Thank you for voting
To the editor:
I would like to thank the majority of voters of Pine Island. Our first voter to the outdoor line arrived about 5:40 a.m. Polls opened at 7 and our first voter to complete the process and left at 7:10 (got in line just a little after 6). By 9:30 the line filled the parking lot and 100 people were waiting inside. They had already filled out their ballots, but were waiting for the one voting machine to take their ballots. The only relief for the whole day was when the machine went down for about a half and hour and the 100 waiting voters got to drop their completed ballots (all four at a time) into a lock box. The rain didn’t event “wet down” the desire to vote. Our last voter left at 10:36 (got in line at 6:48 p.m.) It wasn’t the ballot – it was the machine that caused our problems. Thank you for voting!
I jut got my ballot on the fluoride vote from the Pine Island Water Board. This is an “information only ballot” as the board “might” take it into consideration, as it is “not binding.” They only give a short notice of an informational meeting (Sept. 25) before voting to accept the money to fluoridate despite a 100 percent member speaking against the action at that meeting. Fluoride is the only chemical added to water to treat individuals – not the water (reverse osmosis takes out most of the natural occurring calcium fluoride out of Pine Island water).
The board has now voted to accept the grant and for a cost of “about $3 a member per year” to add back “about .55 ppm” of hydrofluosilicic acid (a chemical waste product of the fertilizer industry that is toxic and not a natural mineral nutrient) to Pine Island water. If you do not want this in your water, it could cost you more than $1,000 to install a whole house reverse osmosis on the reverse osmosis system (as other filters will not remove fluoride) or thousands of dollars for bottled water (but you would still bath in fluoride.)
GPIWA board has supported its decision, but most of the letters in The Eagle have opposed this plan. If you are pregnant, a child under 3, an ill individual or an older person, there are major counter indications for fluoride. Food and Drug Administration states “fluoride is not a mineral nutrient, it is a prescription drug.” Remember every drug has side effects. If you want fluoride on your teeth, a better option is see a dentist. Please don’t force me and we’re to suffer. Even though the GPIWA states “our counsel has advised us that the outcome of the referendum cannot be binding,” you need to use your right to vote and express you wishes. Pine Island votes need to form the lines again.
Danna McDermott
Bokeelia