Reach Out To Our New Council Members - Here Is How ...

Here is a quote taken directly from the Bakersfield City webpage:

"Members of the public wishing to provide messages of congratulations or encouragement to incoming or out going City Councilmembers are asked to provide those to the City be sending them to this email address: City_Council@bakersfieldcity.us . Those messages will be shared separately with the Councilmembers at a future date."

Eric Arias (for Willie Rivera) and Patty Gray (for Jacquie Sullivan) are the newly elected Council Members. Both Willie and Jacquie voted in strong support of the backyard hen ordinance.

I encourage you to write an email to newly elected Council Members Arias and Gray that congratulates them, welcomes them, and informs them of your desire to have them support what their predecessor voted for, which is a strong support for the backyard hen ordinance.

Here is a copy of the email I sent them both. In the "subject line" I address it "Patty Gray, Welcome and Congratulations". I emailed them separately.

"Dear Newly Elected Councilwoman Gray,

Congratulation on your new position of Councilwoman. I am happy and excited for you. To represent the citizens of our city is a great honor and responsibility. There are many topics that are important to me. Over your tenure I am sure you will have to make decisions on many of them. I pray for you to have wisdom, courage, and strength when contemplating what is the best action for our city's residents. Thank you in advance for the time and energy that it will take to fully understand the issues that you are charged to decide on.

I have a current topic that I would like to share with you that will be something you will be thrust into learning about. The topic is support for backyard hens. My website is a great resource on factual information and can be found at: thebubh.wixsite.com/bubh . I also have a blog posted there under the name of "The Miracle Hen" that you can read as a summary of events that led to the Council approving amendments to the current City's ordinance that would allow for backyard hens with restrictions and safeguards. I regretfully share with you that an unidentified group has initiated a lawsuit with our City in an attempt to obstruct or delay the ordinance that was approved.

It is my hope that you honor your predecessor's vote of "in favor of backyard hens" when the time comes. Please reach out to me and provide me the opportunity to share with you why backyard hens is the right decision for Ward 6 and for all of Bakersfield. You may reach me at thebubh@gmail.com.

I wish I could have been at the December 16th council meeting in person to be part of your celebration and transition into leadership. I am confident that I will have opportunities to see you at future ones when societal health concerns allow. Until then, thank you and congratulations.

Sincerely,

MT Merickel

thebubh.wixsite.com/bubh

thebubh@gmail.com"

So, you can call and leave a public comment recording, you can email your public comment, and you can email the newly elected Council Members. Please do these three things tonight or tomorrow before 1:00. Also, encourage family, friends, and neighbors to do the same. For the process to play out in our favor, you need to be heard, over and over again. What we are asking for is reasonable and fair. The benefits of backyard hens enhance the quality of life experiences for Bakersfield families.