Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.

Ranked-choice voting
would boost democracy

I am glad to see the growing momentum in Alameda for ranked-choice voting.

Ranked-choice voting is extremely valuable in multi-seat elections, like Alameda’s City Council election, where voters make two choices and the two candidates with the most votes win the seats.

Under the current system, it’s possible for a small percentage of voters to have their two votes choose the winners, while the majority of the voters have neither of their two votes assigned to winning candidates. This can enable niche political slates to win without earning a significant proportion of voter support.

Not so with ranked-choice voting. Typically at least two-thirds of the voters in a ranked-choice election will have their vote make a difference in the election. This makes the results more representative of the electorate.

Let’s strengthen democracy here in Alameda with ranked-choice voting.

Paul Beusterien
Alameda

Support tribal call
for halt to logging

The Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians is calling for a halt to logging in Jackson Demonstration State Forest.

The tribe is calling for the tribal co-management of JDSF and for sacred sites within the forest to be honored and protected. Help us tell legislators that we demand an immediate moratorium on logging, tribal sovereignty, ecosystem restoration, climate change mitigation and environmentally sustainable economics.

This forest represents the losses Pomo tribes have faced over the past 150 years and the state now has an opportunity to make it right.

Genevieve Mullins
Fort Bragg

Ditch daylight saving
for standard time only

Re: “Daylight saving time all year?” (Page A1 , March 17):

The United States tried permanent daylight saving time in the 1970s – then quickly rejected it because the country hated it. It also didn’t reduce energy consumption as intended. In 1974, Congress repealed the law – before the two-year experiment was even up. Nearly 50 years later, Congress is back at it. Why? Amnesia apparently.

Arizona and Hawaii have successfully been on standard time for ages. To adjust from daylight saving time to standard time is easy … you just stay up later. The reverse is not true. Changing from standard time to daylight savings time has been linked to an increase in heart attacks and car accidents. Kids go to school in the dark. Let’s not repeat this total failure in our history.

Let’s stay on standard time year-round like Arizona and Hawaii. It has already been proven to be beneficial … at least it’s not harmful.

Susan Paulson
Castro Valley

CPUC must preserve
state’s solar incentives

Re. “California’s rooftop solar war intensifies as regulators pull reform proposal,” Jan. 24:

In regard to your recent coverage of the ill-advised CPUC proposal to cut benefits of solar panels: My family recently invested in solar panels plus backup battery storage with the expectation of promised returns on the investment. More importantly, our decision was based on the desire to help the environment and become grid-independent (blackout protection), not to mention the two EV vehicles we recently bought.

The recent attempt to disincentivize and penalize current and future solar panel users is outrageous. We invested in solar with the understanding that net energy metering rates would last 20 years. But this short-sighted proposal would break that promise. CPUC and PG&E should encourage solar everywhere, but this proposal would result in countless Californians forgoing planned investments as solar becomes too expensive.

I urge the CPUC to reject the current proposal and introduce a new proposal that protects solar for current and future customers.

Douglas Barnett
Union City