I understand fully Americans’ disgust with the presidential election process.

It’s too long. It’s too costly. It’s too negative.

Contrast that, though, with how local governments do the job of engaging in the political process.

In Amarillo, the City Council and the senior municipal staff have done it the right way in the run-up to the Nov. 8 general election.

City Hall has placed seven propositions on the municipal ballot. They all total about $340 million. They cover a multitude of projects that the city has deemed necessary. State law, though, prohibits city officials from campaign actively for these projects. They include such things as street repair, Civic Center improvements, athletic complex improvements, parks, public safety and fleet vehicles.

Here they are: http://amarillo.gov/pdf/CIP_list_for_ballot_resolution.pdf

I’ve commented on several of the propositions and will offer more comment on others in the days ahead.

My point today, though, is to offer a good word to the city for the way it chose to present these items.

Voters have the option of approving all, some or none of the measures. To that end, I congratulate City Hall for breaking these projects down in definable elements, giving voters the chance to decide which of these projects is important.

The city would issue certificates of obligation to pay for them. The level of increased property taxes would depend on how many of the ballot measures get voters’ endorsement in November.

This is good government at work. As I’ve noted many times in the past, it is at this level — the local level — where government has the most tangible impact on the lives of those who pay for it.

The city, to its credit, is acting as though it recognizes that reality.