What would you do with $10 million? That’s the question Nashville is posing to residents under a program known as Participatory Budgeting.
The concept was first rolled out in 2021 and 2022, with $1 million allocated each year to benefit the Bordeaux and North Nashville region. The Metro Council voted to expand the approach countywide with $10 million in American Rescue Plan money (read: federal COVID recovery dough) for this year.
In terms of the total 2024 budget – $3.2 billion – it’s a very, very small part of the pie: 0.3%, unless my math fails me. Still, more than 1,300 suggestions came in from the public, covering quite a range of proposals. Among them, and the benefits attributed, were:
• Wooden xylophones for outdoor use in recreational parks, “to elevate the spirits of the eardrum of America here in Nashville.”
• A sun covering over the playground at Red Caboose Park in Bellevue. “In the summer, it is way too hot for children to touch the equipment.”
• Bus shelters and sidewalks on Dickerson Pike, one of Nashville’s deadliest roadways. “The public benefit would be they would have a better chance to stay alive.”
• New windows for homes in the airport’s flight path. “More sleep, better looking windows on our 1960s homes.”
• Planting fruit and nut trees/shrubs in public spaces. “Would provide fresh food resources to those in need as well as any tax-paying resident.”
These, I remind you, were among the official suggestions received by the city. A social media solicitation inspired some suggestions that were perhaps less practical and quite possibly tongue-in-cheek:
• “Way more cops running radar!”
• “A decent Chinese restaurant”
• “Get rid of all the pedal taverns, half the hotels in town and most of the tourists.”
• “More guns!”
• “No more apartments!”
• “I would like to see Nashville invest in one huge road that leads out of town so all these transplants can drive the hell out of here.”
Serious or not, those do seem to speak to some of the general dissatisfaction simmering not too far beneath the surface in Nashville.
A panel of folks narrowed the list of official submissions to one project each for Nashville’s 35 Council districts, with costs ranging from around $50,000 to more than $1.75 million. Leading categories include traffic calming measures, park/playground improvements and expansion of library resources.
Voting, which is open to residents 14 and older (don’t ask me how they came up with that), can be done online at PBNash.com or at any public library. It will run through November.
The project for my Council district is “Updates to Kirkpatrick Park: Replace aging playground equipment, swings and shade structures.”
When I read about the project, I didn’t even know there was a Kirkpatrick Park, much less whether it needed updates. At my age, playground equipment and swings (redundant, no?) don’t figure highly in my daily activities.
But it seemed incumbent on me to familiarize myself with the situation if I’m going to cast an informed vote. So I looked up the park’s location (1.5 miles by car; 30 minutes by foot, according to Google Maps) and drove (of course) there to check things out.
What I found was a very small playground that, I guess I’m happy to say, doesn’t really seem to need new equipment. But maybe there are plans to expand the area.
The ballot allows votes for up to five projects, and participants are asked not to vote for any project more than once. (Extra votes don’t count extra.) It also gives the projected cost for each project, so you can get the most bang for your choices.
The most expensive, by the way, at $1.75 million, is in District 29: “Updates to Smith Springs Community Center: Install a dog park with synthetic turf and separate areas for different-sized dogs.” Not sure that, as a cat person, I feel comfortable with that kind of canine outlay.
The cost for the playground project in my district is $650,000. Whew. Not sure I can comfortably get behind that one, either. But maybe it’s my duty to help bring home the pork.
And wooden xylophones might be a nice touch.
Joe Rogers is a former writer for The Tennessean and editor for The New York Times. He is retired and living in Nashville.