Santa Fe City Attorney Suggests Council Redo Fluoride Vote

The Santa Fe City Council’s decision to stop adding supplemental fluoride to the local water supply wasn’t properly noticed, City Attorney Geno Zamora said Friday.

In an opinion issued to council members, Zamora suggested the governing body rescind the ordinance at its July 25 meeting. Supporters could then introduce another bill, he said.

Zamora issued the opinion at the request of Councilor Peter Ives.

An ordinance publicly advertised for the council’s July 11 meeting would have aligned the fluoride levels in municipal water with standards recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, after public testimony and discussion, Councilor Chris Calvert suggested the council eliminate adding fluoride altogether. Ultimately, his proposal was supported by six councilors.

Two days after the motion passed, Ives, who voted against eliminating supplemental fluoride, asked Zamora to look into whether the ordinance had been properly noticed.

Zamora said the information the city made available to the public pertained only to adjusting fluoride levels to federal standards.

Also, the bill’s agenda title, – “An Ordinance Amending Section 25-1.8 SFCC 1987 Relating to the Fluoride Ion Level in the City Water Supply” – was too broad and vague and “the public lacked sufficient information to make a determination of attending the proceedings,” Zamora wrote.

“The lack of specificity was demonstrated when the language in the title supported two opposite policy initiatives,” he wrote.