Editor:
At the July 19 Williams Lake City Council meeting, Coun. Sue Zacharias made reference to a referendum and/or ministerial assent to repeal the City’s existing fluoride bylaw while Mayor Kerry Cook made reference to her opposition to the planned $25,000 expenditure to educate the public around the issue of a referendum or ministerial assent to repeal the fluoride bylaw.
With regard to Zacharias’s comments, I openly challenge every member of Williams Lake council to outright say, without question, that there will be a referendum on repealing the fluoride bylaw in November and there will not be an attempt to seek ministerial assent to repeal the City’s fluoride bylaw prior to Nov. 19. As to Cook’s concerns around the $25,000 education budget for the fluoride bylaw, the solution is easy — kill this program and instead use social media like Facebook (the City already has a page setup and could easily set up a group specifically for this topic) and start the online debate there (cost to taxpayers — zero) and in fact, on my personal Facebook page, I gathered 25 comments in a period of 18 hours, with regard to this subject.
In addition, host one forum in the fall with both John Dressler from the Water Advisory Committee and a local dentist like Dr. Rudy Waasenaar to explain their views, both pro and con, with respect to the fluoride bylaw. Both, I’m sure, would attend at no cost to the taxpayer.
By the time the issue is debated in public and online the public should be in a position to render their views, with regard to the fluoride bylaw, in a referendum vote and this exercise would cost the taxpayer nothing and this $25,000 could be put to better use — like water conservation education or to assist homeowners with water conservation measures — a more appropriate use of this money from the City’s water budget.
Steve Forseth
Williams Lake
