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Civic Engagement Commission

Civic Engagement Commission

  • The People’s Money: Your City, Your Budget, Your Voice

    The People's Money in action (Civic Engagement Commission)


    Not everyone knows this about Mayor Eric Adams: he is the first Mayor in the City of New York to give every New Yorker, ages 11 and up, regardless of citizenship, a direct say in how to spend a part of the city budget. This is New York City’s first citywide participatory budgeting program, run by the Civic Engagement Commission (CEC), and it builds on the Mayor’s legacy of supporting participatory budgeting in schools and Council districts in Brooklyn.

    Here are four key reasons

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  • Adams Consolidates City's Civic Engagement Efforts Under New Office

    Mayor Adams (photo: Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Mayor Eric Adams announced last month the creation of a new office consolidating the city’s various civic engagement bodies, as part of his ongoing effort to streamline the functions of city government and, he said, to more actively engage the public in civic life.

    The mayor’s new Office of Engagement, led by newly-appointed Chief Engagement Officer Betsy MacLean, now oversees various city entities that interact with New Yorkers to encourage their participation in government and politics: the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit

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  • Civic Engagement Commission to Launch Citywide Participatory Budgeting After Pandemic Delay

    Dr. Sarah Sayeed (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    The first citywide participatory budgeting program is expected to launch later this year after a two-year delay largely due to the COVID-19 state of emergency, officials said at a City Council hearing last week.

    The program was approved by voters in 2018 as one of three City Charter-mandated functions of the new Civic Engagement Commission (CEC) created in the same ballot referendum. The two-year

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  • An Early Test of The Adams Administration’s Values and Tech Prowess

    Participatory government in-person (photo: New York City Council)


    In 2019, New Yorkers voted overwhelmingly in favor of establishing a Civic Engagement Commission that would modernize how the city and its residents worked together to identify and solve problems at the most local levels. That commission hasn’t been earning itself many headlines, but the participation platform it set up atparticipate.nyc.gov...

  • City Civic Engagement Commission Makes Slow Progress on Participatory Budgeting Program

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    Mayor de Blasio votes in participatory budgeting in 2018 (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's office)


    When New York City voters approved the creation of a Civic Engagement Commission (CEC) in 2018, one of the only defined mandates for the new body was to set up and run a citywide participatory budgeting program. But due to pre-pandemic delays as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the city, the commission has yet to establish such a program, well after its

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  • De Blasio's First Chief Democracy Officer Quietly Resigned in January and Hasn't Been Replaced

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    Mayor de Blasio (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Ayirini Fonseca-Sabune, New York City’s first Chief Democracy Officer, quietly resigned in January and Mayor Bill de Blasio has yet to name a replacement to the position, even amid an especially complicated and consequential election year.

    The mayor created the office of DemocracyNYC to be led by the Chief Democracy Officer in 2018, announcing it in his State of the City speech that February. The office was part of a ten-point agenda aimed at

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  • First Citywide Participatory Budgeting Program on Chopping Block Because of Coronavirus

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    Participatory budgeting was due for a big increase (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)


    A new citywide participatory budgeting program, whereby New Yorkers directly decide how to spend city budget money, was meant to be in place by July 1 but may end up being severely limited as the city suffers from the coronavirus pandemic and its multifaceted fallout. 

    Creating the participatory budgeting program was one of the core duties for the New York City Civic Engagement Commission, which was established in the city Charter through a ballot referendum in 2018 that was

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  • City’s Civic Engagement Commission Creates 11-Language Poll-Site Interpretation Plan for Fall Election

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    Voters will have greater access to interpreters at the polls this fall (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    The still-new New York City Civic Engagement Commission is set to launch a poll-site language assistance program for the fall general election, expanding on the limited interpretation services that are currently provided by the Board of Elections. 

