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Engaging the public in budget planning is one of the most critical and most challenging tasks local governments face today. During our recent Zencity Impact webinar, we brought together three seasoned public engagement professionals to share their experiences and strategies:
- Ronnell Hampton, Principal Equity Strategist at the Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department, City of Los Angeles
- Omar Cardenas, Human Relations Advocate, LA Civil Rights Department
- Kayla Hunt, Communications and Engagement Specialist, Charles County Government
Each brought a unique lens on how to engage diverse communities in meaningful conversations about how public dollars are spent. Whether you’re launching your first participatory budgeting process or looking to deepen community trust, here are seven actionable takeaways from their work.
1. Start with Trust, and Be Ready to Earn It
Lack of trust in government was cited by webinar attendees as the #1 challenge they face when engaging the public. It’s a sentiment echoed by all panelists.
“Trust in government has always been one of our biggest barriers,” shared Omar Cardenas. “We leaned into trusted community partners because no one knows the community like the community itself.”
Kayla Hunt added that skepticism was especially strong in Charles County:
“One of the top comments we received on our budget surveys was, ‘Why should I fill this out? The commissioners are going to do what they want anyway.”
The response? Transparency, education, and showing your work.
2. Make It Understandable, Not Just Available
Government budgets are complex, often too complex for the average resident to engage with easily. Charles County tackled this head-on with a multipronged strategy:
- They produced “Budget in Brief” documents to summarize key figures in plain language.
- They used focus groups to test their survey questions, ensuring they made sense to everyday residents.
- They launched a budget podcast series, Let’s Get Fiscal, to break down key topics in a conversational format.
“You’re not going to participate in something you don’t understand,” said Kayla. “So we focused on simplifying and explaining—not just posting documents and calling it engagement.”
3. Engagement Should Be Ongoing, Not One-Off
LA Repair’s process exemplifies what a full engagement loop looks like: idea collection, proposal development, community voting, funding, and eventually, evaluation.
“We’re running an information campaign the whole way through,” said Omar. “Each phase, we go back into the community and say, ‘Here’s where we are. Here’s what’s next.’”
Zencity’s Engage platform played a big role in helping both Charles County and LA Repair share real-time updates and results with their communities.
4. Use Trusted Messengers, and Don’t Be Afraid to Get Personal
From council members and school districts to faith leaders and neighborhood associations, trusted messengers were essential to building participation.
“Our elected officials were critical partners,” said Ronnell Hampton. “They opened doors, lent credibility, and helped us connect with residents we wouldn’t have reached otherwise.”
In Charles County, Kayla and her team created toolkits with videos, social media graphics, and flyers that partners could easily share within their own networks.
“People are more likely to engage when a friend, not a government office, shares the message.”
5. Meet People Where They Are, Literally
From farmers markets to storefronts, both teams made budget engagement physically accessible. They also offered polling places at libraries and ensured paper-based options were available in low-tech areas like LA’s Skid Row.
“Flexibility is the name of the game,” said Omar. “There’s no one-size-fits-all. Every neighborhood is different.”
6. Transparency Needs Guardrails
While the process was designed to be community-led, the LA Repair team emphasized the importance of setting clear expectations upfront.
“We wanted it to be community-led, but there have to be guardrails, legal, legislative, and ethical,” said Ronnell. “Transparency also means not making promises you can’t keep.”
That included collaborating closely with city attorneys, clearly outlining the program’s limitations, and staying responsive when questions or complaints emerged.
7. Use Data to Build Integrity and Combat Doubt
Both teams leaned on data not just to shape their outreach but to validate their efforts. During LA Repair’s voting phase, Zencity’s backend tools helped ensure data integrity and detect any anomalies, without collecting personal information.
“We could confidently say, yes, these are valid votes from residents in our repair zones,” Omar noted. “That helped us communicate results with integrity.”
Final Thoughts: From Tokenism to Transformation
Across both projects, one theme rang clear: budget engagement is not just a checkbox—it’s a chance to build lasting trust and shared responsibility between local government and the people it serves.
“If we show that participation leads to real results,” said Kayla, “residents will come back and engage again. That’s how we build civic culture.”
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Join the Ongoing Conversation
Join our Zencity Impact – Local Government USA LinkedIn Group to swap ideas, share your own engagement strategies, and connect with peers across the country.
Want to learn more about how Zencity can help you engage your community when it comes to budgeting? Request a demo today!
