Originally published October 11 2012
More than 20,000 Portlanders take unified stand against water fluoridation
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Following a unanimous decision last month by Portland's City Council to begin forcibly fluoridating the local water supply in spite of widespread public opposition, more than 20,000 Portlanders have expressed support for a ballot measure that would once again put the issue to a public vote. According to Willamette Week, the group Clean Water Portland (CWP) recently filed for a referendum that would halt the fluoridation mandate until the city's next election cycle in May 2014, when voters would be given the opportunity to decide whether or not they want to be poisoned with fluoride chemicals.
As we reported back in August, the issue first broke headlines when Portland Mayor Sam Adams decided to jump on board with two other city council members, Randy Leonard and Nick Fish, to push fluoride on Portland residents who have already voted down fluoridation legislation on three separate occasions in previous years (http://www.naturalnews.com). What immediately followed was a groundswell of opposition from health freedom advocates who were outraged that the city has once again tried to force water fluoridation against the public's will.
As promised, CWP immediately filed a referendum to stop this tyrannical fluoride mandate. But in order to get the referendum passed, the group was required to collect 20,000 signatures by October 12, a difficult task without the help of an army of devoted individuals. Fortunately, CWP was able to successfully mobilize over 100 volunteers and about 25 paid individuals to collect the needed signatures more than a week before the official deadline.
"We know that a lot of the signatures get thrown out because the person's not registered to vote, or they don't live in the city of Portland, so this last week is really the push," said Clean Water Portland spokeswoman Kim Kaminski about the group's efforts to reach 30,000 total signatures by the October 12 deadline. "We're telling our volunteers to turn on the afterburners, because we'd like to have a really nice margin when we turn in our signatures to the city."
Help CWP reach its 30,000 signature goal
If you or someone you know lives in Portland, be sure to visit one of the following locations to sign the petition to bring the water fluoridation issue to a public vote:
http://www.cleanwaterportland.org/petition-locations/
You can also download and print the necessary forms to begin collecting signatures yourself in support of the referendum: http://www.cleanwaterportland.org/intro/
"Whether you are for or against water fluoridation, giving voters the right to have a say on water fluoridation just makes sense and that is what this referendum aims to do," added Kaminski. "There is no question that we are going to need a lot of financial and volunteer support to make this happen, but we are seeing a major backlash to how the City Council has handled this."
Sources for this article include:
http://www.wweek.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
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