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Home My WebLink About1/21/2020 Item 15, Houlgate Purrington, Teresa From:Laurence Houlgate <ldhoulgate@yahoo.com> Sent:Monday, January 20, 2020 8:55 AM To:E-mail Council Website Cc:Torre Houlgate-West Subject:Public statue policy Dear Mayor and City Council members: My wife and I are donors for the proposed Teddy Roosevelt statue. In this message I am speaking only for myself. I have followed the discussion about public statues with some interest, although quite surprised when there was a proposal to prohibit statues celebrating the accomplishments of famous men and women. My first thought was that this policy would prohibit statues memorializing the lives of such people as Eleanor Roosevelt, Harriet Tubman or Martin Luther King. In other words, the proposed policy is much too broad. My second thought is that the citizens of SLO should be allowed to vote on any statue proposal. In other words, let's recognize that we live in a democracy. We don't put limits on the exercise of freedom of speech (erecting a statue is speech -- it makes a statement) unless the speech is somehow harmful to others (e.g. shouting "fire!!" in a crowded theater, causing a stampede). My general request is that you realize that you will be making a moral judgement when you vote for a policy that prohibits certain kinds of public statuary. Examine the moral principles that inform your decision. For example, is your fundamental principle to promote the common good? Is it to protect the right to freedom of speech? Is it to protect some people from being offended (and do the number of offended people outweigh the number of people who are not offended?) Is your policy an appeal to the just distribution of statues between males and females, white people and people of color? Should all citizens be allowed to vote on proposed statues? How do these principles apply to the case at hand? Do you have sufficient evidence to support the facts which you are using to apply your moral principles? Sincerely Laurence Houlgate, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Philosophy Cal Poly 1