Featured in “The Minotaur Times“

NMAMA – In Albuquerque, the narrative has long been that residents have been out of the conversation for the money that goes to neighborhoods, businesses, parks, etc. But that doesn’t have to be the case, and PBABQ has shown that. PBABQ, a local pilot project founded in 2024 partnered with the Albuquerque City Council giving the power of budgeting to the community, not just the people in city offices. This partnership between City Councilor Nichole Rogers and PBABQ has led to community discussion. Councilor Rogers has spent the past few months visiting schools, neighborhood associations, communities, and local businesses to discuss what the people want to see for themselves firsthand.

This past Thursday, Media Arts had the pleasure of bringing in Nichole Rogers, city councilor for District 6, spanning from UNM to Mesa Del Sol, and including our school, Jennifer Tucker, PhD, associate professor of UNM Community + Regional Planning, and Jeff Hertz, Albuquerque City Council Special Projects Policy Analyst. All three spoke of the importance of participatory budgeting while informing us that anyone, regardless of age, can submit an idea to the City Council and it will go through the process and perhaps become funded.

Councilor Rogers has already designated $1.5 million for capital projects and wants our help deciding what to spend it on. This money would go to improving the narrative of the area by beautifying, repairing sidewalks, adding public trash cans, and much more. Councilor Rogers also told us that she wants to visit the state capital to lobby for more funding, as each legislator receives around $1.5 million, in a coach bus with some “cool” t-shirts. For now, it’s idea generation time, and she needs our ideas and help to make it happen.

For more information regarding participatory budgeting in Albuquerque, visit PBABQ.org or the District 6 Projects page. You can submit an idea using the online form here.