In June of 2024, the Hillsboro Herald discovered that the City Manager and Staff were asking the City Council to approve a vote to refer the possible Fluoridation of Hillsboro’s water to the Voters. Because of that article, a group of Doctors came to the June 18th, 2024 Council meeting and vehemently protested adding fluoride to Hillsboro’s water. They were each given 3 minutes during Public Comment, among them were some powerful representatives. This was the only time Flouride was on the City Council agenda and the only time for any public input or science-based questions to be posed to the Council. But understand, there was never a Q and A process on this Flouride matter, not a public hearing, which should have been done had the City Council wanted any citizen input.
You can watch the City Water Department present the Flouride matter to the Council here on public TV. https://reflect-tvctv.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/28196?seekto=9000&site=5
You can hear those comments here – https://reflect-tvctv.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/28196?seekto=5252&site=5
Here is our June Article –
The Fluoride issue was brought forward to the Council by Assistant City Manager Rahim Harji. The Council was presented with the facts as he and the water department saw them and asked to allow the handful of concerned parties to circumvent the process of getting a Vote on our ballots. Normally any person or group wanting to effect change on a big issue like this would have to get the signatures of 15% of the population to put an initiative petition on the ballot. That would have meant this small group who wanted Fluoride would have had to gather about 10,000 signatures of registered Hillsboro voters. We do not see initiative petitions in all of our elections because they are almost impossible to do. Here is a slide show provided at the City during this process.
So the Council decided to give this small group a massive break and to refer the matter to all of you for an advisory vote on Fluoride being put in your water. Your Vote on this matter will NOT put Fluoride into the water, but it will give the Council direction as to what you think. At that point, the City Council will act on the matter, and as of right now, no councilors in Hillsboro are opposed to Fluoride. We want any who opposed to Fluoride to step forward now and let us know – hillsboroherald@gmail.com.
SO KNOW – IF YOU VOTE FOR FLUORIDE and a good % of Hillsboro voters do, we are getting Fluoride.
Here are some slides shown during the work session at that City Council Meeting!
The City Council and Managers copped out on this one in my opinion. Giving 3 people who came forward over the past year or two, even if they were Doctors or Dentists, is not enough public outcry to waive the need for an initiative petition. This is a divisive issue and affects people with many fearful of widely publicized health effects. I could see waiving this requirement if dozens or hundreds of people had come forward on this matter, but only after a series of Public Hearings. But we don’t get to have hearings on significant matters in Hillsboro, and that is a sad fact that is playing out right now as the Governor, with the backing of Mayor Callaway and Senator Janeen Sollman, is about to bring 373 acres into the UGB and Hillsboro without any input from the people of Hillsboro – None!
Recent News:
Court cases are pending, based on a proven reduction in IQ of children born to mothers exposed to Fluoride, that may create a nightmare for Cities and communities that add fluoride to the water.
The people of Lebanon, Oregon, are voting to remove Flouride from their water as I write this.
Eugene Voters overwhelmingly rejected Fluoride in recent years- and this may speak to what the people of Hillsboro might be leaning toward.
I am not sure where I am at on Fluoride, and will not tell you how to vote. But I can tell you that Fluoride is a big deal. It is easy to add and very expsensive to remove from household water. Systems to remove fluoride from tap water in a home easily cost $2,000 to $5,000 to install and are annually expensive to maintain. On the contrary, anyone can add Fluoride to their life by using chewable tablets, mouth washes and rinses, getting an annual fluoride treatement at your dentist, and of course toothpaste.
As a result, I do not believe as a voter I should force someone who does not want Fluoride in their drinking water to be forced to pay for it and ingest it. I susbcribe to the “First Do No Harm” doctrine. Because the science is evolving and unclear, I will not vote to subject my fellow citizens to the fear, costs, and potential harms of Fluoride.
Now that the City Council has given the process a pass and will likely vote to add Fluoride to our water, your votes will be the only way to guide them in the next year or so as we move ahead. So make it count.
