Mike's Minute: Councils should stop playing games with fluoride

Fluoride is a funny thing.  I like it. Not too much, but just enough to help out in the water.  Not everyone shares the view, but science is on the right side.  Before he left his job Ashley Bloomfield (remember him?) issued an edict to a number of councils to fluoridate the local water. He had the power to compel them to do it.  Most have, some have had a bit of an angst about it. Tauranga wasn’t thrilled, but the problem was if you didn’t, you could be fined a couple of hundred grand and then $10,000 a day for each day after that if you don’t follow the rules.  On Friday Whangarei voted not to.  Their argument was several fold. It was a tight vote of 7-6. The public gallery was full, and I can bet who it was full of.  The mayor says fluoride won't help the local area's dental hygiene, which is of course complete nonsense and probably why we have people specialising in the health area as opposed to councillors who generally specialise in nothing.  They also argued the area doesn’t want it. A decent question to ask is - does that matter?  Are there areas and issues where the locals actually don’t get a say, kind of like how we don’t get to set our own speed limits or whether we pay our taxes?  Or do you argue at local level democracy is everything?  Mind you, even if you did argue that, they didn't poll everyone so who knows what the locals think in totality.  The interesting thing for me is, is this an issue you really want to die on a hill over?  If you're a council in the northern part of this country, are you honestly telling me this is as pressing as it gets?  Forget the dilapidated state of the place, the fact it gets cut off from the country too often, or the grinding poverty and health issues. How long do you want that list to be?  No, we will defy Wellington and get fined over fluoride.  Too many councils nationally of late are not giving local representation a good name and this lot aren't helping. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.