NORTHAMPTON — The public is all but absent each year when the City Council makes arguably its most impactful decision: approving the city’s $106 million budget.
That’s something Council President Bill Dwight and Council Vice President Ryan O’Donnell seek to address this spring. The council’s leaders have formally asked the Finance Committee to “discuss and propose a plan to increase citizen participation and engagement” in the upcoming budget process, as outlined in the city’s charter.
Council rules give the committee 120 days, or through April, to study the issue, devise a plan and report back to the full council.
Mayor David J. Narkewicz is responsible for crafting the city’s budget each year. He typically presents the budget to the council in mid-May. The council then holds public hearings with department heads and holds a special joint meeting with the School Committee to discuss its budget. After that, the council holds a public hearing on the entire budget, which must be approved by the end of June each year.
“I think that there were at least five times when the council met and took real action on the budget last year,” O’Donnell said. “Unless I’m mistaken, I don’t think any member of the public really came to any of them.”
O’Donnell said he’s not out to point fingers, but more to ask questions about why the participation isn’t there.
“Have we done enough to publicize the event and to encourage people to show up?” he asked. “And do people feel their voices are heard?”
Ward 5 City Councilor David Murphy, chairman of the Finance Committee, said he will explore these questions. Among ideas to discuss are a change to the way budget hearings are formatted, and publicizing the events on social media and cable television.
Murphy said he’s served on the council for 12 years and, in that time, he has not seen much public participation in the budget review process.
“Unless you’re interested in something particular, it takes a long time and it’s not fascinating to watch — it’s pretty cut and dry,” he said.
Because of the often-bland nature of the process, Murphy said he’s unsure there’s anything to be done.
“The jury’s kind of out as to whether our efforts are going to pay off or not,” he said. “Do we just give up and assume people are just not that interested, or do we make an effort to try to entice the public to come to it?”
Murphy said the City Council is, at the very least, obligated to do everything in its power to make sure people know they have the opportunity to join in the process.
“We want to make sure if people are inclined to come, they know it’s happening,” he said.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.