The Hillsboro Herald wants YOU to sound off- Add your Comments Below and Take Our Poll, which we will report the results of in the next few days as the deadline to Vote draws near.
From Community Member Cloe:
As a low-income single mother, I see a lot of pro-fluoride folks speaking for me and others in my socio-economic class. I do NOT want my choice to invest (or to have my children ingest) fluoride taken from me! My children see their wonderful dentist every 6 months, and this is covered by the Oregon Health Plan. Additionally, mobile dental clinics frequently visit subsidized low-income apartment buildings in the area, like the one my kids and I lived in for much of their lives. These clinics literally come to our homes to provide free, walk-up dental checkups, including fluoride treatments. Fluoridated toothpastes and toothbrushes are freely handed out. These are wonderful services that pinpoint and meet needy families where they are. However, fluoridating community water is a harmful one-size-fits-all approach that distributes fluoride largely to where it is unwanted and unneeded. With fluoride treatments, fluoride rinses, and fluoride toothpastes readily available to all of us, forced ingestion of the chemical is simply reckless. We know that fluorosis and lowered IQs are real risks. We know that the federally recommended safe limit is .7 mg/L, and that other Washington County water services regularly register higher than that, sometimes *double*. We are at far more risk of over-fluoridating than under-fluoridating our community.
It does seem unfair that the pro-fluoride group had such a headstart on campaigning and planning. I only heard about this last week from the city.
Lastly, choice matters, and it is far easier to choose to add fluoride at the household level than to remove it. *This* low-income family cannot afford to remove excess fluoride from our tap water. Please do not create additional stress for us, and for the love of God, please stop using “poor people” and kids like mine as a prop for your agenda. Please vote NO on fluoride in Hillsboro.
Take The POLL:
BONUS CONTENT!
How would you feel about asking the City Council to waive the Initiative Petition process so that Hillsboro residents can require Intel to pay their property taxes (which they do not) and their Oregon Income Taxes (which they do not), with an added provision that all Data Centers pay a 2% City Tax which will raise funds that will 100% be used to offset the growing Power Rates of the Citizens of Hillsboro- to be equally distributed to all residences paying a PGE power bill? I want to have 3 or more of us approach our City Council and ask for the Fluoride Treatment package. What say you (he says tongue in cheek)?
Imagine If there was this much urgency behind a referendum item for, say, diverting $18 million in public money and a bunch of the public’s recreational ballfields to a private entity for low-tier baseball and, maybe, low-grade concerts.
“And here comes the pitch on a 3-2 count…. Flint takes a deep monstrous cut at the ball…..and it’s GOOOOONNNNNNNEEEEEE! Holy Mother of God! Over the pond and into the Mist of the Intel CUB 3 Building- that baby was BLASTED-“
Dirk, When ballot initiatives on our ballots, 115,116,117,118, are “Referred to the People by the Legislative Assemby” I am immediately suspicious of the issues.
Now we have the Darlings on the Hillsboro City Council virtually doing the same damned thing. No hearings, No conversations, No nothing, BUT at least they are being “transparent” and so gracious and wonderful and kind and giving us a vote. Stick It City Council, you just want another tool to raise water rates. You Don’t fool me…..
If the cowards on the Council and the Mayor had given us a vote on the new Hops ballpark the Hops would be packing their bags and getting the hell out of Dodge…….
That vote in Eugene wasn’t even close. That Hillsboro (or the voters of Washington County) didn’t get the same opportunity tells me it would’ve gone far worse here: https://www.opb.org/article/2024/05/22/eugene-emeralds-baseball-stadium-bond-trailing-wide-margin/
Jason –
I can not find the info on that Vote. I am assuming it went down in flames? Can you link me up to a story or post?
It’s in the OPB link, but it also shows up here. Rejected by a nearly 2-to-1 margin: https://yachatsnews.com/eugene-emeralds-likely-hitting-the-road-after-voters-reject-bond-for-new-baseball-stadium/
Thank you, Dirk, for writing about this very important issue. Unfortunately, I don’t get a vote, as I’m not a City resident. But, I do work within the City & drink the water. If it should pass, I will be investing in a good filter or buying bottled water.
