PORT ANGELES — Now that city water customers have spoken, the City Council is likely to vote tonight on water fluoridation, and at least one council member said he will move to end the practice.
City Council member Lee Whetham said Monday he intends to make a motion at tonight’s regular council meeting — if another council colleague does not — that the city end fluoridation of the municipal water supply when a contract with the Washington Dental Service Foundation expires May 18.
“I am going to be looking for a second,” Whetham said.
The City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
A November survey of city water customers inside and outside the city limits that was approved by the City Council showed last week that 2,381 respondents, or 56.64 percent, opposed fluoridation while 1,835, or 41.27 percent, favored the practice.
“The people have spoken,” Whetham said.
“I would find it disheartening if we go through the voting and survey process and just disregard it.”
City Manager Dan McKeen also expects the council to address “the continuation of fluoride one way or the other,” he said.
“I do believe they will discuss it and make a decision.”
Council member Brad Collins would not comment Monday on whether he would second Whetham’s motion but said he expects the council to vote on the matter tonight just the same.
“We’ve been discussing this for well over six months,” Collins said, noting that tonight will mark the last regular meeting for Mayor Dan Di Guilio, who did not run for re-election.
“It seems reasonable that the mayor would have a vote on this issue,” Collins said.
Michael Merideth, who defeated Marolee Smith for Di Guilio’s Position 5 seat, will take office early next year.
Di Guilio and council members Patrick Downie, Dan Gase, Cherie Kidd and Sissi Bruch did not return calls for comment early Monday afternoon.
Eyeing majority
In separate Peninsula Daily News interviews in August, Di Guilio, Whetham and Gase said they would vote to stop fluoridating city water if a majority of survey respondents were against the practice.
Downie and Gase also said they were looking for a clear mandate from water customers.
Bruch said her vote, too, depends on the margin between those for and against fluoridation.
Kidd and Collins said in August that they wanted more information before making a decision.
The city adds between 0.8 and 0.95 milligrams of fluorosilicic acid to the city’s water supply as a public health measure to prevent tooth decay.
Opponents say fluoridation amounts to forced medication and is responsible for a host of health problems, from brittle bones to low IQ.
The city mailed 9,762 surveys to water customers Nov. 6 and received 4,204 responses by the Nov. 27 deadline.
Only customers, or those who pay water bills, were included in the survey, leaving out some water users, such as apartment dwellers.
Survey respondents included more than 1,500 Clallam County Public Utility District customers who live east of the city limits and receive city water.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
