URGENT: Your Help Needed In Corning, NY

Bulletin #648

August 7, 2006

Dear All,
Below is an article which appeared in the Star-Gazette on July 19 about a workshop in Corning where proponents of fluoridation presented the case for fluoridation to the city council. Both the headline and the last two paragraphs made it clear that before the decision is made the council would hold another workshop where I would be invited to represent the arguments against fluoridation.

1) The headline - “Corning city officials will now hear from opponent”

2) The penultimate paragraph - “Mayor Frank Coccho said the council will invite prominent fluoridation opponent Paul Connett, a professor at St. Lawrence University, to present the case against fluoridation at a workshop”  and

3) The last paragraph -”Following the workshop with Connett, Coccho said, the council will schedule a public hearing on the fluoridation issue.”

Imagine my surprise and consternation when I was forwarded this article from today’s Star-Gazette:


CORNING, NEW YORK

http://www.stargazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060806/NEWS01/608060354/1001/NEWS

 Public hearing set on possible fluoridation

A public hearing on the proposed fluoridation of Corning’s water system is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday (in a phone call with the Mayor this afternoon he told me the meeting was on Wednesday, and I am checking on that right now, PC) at Corning City Hall.

Mayor Frank Coccho said the session will include a brief review of the city Board of Health’s recommendation that fluoride be added to the water to help prevent tooth decay.

Members of the public will have up to three minutes each to explain their views on the proposal, Coccho said.

The hearing will be in City Council Chambers

You will notice that all mention of a workshop where I will get equal time to present the arguments against fluoridation has disappeared. What has happened?
I called the Mayor this afternoon, who seems a very pleasant and decent kind of guy, and asked him. He said that after the Star-Gazette journalist had left the July 18 meeting, the City council had turned down his suggestion for a workshop! Unfortunately, no one saw fit to put this into a following issue of the paper, nor warn me that we weren’t going to get a fair deal with an equal time workshop.
What are my (our) options? I can travel 5 hours and give a 3 minute address on Tuesday/Wednesday and drive 5 hours back!
I can fax a statement to the Mayor who will read it out.
Personally, I don’t think either of these is a fair substitute for the other side getting a workshop and our side not getting any workshop at all, even though this was promised/suggested by the Mayor, and reported in the press. He also promised me equal time when Michael and I drove down in May to address the Board of Health. He said then words to the effect that, “rest assured the council will hear from Dr Connett again before a decision is made.” I doubt if he had a 3 minute comment in his mind when he said that.
So how can you help?

First, email the Mayor Frank Coccho at mayor@cityofcorning.com. Either use the letter below or a modified version. Please deal with the issue of fairness rather than going into the fluoridation arguments themselves. Please be polite. The Mayor and maybe another councilor appear to be open minded on this issue.

Sample letter which you can copy and paste into your email.

Dear Mayor Coccho,

Thank you for offering a workshop to give opponents of fluoridation equal time to present their views - particularly Dr. Paul Connett -  as given to those proponents at the workshop held on July 18. I am very surprised and dismayed that the Council rejected your proposal. Would you be kind enough to forward the message below to the other Members of the City Council.

Dear City of Corning Councilors,

Regardless of whether you are for or against fluoridation, I urge you to stick to the plan as reported in the Star-Gazette on July 19, to invite Dr. Paul Connett, a leading opponent of fluoridation, to present his case to you in a workshop, before you vote on this.

Please be FAIR, and SEEN TO BE FAIR on this, and live up to plan reported (and accepted by Dr. Connett as to the state of the matter when the article was forwarded to him).

I hope that you, like most Americans, believe in thoroughly hearing from both sides before you make up your mind on an issue.

Sincerely,

Please bcc me on this at
so we can keep track of numbers. This is a message where numbers count, as well as the range of places where they come from. Please let these folks know that people around the country (and around the world) are watching Corning, NY to see if they believe in FAIR PLAY.

I will let you know if we find individual Council member’s email addressess.

Second, if you know anyone in the Corning, Ithaca, Elmira, Binghamton, Watkins Glen area tell them about Tuesday’s/ Wednesday’s meeting and ask them to go and speak for 3 minutes (meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday/Wednesday at Corning City Hall). For those planning to attend please check with me at 315-379-9200 before you set out, to get the day right so you don’t have a wasted journey! Or phone the Mayor at 1-607-962-0340 x 115  Please don’t harass him!!!!

Thank you.
Paul Connett
————————————————————-
STAR GAZETTE

Supporters make pitch for fluoride in water
Corning city officials will now hear from opponent, public before making decision.
By Larry Wilson
Star-Gazette Corning Bureau
July 19, 2006
CORNING — The city Board of Health on Tuesday presented to the Corning City Council its case for increasing the amount of fluoride in the city’s water by five times.
Dr. Gary Enders, an emergency physician who chairs the Board of Health, told council members at a workshop that fluoridation would reduce the number of cavities by 2.25 per child. Adults would see a smaller benefit, said Dr. Maureen Gonta, a pediatric dentist.
Enders said the board recommends increasing the amount of fluoride in the city’s water from .2 parts per million to 1 part per million. Enders said there is no scientific proof that fluoride has any ill effects except dental fluorosis, or white spots on the teeth.
“Fluoridation has the biggest effect on poorer people who don’t go to the dentist or use fluoridated toothpaste,” Enders said. “If you don’t do it, it’s a choice to let poor people have more cavities.”
Enders said about 46 percent of the public water supplies in New York state are fluoridated, including those in Elmira and Painted Post.
Gonta said the ill health effects of cavities outweigh the effects of fluoride.
“Community water fluoridation is safe,” she said. “We have had it for more than 50 years. It reduces cavities in children by up to 40 percent and in adults by up to 20 percent.”
Kirk Huttleston of Corning said he’s concerned that unions representing employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oppose fluoridation because of possible medical effects.
“It sounds like there are more issues than dental issues,” Huttleston said.
Dr. John Gunselman, vice president of the Steuben County Dental Association, said that group favors fluoridation of Corning’s water supply.
“I’ve seen the devastation tooth decay causes,” Gunselman said.
Mayor Frank Coccho said the council will invite prominent fluoridation opponent Paul Connett, a professor at St. Lawrence University, to present the case against fluoridation at a workshop.
Board of Health member Denis Sweeney said Canton, N.Y., in 2003 discontinued fluoridation primarily as a result of Connett’s efforts.
Following the workshop with Connett, Coccho said, the council will schedule a public hearing on the fluoridation issue, which the city has debated since at least 1978. He estimated that if the council approves fluoridation, it will be two years before it is implemented.

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