City Council Three Minute Share ...

Let me know what you think about my rough draft of the speech I plan on sharing with City Council this Wednesday.

Should I use the word "hen" instead of "chicken", and should I talk about myself in paragraph two?

SPEECH:

Backyard hens are known as “The Pet With Benefits” and fresh eggs are considered “nature's multivitamin”.

I am here tonight to share with you that many Bakersfield residents are actively meeting, planning and working together to allow for the ownership of backyard hens. We are asking city council to expand the zoning to include R-1 lots for backyard hens.

My name is MT Merickel, and I am the current principal of Stockdale Elementary. I live in Ward 5. I came to Bakersfield on a wrestling scholarship in 1989. I’ve been married for 25 years, and have two boys attending BHS. I share this with you to hopefully and quickly establish that I am a caring, positive, contributing resident of our great city.

I manage a website called “Bakersfield Urban Backyard Hens”. We have had 575 visitors to the site in the past three weeks. The website is a resource and support for hen enthusiasts of the Bakersfield area. I invite you to take some time to explore the site. While visiting the website, take the survey that is gathering informative data and read my blog that is documenting the process of respectfully working with city government, invested community stakeholders, and residents.

The data from the survey on the website shows that the main reasons citizens want to be able to legally own backyard hens are: food security, bug control, nutritious eggs, and pet companionship. These are all important topics for the health and welfare of the residents of Bakersfield.

I would like to extend my knowledge on this topic to you, as a resource, as we move forward with a plan to legalize hen ownership. You are welcome to contact me with questions or to request further information.

Hopefully, you will be a supporter of this grassroots movement, and we will have opportunities to work collaboratively towards making backyard hen ownership legal for the residents living in the R-1 zone.

Thank you for your time, and for this opportunity to be heard.