LONG BEACH, CA \u2014 City officials are calling on Long Beach youth to submit ideas for consideration as part of its fourth annual participatory budgeting process, \u201cwhere youth vote on how to spend public dollars on youth summer projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Youth Power Participatory Budgeting Long Beach<\/a> will be done in three phases, with the first being idea collection from Dec. 1 through Jan. 6, city officials said in a news release. <\/p>\n \u201cLong Beach is proud to continue investing in youth leadership,\u201d Mayor Rex Richardson said in a written statement. \u201cThrough the Youth Power Participatory Budgeting process, more and more young people are learning the power of collaboration and civic engagement while leading the development of programs that make a lasting difference in their city.\u201d<\/p>\n Youth Power Participatory Budgeting Long Beach is spearheaded by the health department\u2019s office of youth development and partners with The Nonprofit Partnership and Invest in Youth Coalition, anchored by Khmer Girls in Action, officials said.<\/p>\n During last year\u2019s cycle, the city received more than 400 project ideas, nine times more than the year prior, officials said. From those submissions, the youth steering committee selected 24 ideas, which were turned into proposals that appeared on a ballot, the city said. Nearly 2,000 people voted, leading to the selection of 11 projects.<\/p>\n