PAYING THE PIPER … well, well, well, the same people who were praising the Davis City Council’s unanimous approval of the Woodland-Davis surface water project are now blasting the same council for its 4-1 vote against adding fluoride to that very surface water slated to come our way some future day … in fact, the chairwoman of the Water Advisory Committee, who has generally conducted herself above the fray, penned an incredible letter to the editor stating, among other things, that “the burden to find solutions should not be on the medical and dental health community, but on the anti-fluoride folks, who have insisted there are better ways” to prevent tooth decay …

Actually, if tooth decay is a serious problem locally, it should be up to everyone in town to solve the problem, not just those who opposed fluoridating the water supply … the WAC chairwoman thinks otherwise … “Let this group put their money where their mouth is,” she writes of those who opposed fluoridation … she further suggests it is up to this group to “raise the funding necessary to somehow come up with ways to prevent tooth decay.” … not through with her disdain for these folks, she adds “It will be necessary for all the anti-fluoridation folks, en masse, to work with the schools, the elderly, the dental and health community, etc., to develop some sort of program of tooth decay prevention.” …

This, of course, is a novel approach, given that no one was suggesting that the proponents of water fluoridation should be the ones to pay for it had the council voted their way … when the council votes in favor of a program, we all share the cost … and when the council votes against a program, we all share the consequences of what that decision might entail …

THE STING OF THE BEE … happy to see the Major Metropolitan Daily across the Causeway telling the citizens of the Second Most Educated City in America how they ought to feel about fluoridation …. noted the Bee: “Confronted with passionate opposition to adding fluoride to the city’s water, the Davis City Council took the easy way out.” … voting against something the citizens didn’t want is taking the easy way out? …

In attacking Mayor Joe Krovoza and his three council colleagues who joined him in the “no” vote, The Bee wrote: “Krovoza says there should be an ‘exceptionally high bar’ for government to put a substance in people’s bodies.” … and here I thought that was the strongest part of Krovoza’s argument … concluded The Bee: “Only Councilman Dan Wolk stood up for the right policy. He is going up against Krovoza, along with several other candidates, for the state Assembly seat being vacated next year by Mariko Yamada. On this issue, Wolk demonstrated real courage.” … can a Bee endorsement of Danny Boy’s candidacy be far behind? …

SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES … my friend Ron, who wishes the council would just leave him alone, decries the fact that our Fireplace Force will make us “outlaws in the sanctity of our own homes.” … I think that’s the idea, Ron … “What is really happening is that you have a small number of people who want to control how everyone else lives.” … yep, in all of last winter, there were complaints against only eight homes out of 16,000 residences in this town … seems like the “no burn days” program was working just fine ….

JUST BAN EVERYTHING … and now we’re hearing from folks who want to ban leaf blowers …. “Why can’t people use a rake?” they ask …. well, given that just about everyone in town who uses a leaf blower is trying to make a living by taking care of a number of yards at the same time, I say give them a break … leaf blowers make their jobs more manageable and allow them to complete more yards in a given workday … these hard-working folks — few of whom can afford to live here — deserve our support, not our disdain …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected]

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