Civic Engagement Commission outlines People’s Money participatory budgeting, offers voter-language grants; chairs press for standardized trainings

The New York City Civic Engagement Commission on Thursday described the four phases of its People’s Money participatory budgeting program and announced a request for information for voter-language education sessions, while Queens community board chairs used the presentation to press the commission and city staff for clearer, more accessible trainings and help preparing for term limits.

The presentation and question-and-answer session focused on three CEC programs: the voter-language assistance (VLA) initiative, the People’s Money participatory budgeting cycle, and the Taskforce Neighborhood Initiative (TNI, referenced by presenters as TREE/TNI). Barbara Williams, director of outreach and volunteer programs with the Civic Engagement Commission, told the borough board that the commission is seeking 16 partners to host VLA education sessions for limited-English-proficient New Yorkers and that “they'll receive $1,500 per session. The deadline is September 18.” Williams said organizations may apply to run sessions in up to two languages.

Williams summarized the People’s Money cycle as four phases — idea generation, borough assemblies, citywide voting and project implementation — and said the program allows people 11 and older, including noncitizens and justice-impacted New Yorkers, to propose and vote on projects. She cited 2024 results for Queens: “As you can see, in Queens, we had 37,147 votes,” and noted that 31,906 were paper ballots, a split she described as evidence of a digital-access divide.

Why it matters: the programs steer mayoral expense funding to neighborhood projects and seek to expand civic participation among limited-English-proficient residents and youth. Community boards serve as local conveners and partners for outreach, training and project implementation; chairs warned that inconsistent training access and limits on volunteer capacity risk leaving boards unprepared as term limits take effect.

Chairs and board members pressed CEC and city staff on training logistics, language access at poll sites, and how to prepare community boards for leadership turnover under term limits. Dolores Orin, chair of Community Board 14, said many boards lack basic resources for required compliance training and asked whether the city would supply funding or an agency to provide equal employment opportunity training: “We have no funding. We have no access to the database and we don't have any funding. We have no control over it and every person in this room has gotten notification we're in violation of the law,” Orin said.

Several chairs raised that interpreters funded by the CEC are sometimes positioned outside polling locations and therefore not used by voters inside buildings. Sherry Algredo, chair of Community Board 9, urged broader outreach and asked whether participatory budgeting could return to full-city coverage: “This needs to get to the point where we are doing something for the full city,” she said, adding that language and outreach gaps keep some residents from participating.

Evie Henzopoulos, chair of Community Board 1, asked about a working group on term-limit preparedness for community boards. A borough staff member leading that discussion said the working group's makeup was “very much TBD” but that the commission and staff are coordinating with the Civil Service Commission to produce shareable guidance and materials for chairs and members as the 2027 deadline approaches.

Multiple chairs and members described operational strain from limited staff support, repeated compliance notices, and the volunteer nature of community board service. Reverend Thorpe of Community Board 12 said the boards are expected to complete tasks while lacking consistent office support: “I have no staff… it's not fair,” he said. Several speakers suggested producing a concise handbook or standardized materials on recurring obligations (timesheets, compliance training, basic district manager duties) to reduce ad hoc workload and information gaps.

CEC representatives and borough staff said they will continue follow-up with board chairs, share contact information, and coordinate with other city agencies, including DCAS and the Board of Elections, to address language access and training rollout. Williams said CEC will begin idea-generation sessions October 15, with implementation partners being hired in the weeks after voting concludes.

The borough board’s staff said they are scheduling further meetings with DCAS to discuss rollout of New York City Learns trainings for community board members and intend to share follow-up materials to chairs in the coming weeks.