On first glance, it does seem that people who are anti-Fluoridation tend to be the same people who are also believers in other “alternative” medical theories. I’d be interested to know who exactly these doctors who oppose this are. I definitely need to do more research on this one. Great more homework before November.
Those that testified are on the video I linked. Let me pull their names off there and post them when I have time. Some were high level with various dental groups and all had good credentials.
Thank you for covering this issue! Clean Water Hillsboro has formed to educate voters on the harms of ingesting fluoride. When it is offered topically in toothpaste or at the dentist, those who choose not to swallow it can still enjoy clean water. Sadly the CHOICE is removed if added and children are most vulnerable to IQ drop. It’s an expense the residents do not need. Children of poor housholds can already get dental care through the state.
As a low-income single mother, I see a lot of pro-fluoride folks speaking for me and others in my socio-economic class. I do NOT want my choice to invest (or to have my children ingest) fluoride taken from me! My children see their wonderful dentist every 6 months, and this is covered by the Oregon Health Plan. Additionally, mobile dental clinics frequently visit subsidized low-income apartment buildings in the area, like the one my kids and I lived in for much of their lives. These clinics literally come to our homes to provide free, walk-up dental check ups, incuding fluoride treatments. Fluoridated toothpastes and toothbrushes are freely handed out. These are wonderful services that pinpoint and meet needy families where they are. However, fluoridating community water is a harmful one-size-fits-all approach that distributes fluoride largely to where it is unwanted and unneeded. With fluoride treatments, fluoride rinses and fluoride toothpastes readily available to all of us, forced ingestion of the chemical is simply reckless. We know that fluorosis and lowered IQs are real risks. We know that the federally recommended safe limit is .7 mg/L, and that other Washington County water services regularly register higher than that, sometimes *double*. We are at far more risk of over fluoridating than under fluoridating our community.
It does seem unfair that the pro-fluoride group had such a headstart on campaigning and planning. I only heard from the city about this last week.
Lastly, choice matters, and it is far easier to choose to add fluoride at the household level, than to remove it. *This* low-income family cannot afford to remove excess fluoride from our tap water. Please do not create additional stress for us and, for the love of God, please stop using “poor people” and kids like mine as a prop for your agenda. Please vote NO on fluoride on Hillsboro.
Cloe;
I am SO GLAD you weighed in. The Voice of the Impoverished is HEARD! You are well spoken, a great communicator, and I think have a lot to offer. How about we have you as a columnist – and I am serious about that. Your voice is one of many I meet, and know, family too. And your “class” needs a thought leader – and I am all about that. I would like to add your comment here directly into the article, and extend a big seat at the table here at the Herald. Are you game to do a column with us? You get paid what we do – NOTHING! But hey I cna cover coffee and wine once in a blue moon and you cna be the voice of those of you being “mamaged” and looked after by the shepards here in the Valley who make a living off of you- not that great work isn’t being done, because it is. But it is BIG BUSINESS now with a lot of program dollars going to “management”. Thank you for posting! THANK YOU!
Kindly;
Dirk
I appreciate your words! Please feel free to share my take on this wherever you see fit. It is frustrating when folks (with ostensibly good intentions) co-opt voices like mine and my family’s for purposes we don’t actually agree with. But I know that it can sure sound convincing!
Writing from time to time sure sounds fun! I will give it a serious think. :)
The impoverished see the world stripped bare. No safety net of money to soften the blows. They know hunger, they know loss, they know the sting of being ignored. That’s fertile ground for stories. For seeing the truth beneath the surface. The comfortable, they get complacent, their words lose their bite. But the ones who have scraped and struggled, they have something to say.
You are many- we are many – and yet we see all the pretty things flaunted in front of us. Your story is one that hundreds of thosands in our community can relate to and take solace from. It is valuable – a voice not shared, a mind filled with knowledge, a heart filled with compassion, all are better when used to share the human experience. Had a started writing at a younger age, who knows what I could have done. As it is the sands of time are running away from me- but I can see the rsults of my work all over the Valley. Your life has that potential – your words can move mountains. Never ever forget that.
