South Bend officials held their first “Build the Budget” hearing Thursday evening to get public input on where the city should spend its money in 2022 –– including the nearly $59 million it got from the American Rescue Plan Act.
After a brief presentation from city officials, participants split into breakout groups in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center’s gymnasium. Facilitators made notes of each group’s discussion and presented their priorities at the end of the evening.
Something that every group mentioned? Housing. They said the city should invest in home repairs for dilapidated properties, permanent supportive housing for the unsheltered population, and assistance programs for residents who want to buy a home.
Participants said they also want the city to work with the other entities –– namely, the school district and the county –– to get the most out of their Rescue Plan funding. Debra Stanley is the founder of local health nonprofit Imani Unidad.
“There are a lot of us community-based organizations working on health –– none of us are rolling in the dough,” Stanley said. “But when we put our kibbles and bits together, we got a mighty, mighty force and we can do something wonderful.”
“They have millions and millions and millions of dollars,” she added. “Why can’t they pool their resources on behalf of and for the betterment of the community?”
Participants also said they want to see investment on the city’s west side –– both in physical infrastructure, like parks and streets, and social infrastructure, like community programs and small businesses.
Drew Duncan, who works with the local branch of the NAACP, said using Rescue Plan funding to invest only in underserved neighborhoods would further the city’s equity goals.
“Equity, to me, is –– invest in places that we know millionaires will not come and build condos in,” he said. “And that’s the west, that’s the northwest side of South Bend. That’s the southeast side of South Bend.”
Duncan is also a citizen member of the city’s community relations committee. He said that instead of losing money on new programs, the city should use the federal dollars to fix streets, sidewalks and dilapidated properties –– things council members hear about “literally weekly,” but often get added to yearslong to-do lists.
“I don’t think the time is to be reimagining how to spend a budget,” he said. “I’m trying to maximize that $58.9 million in doing the things that we know –– that we have on record –– that we know cost millions of dollars that, typically, we would not be able to do in this generation.”
The city will hold two more Build the Budget meetings:
- Thursday, Aug. 12, at the Pinhook Park Community Center
- Tuesday, Aug. 17, at the Howard Park Event Center
All meetings will start at 6 p.m. You can also fill out the city’s online survey or call 311 to leave comments.
A city spokesperson said Thursday that all feedback from the surveys community hearings will be compiled into executive summaries, which will then be presented to the common council at public meetings.
The city’s formal 2022 budget presentations will begin Wednesday, Aug. 11.
Contact Gemma at gdicarlo@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @gemma_dicarlo.
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