AN ELECTION THAT SHOULD MATTER TO US

COMMENT. Visit lakehighlands.advocatemag.com and search voteyesdallas to tell us what you think.

Whoever you are in Lake Highlands, you will either love or hate the results of the presidential election. But also, whoever you are and wherever you live in Lake Highlands, I hope you will wake up Nov. 7 to news that our 2012 Dallas Bond package has been approved by Dallas voters.

If that happens, it will be cheerful news for all of us.

To learn what the bond package will mean to Lake Highlands, visit one of the most user-friendly web- sites I have ever seen: voteyesdallas. com. With one or two clicks, you can find out exactly what projects are on the list for our neighborhood’s City Council District 10, with detail down to the name of the alley and the trail.

With one or two clicks, you can find out exactly what projects are on the list for our neighborhood, down to the name of the alley and the trail.

Quick rundown of why “yes” is good for LH on Proposition 1, which targets streets and transportation:because it includes a long list of street names near you that are targeted for improvements. There also are enhancements and expansion of local bike trails, notably from White RockCreek Trail to Skillman (the Town Center.)

What about Proposition 2, which deals with storm and drainage improvements? If you live in LH, chances are you know what it’s like to drive through high water and pray your car will still be running on the other side. (If that hasn’t happened to you, at least once, I bet you know someone else who got caught.) And if you ride a bike, you know the White Rock Creek Trail runs directly through a flood plain. Now, at last, there is a plan to improve drainage at some of the lowest points on the trail.

Finally, why should LH residents vote yes on Proposition 3, which designates $55 million for economic development? After all, LH doesn’t benefit directly from the proposal, unless you happen to believe improvements in adjacent neighborhoods will be good for all of us.

It bears repeating at this point that bonds do not increase taxes.

And how do I know that? Two ways: first, I sifted through a lot of official materials posted at dallascityhall.com — bless their hearts,

I am truly grateful all of that information is there — and second, I found the FAQs page on the great website at voteyesdallas.com, where the tax question is the first and last question addressed.

I was so impressed with the website, I called LH resident Alan Walne (who formerly served on city council for our district and continues to play a role in many of the city’s initiatives). Walne is chairman of Vote Yes Dallas.

“It’s a sign of the times,” Walne said of the website. “We’re able to put together a pretty detailed website in short order, versus what used to take months in the past.” When I pointed out that the website is much more user friendly than the city’s website, Walne affirmed that all of the information is on dallascityhall.com, but it takes more time to sift through council business to find the details.

“Normally when you go to a town hall meeting — the typical way for the public to be engaged on a bond issue — that information is handed out,” Walne says. “Even on the city website itself, you can go in and look at the entire proposal when the council had it on their agenda to pass. The information is always available, but with what we’re able to do today with websites and social media, it’s much easier to get the information in somebody’s hands.”

I asked Walne if the voteyesdallas.com website will be available after the election.

“Once it’s served its purpose, it will not be maintained,” he said. “I would suggest to people that if there’s information on there that you want, go ahead and save it on your own computer.”

So whether you are reading this before or after Nov. 6, take a moment to visit voteyesdallas.com, and play the game, “Find more than three projects I really care about in District 10.” This is a surprisingly fun game, and it’s easy to win.

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