Coast Weekly has done a disservice to readers in their article titled "Waiting in the Right Wings" (2/17). The Weekly states as fact that I expect the Pacific Legal Foundation to challenge Measure B in court should it be passed by voters. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have no way of knowing if they would file suit, although they have sued the city of Monterey before.

Last October, I felt it was necessary to get legal opinions from experts in land use law, in particular from experts who have been on all sides of these legal arguments. Pacific Legal Foundation was contacted because they had sued Monterey in the past to overturn Measure F. Measure F, which I personally worked on to get passed, required a vote of the people before property could be up-zoned. In addition to Pacific Legal Foundation, I contacted numerous other attorneys, among them a retired California Supreme Court Justice. It should be noted that all agreed that there would be various grounds for legal challenges to Measure B.

Save Monterey's mission is to educate the public on Measure B. Once the election is over, the intention is to dissolve the organization. We have no way of knowing who would litigate should Measure B pass. However, given the poor manner in which the ballot measure was written, legal challenge is virtually certain.

One further clarification: I am not the president of the Cannery Row Marketing Council.

Rick Heuer, Monterey

Editor's Note: Rick Heuer is the executive director of the Cannery Row Marketing Council.

Monterey's Waterfront Not for Sale

Vote YES on Measure B, the Coastal Protection Initiative, and you will save our coast from developers.

One of those developers is the Catellus Development Corporation out of San Francisco, one of the largest developers in the United States. The other is the Cannery Row Company. They are the two largest property owners on Monterey's waterfront.

Cannery Row Company gave $22,000 and Catellus gave $20,000 to the organization that opposes the Coastal Protection Initiative. These are the largest single donations ever given to a political campaign committee in the history of Monterey!

The Coastal Protection Initiative would limit future development on Monterey's waterfront, and that is why the Cannery Row Company, the Catellus Development Corporation, the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, the county's hotel/tourist industry, City Hall and the Monterey Commercial Property Owners Association all oppose Measure B.

Supporting the Coastal Protection Initiative are the League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula, the Sierra Club's Ventana Chapter and the Dunes Coalition. They want to save our waterfront from overdevelopment.

Who do you trust to save our coast in the future? Surely, not developers. Monterey's waterfront is not for sale. Save our coast from developers by voting YES on Measure B.

Ed Leeper, Monterey

Monterey Preserves Its History

The Jan. 27 Weekly article, "Doc's Lab Lauded" (News Briefs) reported that the city of Monterey received the governor's Historic Preservation Award for restoring Ed Rickett's Pacific Biological Laboratory, otherwise known as "Doc's Lab." The article correctly states that the city received the award for the project.

The article also states that the city has been reluctant to enforce preservation of Cannery Row historic buildings and that a number of historic buildings have been lost to redevelopment over the years. This is not accurate.

The city has not allowed demolition of a significant number of buildings. The correct number of buildings removed for redevelopment since the California Coastal Act was passed in 1972 is five. Several of those were seriously deteriorated prior to demolition. Unfortunately, the opportunity for preservation of the majority of buildings on Cannery Row has been taken away over the years by fire and weather, not redevelopment or the city's reluctance towards preservation.

In addition, the city of Monterey has an active program to preserve Cannery Row historic buildings, including a Cannery Row historic survey, Historic Preservation Commission review before alteration or demolition of potentially historic buildings, and a proposed historic preservation ordinance, which makes the design and demolition review permanent.

The city has saved the Cannery Row workers' shacks, acquired and preserved Doc's Lab, taken ownership of the Aeneas Cannery Bridge to prevent its demolition, paid for historically appropriate redesign of the Palace Flophouse project, and followed historic guidelines for Cannery Row street pavement repair.

The governor's award for Doc's Lab, Monterey's ongoing preservation efforts in Cannery Row, and the proposed historic ordinance are clear indicators of the city of Monterey's commitment to protect one of the most historic areas in the country.

Dan Albert, Mayor, city of Monterey

The Truth About Farr

The media should be chastised for their coverage of the local congressional race in the 17th District. You are not telling the story.

For instance, when Rep. Sam Farr first got into office, he did it by stealing the election from Bill Monning. Farr promised to vote against NAFTA, and got labor's endorsement and money in his victory over Monning. Then he betrayed labor's trust by promptly voting for NAFTA when he got into office. Additionally, Farr played a big role in creating the WTO and voted for the legislation instituting it.

For months, Farr refused to endorse the strike by Teamsters at King City's Basic Vegetable Products, and he took money from the owners of Basic. This same company was a main backer of Prop. 226, which labor hated and worked hard against. Finally, Farr supported the mass bombing of civilian targets in the war against Yugoslavia.

Joe Grossman, on the other hand, is resolutely opposed to NAFTA and WTO, and has vigorously opposed Prop. 226. Grossman from the beginning has happily supported the Basic Vegetable strikers, and is not taking any corporate PAC money. And, Joe is opposed to the bombing of civilian targets at all times.

Vote for Joe Grossman, Democrat for Congress.

Peter V. O'Reilly, Santa Cruz