The City of Centralia will continue to treat its drinking water with fluoride after an hour-long information session and discussion ended in a five-to-two vote on Tuesday night.
The city began treating its water with fluoride in 1959 and, at least for the time being, it will keep doing so.
The Centralia City Council voted against considering changes to the city’s existing policy of treating the city water with fluoride at levels recommended by the state and federal health officials.
In the end, five city councilors voted to end any consideration of ceasing the treatment, which national and international health authorities agree helps prevent tooth decay.
Councilors Tucker Voetberg and Kevin Curtis were the sole votes against the motion, citing concerns around consent, which were also raised during public comment.
In a somewhat surprising move, Councilor Ray Chapman-Wilson, who had voted in favor of motions to continue considering an end to fluoride treatment, ultimately supported the majority and shut the door on the idea.
Chapman-Wilson voted in favor of all three motions brought to a vote despite conflicting goals.
The council considered two motions that would have set it up for a final decision on fluoride in 90 days at the earliest.
According to Centralia Public Works Director Andy Oien, Washington state allows cities to stop treating their water with fluoride, but requires notice of a potential decision at least 90 days ahead of time.
Chapman-Wilson originally proposed putting the matter of fluoride on the ballot during a future election. That proposal, however, faced fierce opposition from some council members who could not stomach the cost of putting the matter on the ballot.
Both Centralia Mayor Chris Brewer and Deputy Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston said they felt it was the exact kind of decision they were elected to make, with Brewer taking to even stronger language against the suggestion.
“I do see putting this to a vote of the people as an abdication and dereliction of our duty,” Brewer said. “I understand why people want to put it to a vote of the people, but people voted for us to make decisions like this.”
According to Centralia Finance Director Bret Brodersen, the city paid approximately $15,000 in election expenses the last time it put a measure on the local primary ballot. Costs depend on how many measures are on the ballot and if any other governments or districts have measures on the ballot.
The council next heard a motion to notify the state that it would make a final decision on fluoride at the end of a 90-day notice period. That motion failed, but by a slim margin, with Curtis, Voetberg and Chapman-Wilson voting in favor and the rest against for a final three-to-four count.
While councilors were by no means required to heed her request, Smith Johnston urged council members to treat the vote as a vote on fluoride itself and to vote against the motion if they were against ceasing fluoride treatment.
Smith Johnston also took the chance to comment on what she described as a pattern of the current version of the Centralia City Council to delay or put off difficult decisions.
“I would like to see us move toward becoming more decisive,” Smith Johnston said. “I would encourage you if you think we should continue fluoridation of the water to make that decision today and support it versus just waiting 90 days to come back and still have that same decision.”
Earlier in the meeting, ahead of council discussion and the three votes that resulted in the decision to maintain water fluoridation in Centralia, the council also fielded public comment. Comments were mixed for and against water fluoridation with a majority raising concerns with fluoride itself or with the ethics of treating the local drinking water.
Those comments featured a brief comment from former Public Works Director Kahle Jennings who recalled fielding “infrequent, but regular” questions about fluoridation while he worked for the city. He declared that in his years of experience he had become familiar with the issue and urged the council to maintain the city’s current water treatment.
“I do not believe there is any credible or scientific evidence that fluoride and the amount added to Centralia drinking water to help grow healthy children and help prevent dental cavities, causes or contributes to any human to cancer or any human health impacts,” Jennings said.
Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope, who spoke as a private citizen and not in his official capacity, testified remotely and was part of a group of others who urged the council to move toward halting the city’s fluoride treatment. Former Centralia City Council member Elizabeth Cameron was also part of that group.
They cited ethical concerns, arguing residents should not be opted into drinking fluoridated water without a choice. Others shared more specific concerns about potential negative health impacts, including concerns about calcification and impacts to thyroids.
“I'm not a scientist. I don't know what it does to me,” Lise Hubbard said. “I have read different stories, scientific papers that said it can do things to your thyroid. It can do all kinds of different things.”
Councilor Jan Nontell responded to some of the concerns, pointing out that the negative impacts cited by commenters are linked to consumption of higher amounts of fluoride.
Other council members — including both Brewer and Smith Johnston — also shared that in their own research they had found the treatment to be an overwhelming health benefit.
Some commenters painted it as a vestige of a bygone era when people could not afford to care for their teeth.
Brewer, however, cited a study by the Lewis County Public Health and Social Service Department that found a large number of people in the county are concerned about finding and being able to afford dental care.
Brewer announced that a 2024 survey by the county found that roughly two-thirds of people of childbearing age and parents of children ages 1 through 9 said dental care was a top priority in their health needs.
“I’m concerned that we have a community that has a lower median wage than the state average,” Brewer said. “We have a demonstrable lack of access to dentistry services. And we have a very real community need for dentistry services as well.”
