M archB, 2013
^ a rtÌa n b (Ohsertier
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IN S ID E
C alendar
Page 3
Fred Meyer
What's on your list today?.
page 4
L ocal N ews
H ealth
To Fluoridate
or Not?
pages 6-7
* ' I I? V
A proposal to add fluoride Vo the city’s
water supply has the support of more
than 80 local organizations, a majority
of which are health-related groups,
according to the Healthy Kids Healthy
Portland campaign.
Community divisions
bubble to the surface
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
by
As Portland voters get ready to decide whether to
add fluoride to the city's drinking water, several orga­
nizations representing minority and disadvantaged
residents have announced their support for the pro­
posal.
Among those backing the plan include the Urban
League of Portland, the Asian Pacific American Net­
work of Oregon, African American Health Coalition,
Coalition of Communities of Color, and the Latino
Network.
However, some individuals o f color feel that their
opinions are not being represented by these organiza­
tions. Portland’s water supply serves approximately
900,000 people.
Sheila Warren, acommunity activist and the founder
of Portland Parent Union, said the opinions of African
Americans and other minorities are constantly left out
of the conversation.
“It worries me that groups that are supposed to
represent all in their communities really don’t,” said
Warren in a statement to the Portland Observer.
The response from Michael Alexander, president of
Urban League of Portland, is that his organization is
taking a position it believes is in the best interest o f the
community.
“It was very clear that this [water fluoridation] is a
practice that would benefit all of Portland, but particu­
lar children in underserved communities,” Alexander
said.
“We are not speaking in a manner that is meant to
preclude anyone in the community from making their
own decisions, ’ he said. “I encourage everyone in the
community to spend time and listen to the positions
that are examined by both sides of this.”
Former Sen. Avel Gordly, whose opinion is shaped
by the 17 years she spent sitting through hearings in
the Oregon Legislature, including health-related is­
sues like water fluoridation, wrote an opinion article
with Tricia Tillman outlining her support for water
fluoridation.
Gordly said the organizations of color supporting
the May ballot measure work hard to get educated on
public policy issues.
“Their role is to educate, educate, educate and to
share the information,” she said. “These are organiza­
tions that would not misguide, misinform or otherwise
harm our community.”
“We are saying to the community, this is what we
know. If you choose to follow, that’s your choice and
it’s your vote.”
Alexander said he has listened to both sides of the
debate including Dr. Yolanda W hyte’s discussion at
Emmanuel Temple Church, a historically black congre­
gation in north Portland. Whyte is an African American
pediatrician from Georgia who was was invited by
Clean Water Portland to talk about why she is against
putting fluoride in public drinking water.
Stating her arguments in an e-mail to the Portland
Observer, Whyte said she grew up with fluoridated
water in New York ,yet had 13 cavities when she first
continued
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TriMet Discreetly Gave Raises
C lassifieds
pages 18-19
TriMet came under fire Tuesday forgiving raises to
its top managers under a contingency fund that wasn’t
made fully public during last year’s budget shortfall
that resulted in major cuts to services and increased
fares for passengers.
A list o f non-union pay increases obtained by
the Oregonian showed that TriM et spent $910,000
from the fund to give raises to more than 50 em ploy­
ees m aking $1 10,700 or more.
TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane told the
newspaper that the raises were needed to keep skilled
managers from leaving the public transit agency for
other jobs.
He praised the sacrifice of other non-union workers
who were in their fourth year of a pay freeze.
Last spring, riders’ advocates asked about the $20
million contingency fund, arguing that it was unusu­
ally large and called on the agency to use some of those
reserves to restore service cuts or extend transfer
times.
But the line item was called a “rainy day fund” by
TriMet officials who said it should not be used for bus
services. There was no public disclosure that almost
half of the money would go to executive salaries.