help," Luna said.
This is the fourth cycle of Ward 1's participatory budgeting.
One previous winning project provided affordable glasses to community members — something Luna said she personally benefited from.
"They did my free exam, 10 dollar co-pay and then two free lenses under a certain price" Luna explained.
Some of the cycle three project winners are still in action.
"So last year we had and they're still being implemented today, we had an eviction prevention program and we have a sexual health event going on later in the year," Taylor said. "We've had an adobe bricks project, more like sustainability, beautification work, murals."
Nadia Hagen, artistic director for Tucson's All Souls Procession, which takes place on the west side, said the annual event costs $150,000 to produce and could use the support.
"Well it costs $10,000 for the barricades to close the streets or it costs $10,000 to pay for TPD (Tucson Police Department) to pay for the security costs," Hagen said.
To participate, you must live, work or go to school in Ward 1.
Ideas must be submitted by March 6. Voting will begin in April.
So, hurry and submit your ideas now.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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