BW01192020 - Page 2

2 BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JANUARY 19, 2020 BY BEN VERDE He gets an “F” for participation. An annual participatory budgeting process organized by Bedford Stuyvesant Councilman Robert Cornegy Jr. has the lowest voter turnout of any district in the borough, with just one percent of voters deciding the fate of millions of dollars in public spending, according to data analyzed by the Brooklyn Paper. Each year, the majority of Kings County Council members set aside a portion of their discretionary funds to be spent through the city’s so-called participatory budgeting process, which allows constituents to vote on how to spend their hardearned tax money over a severalweek long period each fall. Projects may include the renovation of parks and public spaces, new classrooms and school upgrades, and improvements to road and transit infrastructure, with nominations selected by a group of volunteer delegates and advertised largely by the individual council members and their staff. For the past four years, however, Cornegy — who was named the world’s tallest elected offi cial by Guiness last year — has only been able to scrape together a measly 6,951 votes for more than $4 million worth of Council funding, with an average annual voter turnout of only 1,738 people in a district of roughly 150,000 Brooklynites, according to the most recent census data available through the city, which dates back to 2010. Last year, only 1,562 people voted on allocations totaling $1.2 million, with projects including renovations to the gymnasium at PS 3, and upgrades to Troy Avenue’s Harmony Park and the Tompkins Houses Community Center Turnout for Cornegy’s participatory budgeting process stands in stark contrast to those organized by Sunset Park Councilman Carlos Menchaca, who topped the charts with a total 32,441 voters participating over a period of four years, and an average annual 8,110 civic enthusiasts taking part since 2016. Menchaca credited the roughly $2 million he makes available annually for the democratic budgeting process — signifi cantly more than other Brooklyn council members set aside — for the comparatively high turnout in his district. Still, Menchaca’s relatively large turnout remains small when compared to the roughly 160,000 people residing in the 38th Council District, with only about fi ve percent of residents turning out for votes that have decided more than $8.5 million worth of spending since 2016 alone. Last year, Menchaca was outdone by Bushwick Councilman Anthony Reynoso, who gathered 8,349 votes, and Park Slope Councilman Brad Lander, who attracted 7,689 voters to his participatory budgeting process, as opposed to the Sunset Park councilman’s 6,399. Those fi gures amount to roughly six, fi ve, and four percent of their districts’ total population respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, Bay Ridge Councilman Justin Brannan and Brownsville Councilwoman Alicka Ampry- Samuel edged out Cornegy — who had the absolute worst voter turnout — with 1,654 and 1,853 voters last year respectively. Those numbers all factor out to around one percent of their districts’ total population. Conergy declined to comment for this story. Bed-Stuy Councilman Robert Cornegy has the lowest participatory budgeting turnout in the borough. Photo by Trey Pentecost Tall man, low participation City’s tallest councilman has boro’s lowest participatory budgeting turnout Councilman Carlos Menchaca organizes the borugh’s most successful participatory budgeting process Photo by Natalie Musumeci Catch All NFL & NCAA Football Games Here JOIN US FOR THE 54TH "BIG G AME" SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2020 �� Communion & Flower Girl Four Day Event January, Friday 17 th to Monday 20th CHRISTIE HELENE-JOAN CALABRESE-MACI’S DESIGN ANSONIA DESIGN Featuring sample priced one of a kind dresses from Christie Helene L I T T L E W H I T E D R E S S AT E L E A N O R S C H A I N 6 1 7 7 S T R I C K L A N D AV E B RO O K LY N , N .Y 1 1 2 3 4 1 ( 3 4 7 ) 9 0 9 - 0 5 2 9