Maelstrom

There’s a malestrom building. “A maelstrom is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. A free vortex that has a considerable downdraft. The Scandinavian word (malström or malstrøm) was introduced into English by Edgar Allan Poe in his story “A Descent into the Maelström” (1841).

In turn, the Nordic word derives from the Dutch, modern spelling maalstroom, from malen (to grind) and strom (stream), to form the meaning grinding current. The original Maelstrom described by Poe and others is the Moskstraumen, a powerful tidal current in the Lofoten Islands off the Norwegian coast.”

In my Father’s mail box today was a flyer sent by the ‘Kiwi’s Against Fluoride’ group. It was attention grabbing for its black & white skull and crossbones against a highly visible red diamond and the words POISON also written boldly in red beneath the graphic. I thought this a particularly ‘in-your-face’ piece of literature (given the topic I suppose the makers thought it had to be) so I set about trying to find out where it originated. It’s origins surprised me.

It’s a brochure version of the html file put out by Hope International Seventh day Adventist Laymen Upholding Historic Adventism. Like I said, it surprised me. On the inside cover it reads, “The people of Waipukurau have recently been told by Mayor Trish Giddens of the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council that their water supply will continue to have fluoride added to it.

This is despite a survey showing that of the 1600 people asked, 439 were against fluoride and 297 supported it. Hypocritically, while ignoring this democratic survey result which rejected forced water fluoridation, Mayor Giddens has forgotten that she was democratically elected herself.”

Me, I’m in the anti-fluoridation camp but I would just like to point out some terms of engagement here. The writers behind the brochure seem to me to personally target Mayor Giddens for a decision that was a WHOLE Council decision, not just hers. Her designation, as Mayor, makes her more VISIBLE but was it her decision ALONE?

Of course it wasn’t. I do take exception to the tone of the brochure that singles her out for an ‘over-the-coals work out’ and I draw a very clear line in the sand with those writers for holding Mayor Giddens, alone, responsible for the decision that was handed down by the ENTIRE Council.

If you think I’m defending her, you’re quite right, I am and yes inspite of my stand against the fluoridation issue. When I lived in Sydney, practising as a HR Consultant I had many of Sydney’s largest Councils as my clients, among them: Ashfield, Auburn, Bankstown, Botany Bay, Burwood, Canterbury, City of Sydney, Holroyd, Kogarah, Leichhardt, Liverpool, Marrickville, Parramatta, Rockdale, Ryde, Strathfield, Waverley and Woollahra and I might just add that they had both manpower on the ground and executive power in the Board Rooms to keep them informed and up to speed on major issues that arose in their municipalities.

I don’t happen to know what Mayor Giddens personal opinions or beliefs are on the issue of fluoridation are but I do consider the overall tone of the brochure reprehensible. Got a point to make against the issue, then speak to the issue. These times, they require courageous leadership, I don’t envy Mayor Giddens.

I haven’t been back in the Bay two minutes but what I do bring is ‘fresh eyes’ and let me just say, Mayor Giddens has had to clean up a lot of mess in her short tenure as Mayor. It wasn’t of her making so a natural progression of thought leads me back to the times before when. It begs the question doesn’t it?

What were all those other Mayors and Councillors doing regarding issues of water? Why aren’t we further along than we are? I mean to say, Council is only just now thinking out loud that it ought to be putting in place a requirement to be informed of sampling programmes and system upgrades by private supply owners and to conduct audits on these supplies.

Waipukurau’s Mayor should be so lucky! I had a quick look at the LTCCP Management Structure of Council. I have to say they’re pretty low on the ground for personnel. Well, at least I think they are! Perhaps it’s not easy to be a Councillor in Waipukurau, I know how it looks being a Mayor and that’s certainly no walk in the park.

I disagree strongly with the fluoridation decision and I’m just as worried about the water standards, and finally it’s all been made clear to me via Appendix 1 from the LTCCP. Onga Onga is currently among one of the seven communities in the Central Hawke’s Bay District that are a Non-Council owned unserviced water supply.

There are currently 63 known private supplies and Council owned supplies (not on reticulation) in this District. Eleven of them are Schools and six of them are halls. There’s a malestrom building. Minor details of Non-Council or Unserviced water supply aside, there are CHILDREN in at least seventeen of those places! I repeat CHILDREN! Who will give priority to the children?