My name is Shari Davis, and let's be honest, I'm a recovering government employee. And I say that with a huge shout-out to the folks that work in government and on systems change. It's hard. It can be isolating. And the work can feel impossible. But government is the people that show up. Really, it's the people that can show up and are committed to the promise that public service offers: service to people, democracy and fixing the problems that community members face.
我是雪莉戴維斯, 老實說, 我是位正在恢復中的公務員。 且這句話我是對在政府工作的人 以及從事體制改變的人 大聲喊出來的。 很辛苦。 感覺很孤獨。 感覺好像辦不到。 但政府就是出席的人。 真的,政府就是能出席的人, 且他們努力達成 公共服務所做出的承諾: 服務人民、 民主, 以及處理社區成員面對的問題。
Seventeen years ago, I walked through city hall for the first time as a staff member. And that walk revealed something to me. I was a unicorn. There weren't many people who looked like me that worked in the building. And yet, there were folks committed to addressing hundreds of years of systemic inequity that left some behind and many ignored. Where there was promise, there was a huge problem. You see, democracy, as it was originally designed, had a fatal flaw. It only laid pipeline for rich white men to progress. And now, if you're a smart rich white man, you understand why I say that's a problem. Massive talent has been left off the field. Our moral imaginations have grown anemic. Our highest offices are plagued by corruption. We're on the brink of a sort of apathetic apocalypse, and it's not OK.
十七年前, 我以幕僚的身分 第一次走進市政廳。 這段經歷讓我知道了一件事。 我就像是獨角獸。 在這間大樓中工作的人, 很少有看起來像我這樣子的。 但,那裡有些人投入心力在處理 數百年來因為體制不平等 導致有些人被拋棄、 許多人被忽視的問題。 有承諾的地方, 就會有大問題。 民主打從最原始的設計上, 就有致命的瑕疵。 它只為富有白種男性 舖設繼續進步的路。 如果你是聰明、有錢的白種男性, 你就會了解為什麼 我會說那是個問題。 許多有才能的人被忽視。 我們的道德想像力很貧乏, 我們的高官十分腐敗, 我們已經接近某種冷淡麻木 造成的世界末日了, 這樣是不行的。
We've got to open the doors to city halls and schools so wide that people can't help but walk in. We've got to throw out the old top-down processes that got us into this mess, and start over, with new faces around the table, new voices in the mix, and we have to welcome new perspectives every step of the way. Not because it's the right thing to do -- although it is -- but because that's the only way for us to all succeed together.
我們必須要打開 市政廳及學校的大門, 且把門開得很大, 讓大家不由自主就會走進去。 由上而下的舊式流程 讓我們走到現在這團糟, 我們必須把它丟棄,重新來過, 讓新面孔也能參與, 新聲音也能加入, 一路上的每一步, 我們都得要歡迎新的觀點。 並不是因為這是對的事—— 雖然的確是—— 而是因為唯有這種方式, 才能讓我們所有人一起成功。
And here's the best news of all. I know how to do it. The answer -- well, an answer, is participatory budgeting. That's right. Participatory budgeting, or "PB" for short.
最棒的消息是, 我知道怎麼做。 答案——嗯,其中一個答案, 就是參與式預算編制。 沒錯。 參與式預算編制,簡稱 PB。
PB is a process that brings community and government together to ideate, develop concrete proposals and vote on projects that solve real problems in community.
PB 是一個流程, 它能結合民眾與政府, 去形成概念,發展出具體的提案, 並針對能夠解決真正 社區問題的計畫來進行投票。
Now I realize that people don't get up and dance when I start talking about public budgets. But participatory budgeting is actually about collective, radical imagination. Everyone has a role to play in PB, and it works, because it allows community members to craft real solutions to real problems and provides the infrastructure for the promise of government. And honestly, it's how I saw a democracy actually work for the first time.
現在我已經知道, 當我開始談論政府預算時, 大家並不會跳起來手舞足蹈。 但參與式預算編制 重點其實在於集體、激進的想像力。 在 PB 中每個人都有角色 要扮演,且它行得通, 因為它讓社區中每一份子 都要針對真實的問題 想出真實的解決方案, 它也能為政府的承諾 提供基礎設施。 老實說, 這是我第一次認為 民主有可能行得通。
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts, and mayor Menino asked me to launch the country's first youth-focused PB effort with one million dollars of city funds. Now, we didn't start with line items and limits or spreadsheets and formulas. We started with people. We wanted to make sure that everyone was listened to.
