Dear Council Members,
I am writing in regard to Item 6 – a proclamation to support animal activists.
I urge you to vote against this item for several reasons.
First, as Council Members you represent the entirety of the City of Sebastopol and its residents.
It is a rather bold assumption that all residents would agree with the actions of these activists, especially as they are being convicted of felony crimes. Many citizens might be omnivores and even purchased meat from Sunrise Farms. In this regard, you are making assumptions about your constituents which might or might not be true.
If residents do eat meat purchased from a variety of sources, it is hypocritical to support the activists as citizens are actually supporting the meat system which the activists are protesting.
If Council Members feel strongly about this issue, I urge them to support the activists as private citizens rather than as representatives of the City.
In addition, we cannot have a democratic society where people’s personal passions free them from rule of law. We cannot create special classes of citizens who do not follow common law.
The January 6 insurrectionists felt that the election was illegal and had a right to break into the Capitol and take over Congress. The man who sat at Nancy Pelosi’s desk felt that he was right because he so passionately believed that the election was stolen. These people were later prosecuted and I wholeheartedly agree with their prosecution.
Anti-abortion activists feel that abortion is murder. Should they be able to go into Planned Parenthood and ransack the facilities? I would not support that.
Vegans are passionate about the protection of animals. Should they be able to steal all the meat from local restaurants that serve meat as a form of protest? I would not support that.
All citizens need to follow the law or we no longer have a democracy. In a democracy, everyone has the right to protest but they do not have the right to break the law, to enter private property without permission, to destroy public and/or private property. If we start making allowances for personal passions because elected officials are sympathetic to those viewpoints, we will lose the necessary order that allows democracy to function.
Best,
Kate Haug