Council to consider fluoride issue next week
Spokane City Council members have the power to place a drinking water fluoridation measure on the November general election ballot even though a fluoridation initiative petition doesn’t have enough signatures to qualify on its own, city officials said Monday.
In a memorandum to council members, Senior Assistant City Attorney Mike Piccolo said the City Charter gives the council the ability to place a proposed fluoridation measure on any ballot.
Council members on Monday voted to consider the fluoridation petition at its regular meeting next Monday at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall.
“We do have the authority to place anything we want directly on the ballot,” said Council President Dennis Hession in an interview Monday.
Last week, a group calling itself Fluoridation Works submitted petitions with 3,106 signatures seeking to put the fluoridation question to voters this November. Voters in the city rejected fluoridation in 1969, 1984 and 2000.
The City Charter allows initiatives on any ballot if the number of valid voter signatures equals at least 15 percent of the total number of votes cast in the last city general election, or 7,718 valid signatures. A petition from 5 percent of voters, or 2,573 valid signatures, is sufficient to qualify the measure for a municipal general election, held in November of odd-numbered years. The next municipal general election is in November 2005.
Because of a communication foul-up, fluoridation supporters believed they needed only a 5 percent petition to qualify for this fall’s ballot. They collected nearly 500 signatures more than needed for the 5 percent threshold to provide a margin against the likelihood that some of the signatures would not be valid.
On Monday, the council will consider its options for dealing with the initiative. Public testimony will be limited to discussion of those options, officials said.
Piccolo said the council could grant the petition by passing the measure into law; accept the petition but decline to adopt the measure and send the signatures to the county auditor for validation; propose an alternative measure; or rule the petition legally invalid.
A fifth option involves the council using its power under Section 84 of the City Charter to submit to voters any new law or ordinance.
Supporters have said that fluoridation is a cost-effective way to prevent childhood tooth decay. Foes question the safety of fluoride.
It would cost about $2.5 million to install fluoridation in the city’s water system, which serves areas both inside and outside of the city. Another $330,000 would be spent each year on fluoridation costs. Residential ratepayers would likely see an increase of $12 a year for the first three years of fluoridation and $4.80 a year after that.