City in Oregon drops fluoride from public drinking water after hearing concerns

Sweet Home officials voted

to end the city’s drinking water fluoridation program

after hearing opposition about the potential impacts to public health.

Prior to the vote, the City Council heard from a handful of people who back fluoridated drinking water during a meeting Tuesday, July 8. Their concerns included impacts on those with less access to dental services and a lack of communication with residents and health professionals.

“To me this is a health issue, a very important health issue, and I’m just wondering why we were never contacted or asked for any input,” said Larry Horton, a member of Sweet Home’s Community Health Committee and a former school superintendent.

“It would have been nice to allow us to have some input on the issue.”

Horton also asked if any councilors had spoken with members of the local medical community about the issue, saying he talked with three medical providers who were all “strongly in support” of continuing water fluoridation.

Raising the issue of a public vote, Horton asked if the voters approved fluoridation originally, shouldn’t they be asked again.

Ivan Wolthuis, a Sweet Home dentist, also came to support the water fluoridation program. He said the issue came up very suddenly and he only learned about it due to local news reporting the week before.

“I wonder how much communication and transparency we have with the entire community on this issue,” Wolthuis said. “This is a subject that really requires some discussion.”

Wolthuis said he had too much information to share within the three-minute public comment limit, suggesting an opportunity for discussion and review of scientific materials, perhaps with the city’s health committee. He added that there is currently a lot of public sentiment against fluoride, and a lot of misleading ideas.

“For every $1 that’s spent on water fluoridation, the return on investment is about $30 or more,” he said.

Wolthuis said at Sweet Home’s fluoridation cost of around $2 per person — less than the cost of a McDonald’s hamburger — the city could spare residents hundreds of thousands of dollars in dental work.

One person spoke in support of ending the fluoride plan, saying the harm from the chemical outweighs the benefits.

Mayor Susan Coleman apologized for not speaking with the health committee about the topic. She also said she talked with multiple community members and was surprised at the response — none wanted fluoridated water.

“I expected more people to want to keep fluoridation,” Coleman said. “The people that have spoken tonight are the only ones that have told me that, from senior adults to very young people.”

Councilor Ken Bronson, who was absent from the previous meeting in which the fluoride elimination ordinance was introduced, questioned whether the council should have done two readings of the ordinance, which is allowed if the first vote is unanimous. Those two readings received 6-0 votes.

“I was trying to dial in, and I tried five times with the code, into that meeting and I could not get through,” Bronson said. “And I was going to vote against removing fluoridation from the water.”

Bronson said he was told there was a glitch in the system, but he was able to attend the next two meetings remotely using the same phone and system.

“So, we did not have a supreme majority on that,” he said.

Bronson called for the public to vote on the matter, calling it a “major disgrace” for the council to push ahead without approval from residents, particularly without much notice to the community.

“Put it up for the people on a ballot measure in the spring of 2026,” he said. “And then 10,000 people decide, not seven councilors.”

Councilor Angelita Sanchez suggested the city could maintain a supply of fluoride for those who want to use it.

The council ultimately voted 5-2 to eliminate the fluoride program, with opposing votes from Bronson and Councilor Aaron Hegge.

Portland is the largest city in the nation that has consistently

refused to fluoridate

its drinking water. Voters have repeatedly rejected measures to add it, first in 1956 and the latest time in 2013.

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