Shush, People

 In the end, the unspoken “public be damned“ strategy didn’t work for Portland’s Office of Arts and Culture when it came to changing the placement of the Abe Lincoln statue in the South Park Blocks. Mayor Keith Wilson quickly arrived a different decision, declaring that the historic statue will be returned to the pedestal where it stood for 93 years as a well-known feature of downtown Portland.

 The mayor’s decision came two days after the Office of Arts and Culture held an unusual public meeting in which citizens who cared were told they could not speak their opinions about the proposal to place Lincoln at ground level.  “That is not part of the program this evening,” the moderator said. “It’s clear we won’t have time to hear everyone’s opinions.”

Instead, the crowd of approximately 200 people listen to four “experts” – three of whom knew little about the Lincoln statue that had been toppled by a criminal episode in 2020.  Instead, they spoke in more detail about a statue of York, a Black member of the Lewis & Clark expedition, and how the goal of public monuments was to encourage inspiration, dialogue and discussion.  But what about relocating Lincoln to the ground rather than his original pedestal, as proposed by the arts office?   Inspiration, dialogue and discussion apparently don’t relate   to “decision.” These experts liked to talk, not make decisions.  As one said, “We’re not here to talk about Lincoln.”

 The evening event had been billed as a “Public Conversation” about city monuments.  But the conversation, if one can call it that, was limited to written questions.  The arts office said it had started holding discussions about Lincoln’s placement as early as 2023, but none of those events was widely advertised and none involved public testimony.  Those sessions did disclose views of people who found fault with Lincoln, and the proposal to remove that statue from its pedestal was a “middle path,” one expert said.

During the session, a former Portland city commissioner with a strong interest in the arts, wrote me a note saying, “An expensive multi-year process without one public hearing.”

The statue is expected to return in 2027.  Some context about Lincoln’s life will be added near the statue, although the wording and methodology have yet to be determined.  Given the rampant use of cell phones, the strategy likely will include a Quick Response Code that would bring up facts about his life and politics.  Deciding what to include or exclude will be a fight for another day.

 ---Fred Leeson

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