I was the first person at Samuell-Grand at 8:10 this morning. One other voter, a man about my age, was there as well. Apparently, no one at the Dallas County elections department expects a big turnout — the polling booths are set up in that front hallway. (I didn’t see a predicted turnout story quoting Bruce Sherbet, who oversees the county elections, in Dallas’ Only Daily Newspaper. The News usually runs that sort of thing before an election, but I’m going to try and not criticize the paper for a while, since it upsets them so much.)
However, I will note the prose of D publisher Wick Allison in Sunday’s News: "unruly river," "the Trinity cuts through the city like a huge green ribbon." Dare I say Hemingway-esque? Of course, Allison’s piece didn’t note that he lives in the Park Cities, so the tax money he is talking about spending isn’t his. Or that he bought D from some of the Crow family, which has contributed to the Vote No! campaign and may have financial interests in seeing the road built in the park. And comparing the 10-mile long toll road to an international airport like DFW airport is a bit ingenuous. (Assuming that I’m intellectual enough to use that word correctly.)
What else? You need to hit "for" on the machine to vote against the toll road on the Trinity proposal. Conversely, you need to hit "against" to vote for the toll road. I saw a couple of Vote Yes signs at the rec center, none for Vote No! And I did hear my first Vote No! radio commercial driving home, on KRLD and featuring (I think) the golden tones of Mayor Park Cities. Sam Merten at DallasBlog reports that the spot will air on WRR, KLUV, WBAP, and KRLD during morning and evening drive, costing about $100,000. That’s about one-third the cash Vote No! had on hand in its most recent financial statement.
The commercial was about what you’d expect: Reject that second guessing! I guess the mayor hasn’t read my post about well-known Republican Teddy Roosevelt, either.
And let’s not forget that there are also a bunch of state constitutional issues on the ballot, including Lance Armstrong’s cancer bonds and the amendment to abolish the office of inspector of hides and animals. I have to admit — I voted to keep the latter.
