Whenever the topic of water fluoridation and rotten teeth arises in Watsonville, it quickly turns into an issue of dirty water and rotten government.
When the California State Legislature passed a fluoridation law back in the 1990s, the stated purpose for enacting the law was for the “protection and maintenance of dental health,” and to “decrease the burden the Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal programs place upon the state’s limited funds.”
Since then, not one single chemical supplier or anyone from the state will say which specific fluoridation substance will provide dental health protection to the public and save the state some money.
Instead, the fluoridation pushers play a very deceiving game by making a vague statement like “fluoridation is great.” But they won’t say what makes it great, because if they do, they would be making a health claim and risk a lawsuit.
The substance, hydrofluorosilicic acid, commonly used for fluoridation in this country, has never been scientifically proven to be safe and effective if used to fight tooth decay. It is a byproduct of the phosphate-fertilizer industry and contains lead, arsenic and other contaminants.
Don’t fall for the deceit. No court has ordered the city to use a particular substance. No state law orders the city to use a particular substance. It’s the city’s pick. If the city is going to fluoridate, then it should only use a specific substance that has been proven to be safe and effective for fighting tooth decay. Only a rotten government would use an untested, unproven and tainted substance to fluoridate the water.
A “nonprofit” can pop up to offer almost $2 million to the city to inject an ugly chemical into our water, but the same group does not offer that kind of money to buy toothbrushes, toothpaste, or provide dental care for the poor kids. Doesn’t it look like someone is more interested in pushing the sale of someone else’s chemical waste than helping the kids?
In a recent Register-Pajaronian article, we learned that a paid lobbyist, who was the ex-boss of Mayor Luis Alejo, urged council members to accept a fluoridation funding agreement before the public was aware of the agreement.
One day before the council meeting on the fluoridation issue, the California Department of Public Health sent a letter to the city thanking the council for “adopting community water fluoridation.” That’s right, the state said this before the council meeting.
Another part of state fluoridation law is that no city can be forced to fluoridate unless all of the funding to set up and run a fluoridation program comes from an outside source. This means the city is not obligated to spend a single cent of your money. Not one cent!
The fluoridation contract offered to the city contains numerous clauses that would stick city’s residents with a bill. In a detailed letter to the council, I cited 21 different problems with the contract, yet council members Alejo, Bersamin and Rivas wanted to go full steam ahead without addressing a single one of my issues.
Once again, we see more rotten government in action. Luckily, we had four council members who did not go along with Alejo’s push.
Now, an ad hoc committee has been formed to study the fluoridation contract. Hopefully the committee will protect the public by insisting that only a proven and tested fluoridation substance be used and that not one cent is spent of the public’s funds to fluoridate.
Dirty water and rotten government, that’s what is happening in our city, and unless you stand up to tell your council members to protect the public and not waste our money, you are going to start getting dirty water and will keep getting more rotten government.
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The opinions of columnists are not necessarily those of the Register-Pajaronian.
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