This November will mark the 50th anniversary of McMinnville residents’ vote to fluoridate the city water supply, resident Jo McIntyre told the city council Tuesday. She said that makes it a good time for the council to send the issue back to the voters, to see if they’d like to reconsider.

McIntyre told the council she opposes fluoridation as a “freedom of choice issue.” She believes it is wasteful to fluoridate the entire supply in any event, as much of it is not of it is not subject to human consumption, and said a lot of things have changed over five decades.

“Fifty years ago, we didn’t have fluoride in everything — toothpaste, mouthwash,” she said.

Switzerland, she told the council, takes another tack. It mandates fluoridated salt, counterpart of the iodized salt marketed in the U.S.

The council took no action on McIntyre’s request, which was made informally during its dinner session…

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