Re “San Diego City Council shoots down effort to put municipal utility on the November ballot” (June 11): I don’t trust our mayor and city council to oversee a municipal utility, and would vote “no ” on a ballot measure to oust SDG&E and establish a government utility.

But I strongly support putting this issue before taxpayers and letting them express their opinion at the ballot box. In rejecting San Diego Power’s request for ballot status, council members criticized SDG&E’s profit margins and its supposed deference  to shareholders. But those comments were a charade.

When it came time to vote, they unanimously rejected this very legitimate request to place the issue on the November ballot.

In doing so, they sided with two very powerful special interests: labor unions and the investor-owned utility. Labor and SDG&E have the political connections, well-paid lobbyists, influence at City Hall, and — most importantly — the money that helps elect and keep our mayor and council in office.

That outsized power is bad for democracy.

— Paul Krueger, Talmadge