City Votes Down Fluoridation; Sullivan, Crane, and Wheeler Win Reelection as Councillors

The citizens of Cambridge rejected the fluoridation of City water Tuesday by a margin of 1334 votes out of a total of more than 32,000, election officials announced yesterday.

They reported also that City Councillors Walter J. Sullivan, Edward A. Crane '35, and Cornelia B. Wheeler had been re-elected. After an unofficial first count of the ballots, Sullivan led all candidates for the Council with 5145 first choices, followed by Crane with 4062 and Mrs. Wheeler with 3431.

In the fluoridation referendum, 16,802 people voted to end treatment of the City's water supply and 15,368 voted to continue it. The result came as a shock to those who supported fluoridation, since they had managed to get it approved by a 42-vote margin in a 1959 referendum, after losing by over 6000 votes in 1953.

Dr. James M. Dunning '26, director of the Dental Health Service and vice-chairman of the Cambridge Citizens Committee for Dental health, said last night that the pro-fluoride forces "seem to have been the victims of a very well-financed organization, perhaps a national one."

Charge Unfair Tactics

Dunning, who is also an assistant clinical professor of Public Health Dentistry, said the opposition had been able to spend five times as much money as his committee, and charged them with unfair tactics, including the use of misleading scientific statements and "straight falsehood."

He said he would work to put the fluoridation issue on the ballot here again and to change the state law requiring that voters be asked whether they wish to discontinue fluoridation. "We may possibly have lost on confusion Tuesday," he said. "The negative phrasing of the question may have tipped the balance."

It was not clear last night when the fluoridation of Cambridge water--begun in August, 1960--would be discontinued. William H. McGinness, superintendent of the City's water department, said he would not net until he received "an official communication from the Election Commission," giving the results of the referendum. According to Commissioner Edward J. Samp, it may not be possible to send such a notice until next Thursday, when the Election Board will convene to validate its results.

There may be further delay, also, for McGinness must bring the matter before the five-man water board that legally heads the department. The board, which is not scheduled to meet until the following week, may question the referendum.

J. Carrell Morris, Gordon McKay Professor of Sanitary Chemistry and a member of the water board, said last night that it would need "legal counsel to interpret the results." He observed, however, that there were no technical obstacles to discontinuing fluoridation once the board gave the order.

The turnout for the election was light, with only about 70 per cent of the 46,956 registered voters taking part. Of the 32,788 people who voted, 959 turned in invalid ballots.

The big surprise in the Council race was the fine showing of Mrs. Wheeler, who is considered a spokesman for Cambridge's upper class. She ran tenth in 1961, when she was seeking a second term, and rejoined the Council only when Councillor G. d'Andelot Belin resigned to join the Treasury Department in December, 1962.

With 16 per cent of the 31,829 valid votes, Councillor Sullivan led the ballot for the second time. In 1961, running for his first term, he drew 14 per cent of a slightly larger vote.

The only nonincumbent candidates among the ten front-runners in the election are Thomas Coates, an insurance specialist who finished twelfth in the last Council election: Thomas H.D. Mahoney, an M.I.T. professor who is just completing a term on the School Committee; and William G. Maher, a detective in the Cambridge police force. The seven Councillors seeking re-election were among the top nine candidates at the end of today's tabulation.

Under the system of proportional representation, voters number any or all of the candidates in the order which they would like to see them elected