我記憶猶新。 2014 年在麻省波士頓, 曼尼諾市長要我 用一百萬市基金來推出全國第一個 以年輕人為主的 PB 計畫。 我們並不是從單行項目、限制、 試算表,及公式開始著手。 我們從人開始。 我們想要確保每個人都能被傾聽。
So we brought in young people from historically and traditionally marginalized neighborhoods, members of the queer community and youth that were formerly incarcerated, and together, often with pizza and a sugar-free beverage, we talked about how to make Boston better. And we designed a process that we called "Youth Lead the Change." We imagined a Boston where young people could access the information that they need to thrive. Where they could feel safe in their communities, and where they can transform public spaces into real hubs of life for all people.
所以我們從歷史上和傳統上 都被邊緣化的鄰里 找來了一些年輕人, 找來了酷兒族群的成員, 找來了先前被關過的青年, 我們同心協力,通常也會 搭配比薩和無糖飲料, 一起討論如何讓波士頓變得更好。 我們設計出一個流程, 稱為「青年領導改變」。 在我們想像中的波士頓, 年輕人能夠取得讓他們 成長茁壯所必要的資訊。 他們在自己的社區中能感到安全, 他們能把公共空間轉變成 真正給所有人的生活中心。
And that's exactly what they did. In the first year, young people allocated 90,000 dollars to increase technology access for Boston public high school students, by delivering laptops right to Boston public high schools, so that students could thrive inside and outside of the classroom. They allocated 60,000 dollars to creating art walls that literally and figuratively brightened up public spaces. But they addressed a more important problem. Young people were being criminalized and pulled into the justice system for putting their art on walls. So this gave them a safe space to practice their craft. They allocated 400,000 dollars to renovating parks, to make them more accessible for all people of all bodies.
他們真的就這麼做了。 第一年, 年輕人分配了九萬美金 來讓波士頓公立高中學生 更容易取得和使用科技, 做法是直接將筆記型電腦 送到波士頓的公立高中, 這麼一來,學生在教室 內外都可以成長。 他們分配了六萬美金打造藝術牆, 讓公共空間亮起來, 這不只是也是比喻,是真的如此。 但他們處理掉了 一個更重要的問題。 年輕人因為在牆上塗鴨 而被視為罪犯繩之以法。 因此這個做法讓他們 有個安全的空間發揮技藝。 他們分配了四十萬美金修復公園, 讓各種不同身體狀況的人 更容易去使用公園。
Now, admittedly, this didn't go as smoothly as we had planned. Right before we broke ground on the park, we actually found out that it was on top of an archaeological site and had to halt construction. I thought I broke PB. But because the city was so committed to the project, that's not what happened. They invited community in to do a dig, protected the site, found artifacts, extended Boston's history and then moved forward with the renovation. If that isn't a reflection of radical imagination in government, I don't know what is.
無可否認, 這並沒有我們計畫的那麼順利。 就在我們要在公園動工前, 我們發現公園位在考古地點上方, 因此必須將工程停下來。 我以為我把 PB 搞砸了。 但因為這個城市相當投入這個計畫, 結果並沒有搞砸。 他們邀請社區進去做挖掘, 保護那個地點, 找到了文物, 延伸了波士頓的歷史, 接著才繼續進行修繕。 如果那還沒有反映出 政府的激進想像力, 我實在不知道那算什麼了。
What sounds simple is actually transformational for the people and communities involved. I'm seeing community members shape transportation access, improve their schools and even transform government buildings, so that there is space inside of them for them. Before we had PB, I would see people who look like me and come from where I come from walk in to government buildings for this new initiative or that new working group, and then I'd watch them walk right back out. Sometimes I wouldn't see them again. It's because their expertise was being unvalued. They weren't truly being engaged in the process. Put PB is different.
聽起來很簡單, 事實上卻為相關的人 及社區帶來轉變。 我看到社區成員 設法改善交通的使用, 改良他們的學校, 甚至將政府大樓轉型, 在大樓中設置給他們使用的空間。 在我們有 PB 之前, 我會看到像我這樣的人, 和我來自一樣的地方, 他們為了這個新動議 或者那個新工作群組 而走進政府大樓, 接著,我會看著他們再走出來。 有時,我不會再見到他們。 那是因為他們的長處沒有被重視。 他們沒有真正參與到過程。 PB 則不同。
When we started doing PB, I met amazing young leaders across the city. One in particular, a rock star, Malachi Hernandez, 15 years old, came into a community meeting -- shy, curious, a little quiet. Stuck around and became one of the young people hoping to lead the project. Now fast-forward a couple of years. Malachi was the first in his family to attend college. A couple of weeks ago, he was the first in his family to graduate. Malachi has appeared in the Obama White House several times as part of the My Brother's Keeper initiative. President Obama even quotes Malachi in interviews. It's true, you can look it up. Malachi got engaged, stayed engaged, and is out here changing the way we think about community leadership and potential.
