Good afternoon, Mayor Wynn and Council Members.  We’ve just had an election and soon we’ll have our new Mayor and two new Council members sitting at this dais.  The room will look different—in other words, we’ll have change.  Change, according to President Obama, is a good thing, and I agree that it’s a good time for new ideas and new directions. 

One change has already happened since I started speaking on water fluoridation here last October:  people are calling and e-mailing me.  Quite a few people.  Some are community leaders and representatives of prominent local and national organizations.  But I also hear from “just plain folks”—average citizens concerned about what they’re putting into their bodies every time they take a drink or cook, and wondering what they can do about it.  That doesn’t surprise me at all.  Austin is an educated, aware, fitness-conscious city and it’s only natural that Austinites take an interest in what is, ultimately both a health and an environmental issue.  My purpose, from the start, has been not just to educate the Council and the public on the dangers of fluoride but also to connect with like-minded members of the community who, like me, think the issue is worth pursusing.  So I’m gratified at the response. 

One thing the people I talk to are very curious about is the contract with fluoride vendor Lucier Chemical Industries, Ltd., which the City renegotiated two months ago, far short of its expiration date, at a significantly higher cost.  In fact, they're more curious than I wass initially.  They’re scratching their heads and saying, “What??  because it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which such a thing could happen.  Because we’d all like to know more it’s my intention shortly to file a request for all information relevant to the transaction with City under the Open Records Act/Texas Public Information Act. 

Also, several of us have decided to arrange to take a tour of the City of Austin’s downtown water treatment plant, including the laboratory, in order to observe firsthand the fluoridation process and the water testing that goes along with it.  We’ve requested Jane Burazer of the Austin Water Utility to set it up for us.  We are aiming for the first week in June—that’s June 1st through 5th—around 9 a.m.  And I’d like to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to the Mayor, the Mayor-elect, the current and future Council members, the City Manager, and any of their aides who might like to come along.   We’ll send out a notice when we’ve firmed up the schedule.  It should be a very interesting, informative experience, and we hope some of you will be able to join us.  Thank you.