- April 26, 2024
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Tanya Sterling has been going door to door in an attempt to gain resident support against water fluoridation. The issue will be on Tuesday’s City Commission agenda.
BY MIKE CAVALIERE | ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Last weekend, Tanya Sterling went for a walk. But before she did, she asked her son if he wanted to make a difference.
He did, he told her, and so the two set out with fliers in hand, knocking on doors in Ormond Beach, looking for supporters in their fight against water fluoridation.
Sterling, who in the past has undergone radiation treatment for the thyroid disorder Graves’ disease, has a personal attachment to this issue, she says. Containing chemicals that could potentially be harmful to the thyroid, fluoride has the potential to hurt others the way she has been hurt herself, she added.
“I will forever be on medication,” Sterling said. “So it affects me personally. I’m just really going to go out on a grassroots effort, talk to my neighbors, talk to businesses I support, and ask for their effort.”
Her main thing, Sterling said, is that she wants the public to be educated — which is a sentiment echoed by Commissioner Troy Kent, who has sent multiple unanswered requests to fluoride companies for additional information on the contents of their products.
“It raises the hair on the back of my neck," Kent said, at a September commission meeting. "I want the facts, and they won’t give them to me.”
But Sterling isn’t expecting to have fluoride banned completely.
“I’m not expecting to move mountains,” Sterling said. “I’m just trying to make baby steps in the right direction … get as many people as I can … and let the commission know that we are willing to show up. We do care.”
Sterling already has verbal commitments from a handful of peers, and a couple local doctors, to attend the next Ormond Beach City Commission meeting and speak out against fluoridation.
At that meeting the commission will review and could approve a letter to Harcros Chemicals Inc., requesting more information about the supply of fluoride the city plans to purchase.
“Even if you don’t speak, show up to hear what’s going on,” Sterling said. “You get three minutes. … Don’t be late.”
The City Commission will meet 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, at City Hall, 22 S. Beach St.
For past fluoride coverage, CLICK HERE.
