State Supreme Court Sides with Port Angeles on Fluoridation

The State Supreme Court has ruled 5 to 4 that Port Angeles' water fluoridation plan cannot be challenged through the initiative process.

Two organizations, Protect Our Waters and Our Water-Our Choice! each filed an initiative in 2006 to challenge fluoridation. The Court ruled that fluoridation is an administrative action, and only legislative actions can be challenged by a public vote.

Port Angeles Vote (Just Maybe) on Fluoridation

The Washington State Supreme Court might make it possible for Port Angeles residents to have a vote on water fluoridation.

Two local groups — Our Choice! and Protect Our Waters — submitted petitions to the Port Angeles City Council in 2006 to bring the issue to a public vote. Kitsap County Superior Court and the State Court of Appeals both ruled that the initiatives were not eligible to be placed on the ballot because they dealt with “administrative” rather than “legislative” issues.

On April 30th the State Supreme Court agreed to review those two court decisions. And now a third group, Protect The Peninsula’s Future, is involved. All three groups are being represented by Attorney Gerald Steel of Olympia.

I have nothing personal against fluoride in the water, but there’s no reason this issue shouldn’t be voted on by the public. Squelching these initiatives is the exact kind of high-handed autocratic attitude that causes so much hostility and resentment against local governments.