I think letter writer (Opinion, Jan. 4) Rusty O'Brien missed the point of why Tony Spitaleri was elected to city council. Maybe the support of the Public Safety Officers Association was a factor, but I think the main reason Spitaleri won was that his opponent was an even worse choice.

I don't have any inside knowledge of the council members' opinions, but from the point of view of an ordinary citizen, it seemed that Spitaleri's opponent, Tim Risch, had alienated the entire council to the point where none of them wanted to work with him again.

Electing Risch could have seriously impaired the ability of the council to function.

The real culprit in this election--and in the whole Sunnyvale council election process--is the fiction of the numbered council seats. This scheme, which clearly reduces voter choices, benefits no one but the politicians themselves--because it allows candidates to select their own opponents by choosing to run for specific seats.

It would be far preferable to eliminate the numbered seats and allow voters to elect council members from a single pool of candidates. I am confident that this would result in a better council more reflective of the will of the voters. And it might even provide cleaner elections with less negative campaigning.

Bob Weissman

Sunnyvale