In regard to the letter to the editor “Lifeguard Towers can be painted colorfully, tastefully” by Marc Menkin (Aug. 25 Peninsula Beacon, page 6): With all due respect to the children who “painted” the lifeguard towers in Los Angeles, the towers were really wallpapered with printed vinyl graphic sheeting provided by Image Options, a company whose ad appears all around the roof-edges of each tower. A sponsoring company, like Izod, paid for the sheeting and its application in exchange for their advertisement on the tower for five months, and the children’s charity gained a donation, one should hope. It’s a good plan, but advertising and art don’t belong on naturally picturesque beaches, nor in the woods, around lakes or in the mountains. Some places just have to be sacred, pristine and preserved for our sanity, and for the wild things, like birds, fish and animals. The San Diego City Council will be voting this fall on a plan to allow major name-brand advertising on all city beach lifeguard towers, beach benches, walkways, trash cans (and what next?) to help reduce our $75,000,000 deficit and restore funds to lifeguards and other programs. At an advertising cost of $200,000 to $500,000 per year for five years, corporate giants will not be satisfied with a tiny sign on a big tower. If you don’t want advertising blight on our beautiful beaches, call, write or e-mail your City Council representative now, before it’s too late: www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/