Dear Mayor Alejo and all Council Members:

On behalf of Salud Para La Gente, a Federally Qualified Health Center based in Watsonville, I write to urge the Council to adopt the Fluoridation Resolution at its January 26 meeting. By adopting the Resolution and accepting the approximately $1 million grant from the California Dental Association Foundation (CDAF), the City will have an unprecedented opportunity to significantly improve the oral health of its residents by fluoridating the City’s water.

The scientific evidence is overwhelming that fluoridating water is safe and effective in preventing dental decay in children and adults. (See, for example, Fluoridation Facts, American Dental Association, 2005 and sources referenced therein.) California law requires that, in jurisdictions with 10,000 or more connections, where funding is available, the jurisdiction fluoridate. Funding is available from CDAF for development, design, installation and start-up of the fluoridation system. The Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled that the California state law pre-empts Watsonville’s Measure S which sought to avoid fluoridation. The California State Department of Health Services long ago issued a Compliance Order requiring fluoridation. Counsel for the City and CDAF have worked out the one remaining “language dispute” in the proposed Agreement. Now is the time for the Council to adopt the Resolution and move forward with the fluoridation project. Further delay for exploration of “options” will not serve the public good.

Dental needs are evident amongst Salud’s patient population. In calendar year 2009 Salud saw 8,439 dental patients who had 30,188 dental visits, most here in the City. Salud has also seen large numbers of children for dental screenings and treatment, conducting dental screenings of 721 pre-kindergartners at 11 elementary schools within the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD), and in fall 2009 conducting dental screenings of 1916 Migrant Education students. Last fiscal year Salud had 3547 dental visits in merely one of its now seven dental clinics in PVUSD schools. Time and again in these encounters our dental staff has observed dental disease and untreated dental decay in significant numbers of children. Fluoridating the City’s water will benefit these children—and all children—greatly.

Salud respectfully requests your support for the Fluoridation Resolution. Thank you for considering these views. If you have questions, feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

SISTER JULIE HYER, O.P.
President & CEO