PORT ANGELES — In a rare note of unity, the Port Angeles City Council was unanimous on an issue related to fluoridation.
Council members voted 7-0 Tuesday to announce on the city website (www.cityofpa.us) and in city utility bills their 4-3 Aug. 2 decision to stop water fluoridation at least until after a November 2017 advisory vote on the issue.
The announcement will cost the city nothing.
Council members could have decided to spend up to $3,800 in water operating budget funds to mail printed postcards to notify all 13,300 city and rural residents that fluoridation will be suspended until the advisory vote.
“I don’t see where we need to spend the money on this,” Councilman Lee Whetham said at the meeting.
When Councilman Michael Merideth saw the agenda item Sunday in the council packet, “I thought, ‘Oh boy, here we go,’ ” Merideth said Wednesday.
“It wasn’t bad after all,” he said. “That’s what we need to learn: to start compromising.”
