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Port Angeles City Council votes 6-1 to fluoridate water 2003-02-19
PORT ANGELES, WA-- The City Council voted 6-1 to fluoridate the city's water system after a four-hour public hearing Tuesday. Councilman Larry Williams was the only member to dissent, after first attempting three times to postpone the decision. Williams said he did not oppose fluoridation, but needed more time to review all the facts. Councilmen Orville Campbell and Richard Headrick summed up the position of the rest of the council. Referring to Forks, which has fluoridated its city water since 1956, Campbell said he hadn't seen any of the ``horror stories'' opponents said could happen. Forks is the only city in Clallam and Jefferson counties with fluoridated water. Headrick agreed with Campbell. ``After reviewing the facts on both sides -- I've read the (American Dental Association) pamphlet -- I haven't heard anything new,'' he said, referring to the arguments Councilwoman Karen Rogers called her ``yes'' vote the ``most important decision I could make.'' There is no timetable yet for when fluoridation will begin. Sequim Mayor Walt Schubert, who attended Tuesday's hearing in Port Angeles, said he will propose fluoridating the Sequim water system to his City Council colleagues. ``I came here to encourage you, and now I will go back to urge Sequim to do this, too,'' Schubert told the Port Angeles council. |