Participatory Budgeting Starts Second Year!

Fresh Food and Local Democracy Bloom: City Officials and Community Celebrate Grand Opening of The People’s Market in the International District

On June 9, 2026, Mayor Tim Keller, District 6 City Councilor Nichole L. Rogers, District 19 State Representative Janelle Anyanonu, municipal officials, and the District 6 Participatory Budgeting (PBABQ) Steering Committee gathered in the International District to cut the ribbon on "The People's Market" in the International District. The highly anticipated community hub stands as a landmark achievement for local grassroots democracy, having emerged as the top vote-getter out of 243 entries during the City’s first-ever Participatory Budgeting Pilot in 2025.

The Peoples Market ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the lot is just north of Albuquerque Community Safety headquarters (1210 Kathryn SE) at Anderson and Ortiz Drive SE, just South of Kathryn Avenue SE.

"The grand opening and ribbon cutting of the name of the new market -  “The People’s Market” represents an absolute triumph of community-led determination," said City Councilor Nichole L. Rogers. "Our District 6 neighbors didn't just ask for change - they designed it, debated it, and voted to build it. From youth to our unhoused neighbors, over 1,150 residents cast their ballots in our first pilot to prove that when we give communities real power over real public money, we deliver meaningful solutions to pressing challenges like food insecurity and public health."

Business Owners - Bids are open for the Councilor's call for potential operators for the People's Market

City Councilor Rogers has announced her Office’s Call for Potential Operators for the new market.  This Call for Potential Operators is based upon market goals and operator qualifications identified by a Working Group of 40+ District 6 community members that first convened in December 2025.  The Call for Potential Operators will be open until June 30.  Here is the link to the online form: Call for Potential Operators.

Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by the Working Group. The Operator that is chosen will be responsible for 12 months of market activation and programming, with the intent of building systems, partnerships, and operational capacity that can transition into a future Main Street-led organization and long-term management structure.

Get Involved as a Budget Delegate for the 2026 PBABQ Cycle

With the 2025 pilot projects officially transitioning from construction to community use, the 2026 PBABQ cycle is well underway, and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved! 2026 is the time to step into the role of a Budget Delegate. Budget Delegates will serve as the main lead for projects that are added to the PB District 6 Ballot and will serve as the main liaison between their fellow community members and the City. Budget Delegates will serve on small Project Development Teams, which include at least one Budget Delegate, one District 6 Steering Committee member, and one City staff member, that all help get projects fully developed before being added to the Ballot. Community members can become Budget Delegates by completing the following application form: Budget Delegate Application Form. 

Community members also have the opportunity to participate in the voting process launching in mid-July. Councilor Rogers and PBABQ encourages community members to stay updated on the progress of the 2026 PB cycle by emailing Jeff Hertz at [email protected] and getting on the PBABQ email list.   

PB D6 Timeline-

Each year, PB in District 6 follows six phases. Community members submit ideas for projects, those ideas are developed into real proposals with cost estimates, the community votes, and winning projects get funded and built. The whole cycle runs from March through November (see the table below for details):

Here are last year's Participatory Budgeting Projects voting results:

View the Participatory Budgeting Project Selection Reveal Presentation from May 3, 2025

PBABQ By the Numbers

It all began in February 2024, when District 6 City Councilor Nichole Rogers officially dedicated $1.5 million of her
Council Set-Aside funds to initiate a participatory budgeting process in her City Council District. Coincidentally, it
was at this same time that two undergraduate/graduate courses at the University of New Mexico were releasing the
findings of their research surrounding PB models being implemented in other cities around the country. Not long
after this, Councilor Rogers’ Office and UNM established a partnership to launch a series of working groups to start
developing a plan for implementing a PB pilot in District 6

• From June 18 to October 14, the City Councilor Rogers’ Office partnered with Participatory Budgeting ABQ
  (“PBABQ”) to co-design a participatory budgeting (“PB”) pilot program for the City of Albuquerque. Over this 5 month
  period, community members living, working, and/or studying in City Council District 6 worked closely with City staff
  to co-design a process for community members to submit capital “project ideas” to be funded by Councilor Rogers’
  $1.5 million in Council Set-Aside funds earmarked for a PB pilot program.
• From October 20 to December 15, 243 project ideas were submitted by community members via small workshops,
  project idea submission form submissions, in-person project idea surveys, pop-up community event mapping
  exercises, large workshop mentimeter surveys, district-wide assemblies, and other public engagement activities.
• On January 9, 16 “project idea clusters” were generated during a 3-hour project refinement event (“sprint”) by a team
  of 30+ community members comprised of Budget Delegates, D6 Steering Committee Members, and PBABQ core
  team members.
• On January 10, Councilor Rogers’ Office was provided a PB Project Manager by the Administration to help facilitate
  the project development process by bridging the gap between community members and City staff among 8+ City
  Departments.
• From throughout January and February, Councilor Rogers’ Office and the Administration’s Project Manager will
  connect these City Departments’ key staffers to work closely with Budget Delegates and D6 Steering Committee
  Members in “Project Development Teams.” During this 2 month period, PDTs will transform the 16 project idea
  clusters into full “project proposals”. These project proposals will have pricetags, locations, and other preliminary
  planning documentation that will be presented by PDTs during the Project Expos that will take place at the beginning
  of March (imagine PDTs presenting their project proposals to the public in a “science fair” format community
  meeting).
• In March, Councilor Rogers’ Office, the Administration, and the PDTs will place X project proposals (still to be
  determined) on the “Ballot” to be voted upon by community members. Community members will have $1.5 million
  available to spend on the projects they would like to see funded.
• In April, PBABQ will tally votes and announce the winning projects for the pilot PB process. PBABQ will work with
  CABQ’s Capital Implementation Program (CIP) to incorporate the winning projects into the City’s 2025 General
  Obligation (G.O.) Bond Program ($175 million worth of capital projects across the city).

PBABQ in District 6

• Committee Scopes and Deliverables
• Timeline
• Learn more about PBABQ

Please reach out to [email protected] for more information on getting involved, or to Learn more about how to get involved please contact:
Albuquerque City Councilor Nichole Rogers | [email protected]
Albuquerque City Council Staffer Jeff Hertz | [email protected]