    As required by the Voting Rights Act, the Board of Elections only provides interpreters to assist at poll sites in Spanish, Korean, Chinese, and Bengali. But New York City residents speak more

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  • First Major Task for City's New Civic Engagement Commission at Risk

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    Mayor de Blasio & First Lady McCray participate in participatory budgeting (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    The New York City Civic Engagement Commission, established through a charter amendment approved by voters in 2018, is tasked with crafting a new citywide participatory budgeting program modeled after the City Council’s efforts to engage New Yorkers in funding local projects. A plan is required to be in place by July 1, the start of the next city fiscal year.

    But Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $95.3 billion preliminary budget proposal for next fiscal

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  • City Council Examines Board of Elections' Readiness to Implement Early Voting, Poll-Site Interpretation

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    The New York City Board of Elections, a state entity funded by the city, has a less-than-stellar reputation for running elections and has long been resistant to going beyond the letter of state law in improving voter access and participation. And this year, the city BOE must contend with a new state mandate to create an early voting program for potentially millions of voters, as well as a push by the city to provide broader poll site interpretation services in immigrant communities.

    At a Tuesday

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  • New City Civic Engagement Commission Launched

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Mayor Bill de Blasio named his eight appointees to a new charter-mandated Civic Engagement Commission on Tuesday, weeks past the April 1 deadline for creating the commission. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens borough presidents also announced their appointees while the other two borough presidents have yet to do so.

    The 15-member commission

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  • City Officials Late in Naming Members to New Civic Engagement Commission

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    (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    Last November, more than 1 million New Yorkers voted “yes” on a ballot question to create a new New York City Civic Engagement Commission tasked with launching a citywide participatory budgeting program, providing interpreting services at poll sites, and more broadly working with community based organizations to get the city’s residents more involved in city civic life and government. Once approved by voters, the measure called for 15 commission members appointed by several top city elected officials, mostly by

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  • Madrid Demonstrates Successful Civic Engagement. Let’s Pay Attention as We Launch New York City Commission

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    (photo: @decidemadrid)


    Madrid turns its residents’ collective passions and intelligence into tangible improvements to city life. New York should do the same.

    New Yorkers had until February 22 to apply to join the Civic Engagement Commission (CEC), a new entity that city voters approved last election to manage civic engagement processes throughout the city. The commission, which will be officially named in April by a

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  • City’s New Civic Engagement Commission, Set to Be Named in April, Is Accepting Applications

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    Council Members Lander, Torres, Barron & others (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    The Civic Engagement Commission that city voters approved in November is now accepting applications from New Yorkers interesting in serving on the panel that will help craft strategies for getting more residents of the five boroughs engaged in civic life. Though appointments to the commission will be made by top city elected officials, the open application process allows regular New Yorkers to throw their names and

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  • Next Steps for 3 City Charter Revisions Passed Election Day

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    This is part of AGENDA 2019, a joint Gotham Gazette-City Limits project
    Find the rest of the series here

    Voters approved three ballot proposals on Election Day to amend the New York City charter, the city’s foundational

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  • New Yorkers Decided They Want More Democracy, But What Does That Mean?

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    (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    On Election Day, New Yorkers passed three ballot measures intended to strengthen local democracy. One of the approved plans is for the city to create a Civic Engagement Commission that will have several key responsibilities, including a new citywide participatory budgeting (PB) program, assistance to city agencies and nonprofits for their engagement efforts, and support to community boards to make them more participatory and representative of the communities they serve.

    The passage of these ballot measures -- which

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  • Flip Your Ballot, Vote Yes on 2 for Democracy

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    (photo: @pb_nyc)


    On Election Day -- Tuesday, November 6 -- New Yorkers have a unique opportunity to vote for democracy. By voting “yes” on three ballot proposals, we can turn New York City into a beacon for democracy.

    The ballot proposals will make it easier for ordinary New Yorkers to run for office, vote in elections, have a say in city decisions, and serve on community boards. They will make our government better and our voices stronger.

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