Fluoridation issue now resolved
To the editor:
Citizens for Safe Water Inc. would like to thank all of the Greater Pine Island Water Association members who took the time to research the detrimental health effects of ingesting hydrofluorosilicic acid in drinking water. Those of you who did your homework found that it is a non-naturally occurring chemical compound that is taken directly from the pollution scrubbers of phosphate processing plants, which is why it is called “scrubber liquor” in the phosphate industry. The majority of you opposed it being integrated into our water in the recent member’s referendum, and we are grateful for your support.
We are also grateful to GPIWA President Mike Faulkner, and the five other board members who honored the will of the membership majority.
All of us on both sides of this issue should be grateful for the accurate reporting that Meghan McCoy and the Pine Island Eagle did in presenting a fair and unbiased account of both sides of the fluoridation issue.
The report issued by board member Bill Stoelker, in which he claimed that I assaulted him, is false. The incident was not an altercation between Mr. Stoelker and I. The GPIWA membership convened a meeting at their business office on the day before their public meeting, and I waited in the parking lot to ask them why they were holding a private meeting on the day prior to the public meeting. Mike Faulkner and Carlyn Herring both responded professionally that they were conducting a “committee meeting,” which is within the boundaries of the by-laws so long as they only conduct committee business, and maintain minutes of the meeting. I thanked Mr. Faulkner for his response before he drove off.
When I approached Mr. Stoelker from behind to ask him the same question, he turned abruptly and walked in my direction. Instead of stopping to answer my question, he instead rammed his shoulder into mine as he passed me. Mr. Stoelker probably was not aware of what an android video application is before he made his statements at the public meeting, but since a large number of GPIWA members have viewed the video of the incident on our web site, I’m sure he is now.
I would like to make an appeal at this time to everyone to put this acrimony behind us, and move forward with our lives as neighbors and Islanders. We may fight like juvenile brothers and sisters when we disagree sometimes, but since we actually are all brothers and sisters, this is exactly why we should make every effort to put this divisive issue behind us.
The issue of fluoridation is now resolved.
God bless you all, and Merry Christmas.
Ron Parker
President, Citizens for Safe Water