I was surprised that neither Marina mayoral candidate ("Face Off," 10/12-18) expressed any interest or concern about the danger of the city of Marina losing its water supply to the steadily worsening seawater intrusion problem.

As a resource planner, [Ken] Gray must certainly know about seawater intrusion destroying the shallow and median fresh water supply aquifers at Fort Ord, where Marina gets its water, and [Mayor Jim] Perrine has led the way in sidetracking my efforts to get the Marina City Council to allow time on a meeting agenda for an open public discussion of the danger of losing our city''s water supply.

What did the city of Marina people do wrong, to not have city leaders interested enough in the future of the city to notice that ignoring the seawater intrusion problem is not fair to the thousands of people whose homes and businesses could become totally worthless because of loss of our water supply?

I''d like to hear or see some answers. Are we supposed to believe that some higher power (maybe the county Board of Supervisors) will somehow supply us with water, after the "allotted water supplies" mentioned as available to us in the Fort Ord aquifers turns out to be not worth the paper it is written on?

Mel Vercoe,
Marina

Nightmare on Dream Street

I will never see a movie in Monterey again. Without the Dream Theater (Artifacts, 10/5-11), the movie selections in this area suck. Almost all the other theaters around here are owned by the same company, and they all seem to have agreed to play the cheesiest, crappiest movies they can find.

There is absolutely nothing that can beat a $2.50 Tuesday night at the Dream--no matter what they are showing. I have walked to the theater many a Tuesday with no idea what was playing and have never been disappointed. It was the only place to see independent, intelligent, fun, interesting, educational, offbeat and important films. Now, we will be living in a cultural vacuum with no way to replace the quality entertainment we received at the Dream.

I''m not saying the theater didn''t need a little cosmetic work, like maybe some new seats, but please, isn''t there something we can do to bring back the Dream? Isn''t there a historical building society that can get involved? Can''t we start a petition? I know the surrounding business profited from the theater. People meet at Gianni''s for a pre-movie pizza, stop by Long''s before show time, walk down to the Bulldog or Bosso''s for a drink after the show--can''t we all rally together?

I will be writing the Cannery Row Company, and encourage anyone else who appreciates quality entertainment at low prices to do the same. The address is in the phone book.

Jodi Leamon,
Big Sur

Real Righteous Reason?

There appeared a letter from Margaret Thomas of Carmel in your paper (Letters, 10/12-18) urging us all to take up the cause of Christians across America and vote for Mr. Bush. Does she think that Mr. Bush is more righteous than Mr. Gore? A better Christian in her lights perhaps? Perhaps the Dems should resurrect the career of Jimmy Carter and run him again for president: After all, he was a very moral, Christian and righteous person...not much of a world leader, though. Jimmy made money in the peanut business. That should appeal to her. Mr. Gore has also done pretty well in the oil business.

Or is it something else? "Join us Christians across America"...hmmm. Senator Joe Lieberman is running as Vice President on the Democratic ticket, isn''t he? Perhaps Thomas means to infer that "No Jews Need Apply." Nothing new there. That sign has been hung out for all to see for two millennia.

Yates F. Hallam,
Carmel

Even Worse than Condors

The letter from William H. Johnston (Letters, 10/5-11) about condors does not mention the vast mortality rates of infant humans and children in Third World countries. Moreover, it barely hints at the destructiveness of the inquisitive, "intelligent" humans who reach adulthood. Humans do not merely inhabit almost every corner of the earth, they rip the whole planet apart and are also destroying the ozone layer--a disaster on Earth where a pinhole will leak massive amounts of solar radiation in any weather. Other damage includes shredded forests, oil spills and raw sewage spewing into the oceans, and torn up land everywhere you look. Spectacular vistas have been trashed everywhere. In Southern California, the humans have stripped the air of breathable content with their vehicles.

As life members of the ecosystem on Planet Earth, I strongly support more selective and a really intensive Rolfing program to save the endangering humans. However, the noble human desire to progress is clearly a spectacular failure and should be terminated immediately to stop the loss of humans and remove a public nuisance. Let the biologists analyze their data and devise a more "palatable" existence program--say in an unpopulated area with sexually mature humans.

Janice Rocke,
Palo Colorado

Citizen Goldbeck?

I''m somewhat dismayed and terribly troubled by the actions of the owner/publisher of The Beacon, who not only prints ads for her legal services but for some time has been running editorials condemning the actions of Sandy Koffman, the mayor of Pacific Grove, while preparing to offer herself up as a candidate for that position.

Whatever happened to ETHICS? I thought the historic film Citizen Kane revealing symbolically the vicious press/power techniques of the late William Randolph Hearst once and for all threw enough light on these kinds of activities to put an end to this dangerous and unscrupulous practice.

Michael Kapp
Pacific Grove

Nurse for Nader

I am a registered nurse and I fully support Ralph Nader for president. Not all nurses will vote for Nader on Nov. 7, even though the California Nurses Association has endorsed him. It is, I believe, the first time a State Nurses Association (CNA) has endorsed someone other than a Republican or Democrat for president. A bold move on CNA''s part. The Democrats argue that a vote for Nader spoils Al Gore''s chances, or that we would be "wasting" our vote. Except for a very small number of states, people have a free vote. They can vote their conscience for Ralph Nader, thereby sending a message that the system is corrupt and it''s time to clean up Washington DC. Remember, the president is NOT elected by popular vote, but by a majority (270) of the 538 electoral (college) votes. These electoral votes are cast by state, and it''s winner-take-all in each state. Thus, a vote for Nader has no chance of "spoiling" the outcome for Al Gore unless it potentially changes the outcome within each state. The truth is, as we know, for 90 percent of the states (including the biggest ones like California), that is not going to happen.

Why not go ahead and vote your hopes and dreams--not your fears--for once. The electoral college will decide who becomes president.

William Marshall,
Salinas