BUDA, Texas (KXAN) – Some Buda voters spent election night in a tavern across the street from City Hall, where a large group waited to see if the city rejected a proposition to put fluoride back into the city’s water supply.

About 67 percent of voters chose to vote against Proposition A — with 100 percent of the vote in — which means residents in Buda will continue to drink fluoride-free water.

The city of Buda receives its water from the San Marcos treatment plant. In 2015, San Marcos voted to remove fluoride from their water. That meant the fluoride in Buda’s water would be removed too. But late last year, the city decided to fluoridate the water once again. Members of the community protested this decision, forcing the city to put the proposition on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Proposition A reads: “Shall the Code of Ordinance of the City of Buda, Texas be amended to adopt an ordinance resuming the use of fluoride additives within the allowable level as recommended and regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in the City of Buda municipal potable water supply?”

Buda Citizens for Safe Water have been protesting the proposition since last year. This group was one of many celebrating at the city’s tavern when election results were released.

Early Tuesday morning, they spent time in front of City Hall to speak with voters about Proposition A.

“A lot of people told us that was the only reason they came to vote,” Michael Meuth with Buda Citizens for Safe Water said. “They had seen us, they had seen our message and they were here to vote against it.”

Meuth ultimately didn’t support Proposition A because he said fluoride could lead to negative health effects.

“I’m interested in just optimizing people’s health because that directly correlates to your quality of life,” Meuth said. “When we can have better health, we can have a better quality of life. And that’s a really important thing.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fluoride reduces tooth decay in children and adults by 25 percent.

To learn more about voting results from Hays County click here.

*Original article online at http://kxan.com/2017/11/07/buda-voters-ax-plans-to-reintroduce-fluoride-to-city-water/

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