Important Information To read And Understand

1. The upcoming council meeting, Wednesday, December 16th, has been closed to in-person participation. I know many of you were ready to show up to show your support. Here is how you can still be heard and have your voice documented in the official records of the meeting. You may participate by providing your public comment via email or voicemail prior to the meeting.

Email via the City Clerk's office at city_clerk@bakersfieldcity.us by 1:00 PM Tuesday, December 15th.

Leave a voicemail comment by calling 661-326-3100. Your message needs to be three minutes or shorter. The voice message must be received by 4:00 PM Tuesday, December 15th.

Do both. Get your friends, family, and neighbors to call and email as well.

I just called and left my message @ 661-326-3100. It is easy and quick to do.

2. The process to obtain legal protection to own backyard hens is not over. The tactic of a lawsuit complicates it, and delays it, but in no way should it end it. Let me be clear, (you too should be passionate and convicted about this) in no way should we allow the city to accept an ultimatum from a CEQA lawyer that says, "No hens, no lawsuit" that is representing a limited group of anonymous people. Our city should not operate by giving in to a "greenmail" attempt; especially when the "Citizens for the Preservation of the R-1 Zones" has no history of advocacy for the environment and remains anonymous.

3. Our backyard hen community has grown and made connections in the Bakersfield community that support the ordinance change that our City Council approved. Here are a few of them: the farm and agriculture industry, education ( Future Farmers of America and 4H), farmers' markets, farm to table businesses, citizens for individual property rights, sustainable food movement, pet and feed stores (people who love animals), and advocacy groups that support grassroots democratic-process projects. Please think along these lines and continue to bring others into our backyard hen community. We are not alone. Our interests align with so many other wonderful groups and organizations. As you make these connections or already have them send the information and contact names my way. I will gladly work with you to find ways to leverage their influence, reputation, and economic power to finish what we have started and accomplished; that has now been delayed by a pending/possible CEQA lawsuit.

4. I will end with a simple statement: "What we are asking for is fair and reasonable". We should end every communication with this statement.