12/6/21 Caucus

Excerpt:

Milady Tejeda spoke up and asked Petrick if he would like to speak about R-657-12/21 – Prohibiting the use of fluoride in the city drinking water. Tejeda questioned how people would feel about this.

Councilman B.J. Torres spoke up, “Fluoride might be a carcinogenic in the long run, and it’s been known to decrease a person’s IQ by 10 points when they become adults. It’s good for children, but not for adults. We are only one of two municipalities in the county that has fluoride in their water.”

Council President Petrick who put this resolution on the agenda stated, “Middlesex Water doesn’t add fluoride and plus fluoride is already in commercial products. Dentists give it to children to just swish it around in their mouths and have them spit it out.”

Milady Tejeda spoke, “In the long run, will it benefit the taxpayers and the health of all? There’s not much going to be much of a tax savings if we remove the fluoride in the water.”

Councilman Pabon said he was okay with removing it.

Torres spoke up again, “There are no mass tooth decay when fluoride was removed from the drinking water.”

Petrick then remembered, “At one time, Perth Amboy had the best water.”

Councilwoman Morales asked, “Can we have someone who is an expert who knows the pros and cons of fluoride in the drinking water?”

Council President Petrick said, “There was a presentation on this.”

Torres said, “I must have missed that presentation, but the students have dental checkups in the school.”

Morales then suggested that the council have Dr. Lydia David, a local dentist come and speak.

Petrick was adamant, “If Middlesex Water thought it was great (having fluoride in the water), they would have supplied it to all the cities that they serve.”

*Original article online at https://www.amboyguardian.com/2021/12/17/arguments-over-appointees-to-municipal-boards-and-removing-fluoride-from-the-citys-water-among-topics-discussed/

Print PDF