Email me at hillsboroherald@gmail.com if you would like to talk about this.
Thank you, again.
Dirk
*ingest, not invest.
And to answer your question I am not happy at all to learn that the signature collection step was sidestepped in this process. 😞
I agree, how can they do that when we’re talking about a drug that everyone in the city and surrounding areas will consume? There are a lot of people in surrounding areas that don’t even get to vote on this. How could a final decision on this be left up to someone in the city, much less the Utilities Commission, who are they? What business do they have making this decision, this is our water, all of our water, and it should not be messed with. People shouldn’t have to buy expensive household filtration systems to avoid this drug (as defined by the CDC), most people can’t afford that, and the majority of people won’t even know this is in the water, including especially the kids. There are a lot of people in hillsboro already consuming fluoride in Beaverton water, whether they know it or not, and they probably didn’t get to vote on it either. Is that why someone thought it should be up to the Utility Commission, because there are different water systems overlapping cities? Who in our government is protecting the people from bad decisions? With the recent report that came out from the National Toxicology Program (NTP), and the follow-on court ruling against the EPA, a lot of cities are either banning fluoride or at least thinking about it. Why don’t we at least hold off on this decision until the EPA responds, because if they say no to fluoride, we will have wasted a lot of money putting this in place. How could what they’re putting in our body be their choice?! I don’t even think something like this should be a vote of the people, the water should be pure for everyone, period, primary goal everyone would agree on at a minimum, and anyone who wants topical fluoride can easily do that for themselves.
We already know fluoride is not good in the drinking water… why are we even considering this? We even got better alternatives than fluoride for tooth paste. Who is actually benefiting from this because its not the citizens.
Ya, follow the money. We know the industrial companies that would otherwise have to pay to dispose of this toxic waste, instead get paid for it? What motivates someone to push this on the people?
Fluoridation is just like any drug = it must be explained to each person what side effects are then each person must agree before to take it.
It’s not right to even right to vote on it.
Some folks are even allergic to fluoride…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCOeNQq5Me4
I’m the former executive vice president (CEO) of the Oregon Division of the American Cancer Society. I am now retired.
I’m writing to ask you to oppose water fluoridation. I’m a member of Clean Water Hillsboro, the group leading this effort to preserve our safe, clean water.
For most of my life I supported fluoridation. I trusted its two main promoters, the CDC and American Dental Association, and local health professionals that accepted their word.
Then, 12 years ago, I researched the science. I was amazed. I discovered that ingested fluoride was linked to numerous health risks, including hypothyroidism, bone fractures and IQ loss, to name just a few.
Armed with this new information, I changed my mind. My trust had been misplaced. I now volunteer full-time with a large group of scientists, physicians and dentists all over the country to end this practice.
If you’re not already aware, a federal district court ruled on September 25, after a seven-year lawsuit featuring several of the leading scientists in the world, that fluoridation “poses an unreasonable risk of reduced IQ in children.” The Court ordered EPA to enact rules eliminating this risk.
This followed the report of the National Toxicology Program, the highest-level review in the country, on August 21. It concluded that higher fluoride levels “are consistently associated with lower IQ in children.” Out of the 19 highest-quality studies, 18 linked higher fluoride with lower IQs, many at levels in fluoridated water.
I don’t know how anyone can be aware of this information and still support fluoridation. If Hillsboro fluoridates, it will threaten every fetus and infant with a higher risk of brain damage, limiting their intellectual capacity for life.
No matter your previous position on fluoridation, I ask you to oppose it. Please follow the physicians’ creed: First do no harm.
Very strong testimony – I suggest you submit this as written testimony to the Hillsboro City Council. They will respond to the advisory Vote on Fluoride. Our poll is indicating that at least our readers are opposed 2.5 to 1. But that will not stop the Council from doing what they do; pass whatever they want. Thank you for positng in our forum!