DIEPPE, N.B. – The City of Dieppe held its first few meetings Tuesday for a new initiative aimed at getting residents more involved with municipal affairs.
The participatory budget project will have residents decide how $300,000 of the city’s 2016 budget is spent.
Anybody is allowed to submit an idea, then over the course of several months teams of residents will develop the ideas into full-fledged projects. The final vote will be held in November.
Alisha LeBlanc told Global News she came to the first meeting Tuesday morning to submit the idea for a dog park because Moncton and Riverview have them, but Dieppe does not.
“We’ve been wanting a dog park for many years in Dieppe and this is the perfect opportunity to get it,” she said, adding that her dog is nearly six years old and she’s been working on the project since the dog was a puppy. “To have this process emphasizing community participation is the perfect opportunity for this type of project to become chosen.”
Dieppe will hold several forum-style meetings until the end of May where residents can pitch their ideas. Ideas can also be submitted on the city’s website, by email or by phone. Anyone can propose an idea for the city, even if they are not residents, as long as it’s for a one-time expenditure.
Luc Richard, director of corporate affairs for the city, said the ideas should be for capital works or programs and services.
“This came up because council wanted to engage citizens a bit more in civic affairs,” he said, adding that the idea collection is phase one of the project.
In the spirit of boosting democracy, any resident of Dieppe over the age of 11 can vote.
“Excellent idea,” resident Fernande Cantin said of the new initiative. “The people have a word to say in a city like Dieppe. … Everyone who was here this morning has bright ideas. We need to have a beautiful city.”
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