Voting underway in neighbourhood decision-making contest

Article content

Polls are open and Londoners are casting ballots for their favourite neighbourhood projects in five districts of the city. As city council looks at potentially shelving the program, LFP’s Jack Moulton takes a look at how it operates.

WHAT IS NEIGHBOURHOOD DECISION-MAKING?

Launched in 2017, the city program allows residents of five parts of the city to submit ideas for neighbourhood improvements, and then vote for their favourite projects in their region within a $50,000 budget.

Article content

The five zones include the northeast, northwest, central, southeast and southwest. The total $250,000 budget is pulled from the city’s annual maintenance support budget.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

In order to account for London’s booming population and the popularity of the program, the city recently revamped the regional boundaries to spread out the population more evenly, and keep neighbourhoods together. Also tweaked, residents will have the option to vote for one large project worth more than $15,000, and up to three smaller ones worth less than that.

Jennifer Martino, the city’s manager of neighbourhood development and support, said the latter change was intended to make sure a couple of large projects didn’t dominate the budget.

“This way we can make sure to fund one big infrastructure improvement in an area such as something in a park, but we also know that we have space for things like the utility box mural wraps and neighbourhood cultural-based events,” she said.

Eligible projects can include, but are not limited to, playgrounds, trees, benches, trails, upgrading sport courts, and even chess or table tennis tables. Family-friendly events and community art also are eligible for the funding.

Article content

Article content

HOW IS IT LOOKING THIS YEAR?

Martino said Londoners already have expressed their interest in a big way since voting opened on Monday on the 99 projects across the city this year.

“In one day of online voting, we had over 1,500 people cast votes, which is a great start,” she said. “We had one of the in-person voting sites run out of ballots in the first day, and they’ve already asked for more.

“Londoners seem really engaged with the program.”

Idea submissions and voting numbers have gone up every year since the program was cancelled in 2020, Martino said. Last year saw a 40 per cent increase in the ideas submitted and a 28 per cent bump in voting, with things this year on track to break records.

Residents especially appreciate connecting with city staff before, during, and after voting, she said. Ideas can be workshopped before being submitted, or put on city hall’s radar after the vote even if it doesn’t win. 

WHY COULD IT BE SHELVED?

Though this year’s vote isn’t affected, Mayor Josh Morgan’s 2025 budget update proposes pausing and reviewing the program through 2027, based on a suggestion from a council working group convened by Morgan to lower property tax hikes for the next three years.

Article content

Several politicians suggested neighbourhood decision-making was a “nice-to-have” program, but that improvements to parks and neighbourhoods would be better determined by city hall staff rather than a popularity contest.

Critics of the cut say pausing one of the few methods of direct civic engagement outside an election will disenfranchise residents from their local government.

The program still has the chance of being continued as politicians look to weigh in on the budget later this month.

HOW CAN YOU VOTE?

Londoners can vote online through the city’s website until Saturday at 8 p.m., or in person depending on operating hours at:

• Boyle Memorial community centre
• Hamilton Road seniors’ community centre
• Kiwanis seniors’ community centre
• Carling Heights Optimist community centre
• North London Optimist community centre
• Stronach community recreation centre
• East Lions community centre
• Byron Optimist community centre
• South London community centre
• Canada Games Aquatic Centre

Not able to vote during the week? On Saturday only, residents can vote at London Public Library branches from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., or call in at 519-661-8410.

Article content

jmoulton@postmedia.com

Article content