PORT ANGELES — City department heads have recommended that the Port Angeles City Council reverse its decision to fluoridate the municipal water supply.
The staff members made the recommendation after some anti-fluoridation activists said they would ask voters to change the structure of city government.
Fluoridation foes with “Our Water, Our Choice” are considering asking for signatures on a petition to change Port Angeles from a code city to a second-class city — a change that would prompt new elections for all seven council seats.
The department heads, saying the fluoridation issue has sharply divided the town, presented five options in a memo to the council largely authored by City Manager Dan McKeen — with help from Mayor Patrick Downie.
The options range from continuing fluoridation to stopping it entirely.
Staff especially recommends the option in which the city would stop water fluoridation but would fund dental-care efforts in place of it.
Council members had asked for options following their disputed Dec. 15 decision to continue fluoridation beyond the May 18 termination date of a contract with the Washington Dental Service Foundation.
Under the 4-3 vote, the practice will continue — though not under a contract — with funding up for annual council approval at budget time.
Changing structure
Anti-fluoridation activist Dr. Eloise Kailin said Friday that changing the structure of city government is a “draconian” solution — but one that may be necessary.
City Council members will discuss the options at their regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
Kailin said members of “Our Water, Our Choice” will decide this week if they will begin gathering petition signatures to throw out the sitting City Council.
Olympia attorney Gerald Steel, representing “Our Water, Our Choice,” said 477 signatures would be needed to put the measure on the ballot.
Kailin predicted such an election could occur as early as August.
She said she was inclined to accept nothing less than a complete cessation of fluoridation and no funding for the 10-year, $400,000 “Oral Health Care Initiative” that city staff suggested could replace the city’s fluoridation efforts as part of the department heads’ recommendation.
“Stop water fluoridation May 18, period,” Kailin said.
“Why are city resources being used for a public health problem?” she asked, contending the city is too financially strapped to fund such a program.
“We don’t want to put ratepayers in more stress than they already are.”
Council members created a furor among fluoridation foes by voting to continue fluoridation after a double-digit majority of water-user-survey respondents rejected the practice in a November survey.
“The whole fact is, the vote of the people was ignored, and as a result, the council did not represent the wishes of its citizens,” Kailin said.
Department heads said those who object to fluoridation for health reasons — they often call it “forced medication” — have broadened their focus in light of the Dec. 15 vote.
Division prompts petition
“The connected controversy has created feelings that are so strong that individuals are willing to petition for a change in the Port Angeles form of government in order to stop water fluoridation,” according to the memo.
If that change occurs, Port Angeles would transform from a code city to what state law refers to as a second-class city.
Residents would lose their home-rule authority — and the right to originate initiatives and referenda, according to the staff memo.
Port Angeles also would be seen as having a “less progressive form of government,” a perception that would affect recruitment of senior staff and the city’s bond rating, the memo said.
“In relative terms, fluoridation is a minor matter compared to the extensive negative consequences that would result from the backward change to second-class city status,” the memo says.
The conversion “would be a serious mistake — a step backward that would have adverse consequences for Port Angeles on a broad array of functions, subjects and issues.”
Council members Cherie Kidd, Dan Gase, Brad Collins and Patrick Downie voted to continue fluoridation.
“I would like somehow to get to a win-win,” said Downie, chosen by his council colleagues as mayor Jan. 5 in a council vote that split along fluoride/anti-fluoride lines.
The memo was signed by McKeen, City Attorney Bill Bloor, Parks and Recreation Director Corey Delikat, Fire Chief Ken Dubuc, Human Resources Manager Abigail Fountain, Police Chief Terry Gallagher, Chief Financial Officer Byron Olson, Director of Community and Economic Development Nathan West and City Clerk Jennifer Veneklasen.
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
