Everybody knew the veto was coming, even before it was announced.
In the days before her deadline Friday to veto a measure passed by the commission to stop adding fluoride to the county’s tap water, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava (1) assembled a group of pro-fluoride dentists and medical experts and parents to provide a recommendation and (2) had her political team conduct a poll that showed a majority of residents support the fluoridation of our water.
It was like she was making a case, gathering the evidence she needed to prove her point, which is that fluoride, in small doses, is not harmful and actually better for public health by providing dental protection across the board to communities that maybe can’t afford good preventative care.
“This is not a decision that I take lightly,” Levine Cava said Friday, at a press conference against a wall of white lab coats, or medical experts, and parents supporting her position. “Water fluoridation at low levels is a safe and effective way of preventing tooth decay. Halting it could have long term and wide reaching health consequences, especially for our most vulnerable families.
“The science is very clear,” Levine Cava added. “The decision to stop adding fluoride to Miami-Dade’s water ignores the guidance of dentists and medical experts who are overwhelmingly trusted by our residents on this issue.”
Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez — who sponsored the measure, which passed 8-2 on April 1 — would need nine of the 13 commissioners to overturn the veto, if all the same show up. That means Levine Cava is counting on the three who were absent — apparently, they stepped off the dais — to agree with her on fluoridation. Or maybe someone who voted for the resolution will be swayed by the overwhelming evidence she laid out.
The press conference was still in full swing when Gonzalez posted his reaction on social media, urging his colleagues to ignore the mayor’s case, titled “Commissioners take bipartisan bold step forward, mayor hits the brakes.”
Cute.
“I want to commend my colleagues on the county commission for coming together as pubic servants in a bipartisan, wide margin vote to ut pubic health above partisan politics. Unfortunately, our mayor has not done the same,” Gonzalez said in his post.
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“By vetoing this bipartisan resolution, our mayor is acting like a typical politician, relying on partisan pollsters and tired talking points while putting people’s health at risk, especially pregnant women, infants, children and other vulnerable groups,” Gonzalez added. “Removing fluoride from our drinking water has received overwhelming scientific and public support including from state to national levels of government.”
Well, who’s making it partisan? That’s right: This move of his is coming on the heels of Republican sponsored bills in Florida that would eliminate fluoride in the water statewide.
Fluoride is a component of fluorine, one of the top 20 most common elements on the surface of the Earth. It has been added to the county’s water since 1958, according to local, state and national standards, to help prevent tooth decay and strengthen enamel, especially among children. Gonzalez and those who support the resolution say that was before it was added to toothpaste and that studies since have shown it poses health risks, such as a lower IQ.
But local health leaders and national medical groups, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, say fluoride in low levels, such as the 0.7 miligrams per liter in Miami-Dade tap water — which is the amount recommended by the American Dental Assocation — is safe and effective in reducing dental problems.
The studies that indicated issues used levels that were twice as high, said Levine Cava, who cited other cities that experienced an increase in cavities and other dental issues after fluoride was removed, including Buffalo, NY, where officials had to add fluoride back to the water after a class action lawsuit that may cost taxpayers $160 million. Other ramifications, she said, include children missing school because of tooth pain, parents missing work and families “facing additional financial strain.”
To make matters worse, the decision to take the fluoride out of the drinking water within 30 days followed a “hasty process,” Levine Cava said.
“There was no committee hearing, there was no real chance for residents and experts on both sides to weigh in,” she said. “A decision that affects every person who turns on their tap in Miami-Dade County should only happen after meaning input from our residents and experts.”
At Friday’s press conference, Levine Cava had local dentist Beatriz Terrry, immediate past president of the Florida Dental Association, who basically stole the show when she spoke about the benefits of having fluoride in the water and what she called a “fluoridation disparity” that would be created if it were removed.
“Water fluoridation is critically important to the dental health of our community,” Terry said. “Fluoride in our water helps strengthen enamel, preventing and resisting decay.
“Water fluoridation is a public health measure that benefits everyone, regardless of age, income, education or access to dental care. It especially helps our underserved populations who may not be able to afford regular dental visits, fluoride treatments or even fluoridated toothpaste,” Terry said. “I’ve heard that discussion, people can purchase fluoridated toothpaste and solve the problem, but not everybody can buy fluoridated toothpaste.”
“As a 30-year practicing dentist, I never thought this was an issue we would have to tackle,” she said, adding that she would advocate for new studies to help bring more focus on the facts. “Some of this research is very old because this is a no-brainer, right? But in the interim, we need to keep it in the water.”
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We can believe the dentist — who is married to a dentist and has three kids — because she is advocating against her own personal self interest. “If we took it out of the water, I would be in business for a long time,” Terry joked. No, but it’s true. She also said that she has treated people who grew up without fluoridated water who have had issues with tooth decay.
Also, by the way, she is a Republican super voter. So, she’s not making it partisan.
According to the poll, conducted by Edge Communications (political consultant Christian Ulvert‘s firm), most Miami-Dade residents strongly support or somewhat support the status quo, or adding fluoride to the water. It also shows that residents trusts dentists over politicians — well, duh — and that Levine Cava is the “most trusted public official” among a number of national figures and, inexplicably, The Miami Herald (which scored a lower approval rating than Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., btw). Also interesting: Nobody knows quien carajo Florida Surgeon General Joseph Lapado is.
Lapado is supporting legislation that would take fluoride out of tap water statewide anyway, which might make this moot.
The online survey of 1,049 residents was done between April 2 and 5, starting the day after the Gonzalez measure passed, and is representative sample of the Miami-Dade electorate — 35% Democrats, 35% Republicans, and 30% No Party Affiliation, with gender evenly split and diverse racial and ethnic representation including 68% Hispanic, 20% White, 8% Black and Caribbean, and 4% other.
“As misinformation and political agendas continue to swirl around core public health practices, this data sends a powerful message: Miami-Dade residents are standing with science, not spin,” a statement sent with the poll says.
At Thursday’s press conference, Levine Cava said she was speaking not just as mayor but as a mother and grandmother, also. “The health and wellbeing of this community is my top priority,” she said.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s fluoride veto was carefully cast added by Ladra on
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