Like many of you, I received my ballot in the mail recently and want to urge you to go all the way to the bottom and vote Yes on Seattle Proposition 2 to continue investing in parks and open space as our city continues to grow and become more dense.

We also recently received our Voters' Pamphlet, and I thought a response to the wildly misleading opposition statement was in order.

As a forward-thinking voter, I'll vote Yes because I know from experience how hard it is to acquire open space in a fast growing, underserved neighborhood like Ballard during a boom cycle, and that a slowing real estate market is the perfect time to purchase much needed urban parks and habitat areas.

As a practical voter, I'll vote Yes because this levy doesn't duplicate the King County parks levy, but it will provide local matching dollars for ongoing King County Conservation Futures Tax funds to acquire open space that Seattle will be very hard-pressed to leverage without renewing a parks levy. Ballard Corners Park, which is taking shape as featured in the Oct. 15 Ballard News-Tribune, is an excellent example of an acquisition made possible by pairing dollars from the Conservation Futures Tax and the expiring parks levy.

As an environmentally-minded voter who has volunteered for the past 15 years to create community parks and habitat areas in the Ballard area, I'll vote Yes because I know that this levy wisely allocates funds not only for new open space, but also for trails, playfields and safety upgrades to park structures that will help get folks out into our parks, improving public health and helping develop a new generation of environmentally-minded voters.

I could go on about the fallacies contained in the voters' pamphlet opposition statement - for example equating urban villages (fast growing neighborhoods like Ballard) with "malls" and claiming that new parks there will benefit private corporations more than the public - huh? Let's consider some of the Ballard area projects included in the levy.

As a Crown Hill/Ballard Neighborhood Plan participant, I'll vote Yes because the levy will fund the plan's key project for Crown Hill, creating a community park on the grounds of the old elementary school.

As a Whittier Heights property owner, I'll vote Yes because the levy provides funds to create a park on the recently purchased 7th Elect Church site on the 7000 block of 9th Avenue Northwest, filling one of the remaining gaps in Ballard open space.

As a long time soccer/ultimate Frisbee/Little League dad, I'll vote Yes because the levy will convert two awful sand playfields at Lower Woodland to synthetic turf, provided studies confirm its safety. These fields are already lit, and a good, year-round surface will take pressure off Ballard fields and provide nearby playfield options.

There are many more sound local and regional projects in the levy, which actually will cost less than the expiring one. See www.seattleparksforall.org for details, and please join me in voting Yes on Proposition 2.

Dave Boyd is president of Groundswell NW and may be reached via bnteditor@robinsonnews.com