開始做 PB 時, 我在城市各處都見過 出色的年輕領導者。 特別是一位搖滾樂巨星, 十五歲的馬拉凱 · 赫南德茲, 他走進社區會議—— 很害羞,很好奇,有點文靜。 他留下來了, 成為希望能領導 這個計畫的年輕人之一。 把時間快轉幾年。 馬拉凱是他的家庭中 第一個上大學的人。 幾週前, 他是他們家第一個從大學畢業的人。 馬拉凱曾經數次 出現在歐巴馬的白宮, 因為他是「守護我兄弟」 計畫的一份子。 歐巴馬總統在訪談時 甚至引用馬拉凱的話。 是真的,你可以去查。 馬拉凱參與了,且一直涉入其中, 正在努力改變我們對於 社區領導能力及潛力的看法。
Or my friend Maria Hadden, who was involved in the first PB process in Chicago. Then went on to become a founding participatory budgeting project board member, eventually a staff member, and then unseated a 28-year incumbent, becoming the first queer Black alderperson in Chicago's history. That's real engagement. That's being taken seriously. That's building out and building on community leadership. That's system change.
還有我的朋友瑪莉亞 · 海登, 她參與了芝加哥的 第一個 PB 流程。 接著變成了創始 PB 計畫 委員會成員, 最終成為幕僚, 接著讓二十八歲的在任者下台, 成為芝加哥史上 第一個酷兒黑人市議員。 那是真正的參與。 那是被認真看待。 那是將社區領導能力發揚光大。 那是體制改變。
And it's not just in the US either. After starting 30 years ago in Brazil, PB has spread to over 7,000 cities across the globe. In Paris, France, the mayor puts up five percent of her budget, over 100 million euros, for community members to decide on and shape their city. Globally, PB has been shown to improve public health, reduce corruption and increase trust in government.
且並不只是在美國。 PB 於三十年前始於巴西, 之後便散播到全球七千多個城市。 在法國巴黎, 市長將她的預算撥出 5%, 超過一億歐元, 讓社區成員決定要如何 塑造他們的城市。 在全球各地, 已經可以看到 PB 改善了公共衛生, 減少了貪腐, 並增加了對政府的信任。
Now we know the challenges that we face in today's society. How can we expect people to feel motivated, to show up to the polls when they can't trust that government is run by and for the people. I argue that we haven't actually experienced true participatory democracy in these United States of America just yet. But democracy is a living, breathing thing. And it's still our birthright. It's time to renew trust, and that's not going to come easy. We have to build new ways of thinking, of talking, of working, of dreaming, of planning in its place. What would America look like if everyone had a seat at the table? If we took the time to reimagine what's possible, and then ask, "How do we get there?"
現在我們知道在現今社會中 要面臨的難題是什麼。 我們怎麼可能期望大家會有動力、 會去投票? 畢竟他們都無法相信政府 是由人民運作、為人民運作的。 我認為我們尚未真正體驗過 真實的參與式民主, 在美國各州還沒有。 但民主是會呼吸、有生命的。 且仍然是我們與生俱來的權利。 該是重建信任的時候了, 且那不是件容易的事。 我們必須要為它建立新的思考方式、 說話方式、工作方式、 夢想方式、計畫方式。 如果每個人都參與, 美國變成什麼樣子的? 如果我們花點時間 重新想像什麼是可能的, 接著問:「我們要如何做到?」
My favorite author, Octavia Butler, says it best. In "Parable of the Sower," basically my Bible, she says, "All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change. God Is Change." It's time for these 50 states to change. What got us here sure as hell won't get us there. We've got to kick the walls of power down and plant gardens of genuine democracy in their place. That's how we change systems. By opening doors so wide that people can't help but walk in.
我最喜歡的作家 奧克塔維雅 · 巴特勒說得最貼切。 她的書《撒種的比喻》基本上 算是我的聖經了,書上說: 「凡是你觸碰到的都會被你改變。 凡是被你改變的都會改變你。 唯一不變的真理就是改變。 神就是改變。」 該是這五十州改變的時候了。 讓我們走到今天這個地步的方式, 不會讓我們達成那個目標。 我們必須要打破權力的高牆, 種下真正民主的花園。 那就是我們改變體制的方式。 把門開得很大, 讓大家不由自主就會走進去。
So what's stopping you from bringing participatory budgeting to your community?
所以,是什麼阻止你 把 PB 帶入你的社區?