Updates (Please Read)...

It looks like the backyard hen topic will be on the agenda for next Wednesday, August 12th at the 3:30 City Council meeting. Please save the day and time (mark your calendar) and consider coming to the meeting to be heard. We are close to making this happen. Many of you have asked me, "What can I do to help?" and have made statements like, "I'll do anything to help."

This is what we need you to do. Calendar this day and time and make it a priority to speak at the meeting. - Wednesday, August 12th at 3:30

There needs to be a "flock" of us present to show them how serious this is to us.

Also, plan on attending our next weekly Zoom meeting which will be held on Monday, August 10th at 7:00 P.M. Bruce will post the link on the Facebook site later this week. There is a link to the Facebook site on the website ( thebubh.wixsite.com/bubh ) That Zoom meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 10th at 7:00 PM. We will be discussing and sharing about the upcoming board meeting, There is nothing intimidating about our meetings. Please show up and be part of something great. We will keep it short, and I will stay on afterwards to answer any questions not addressed that you might have. I will be explaining the process of how to speak at a Council meeting. It is easy, memorable and part of the process of making our government work for us. Children may speak too. Think about what an educational experience this would be for them - hands on participation with the governmental process.

I am attaching my latest email to The City Planner for you to read. I also copied it to the three Council Members that have been in communication with us over the last several months. The City Planner has been wonderful to work with, but it is important to understand that he is not championing our backyard hen movement. We need to be the voice that is heard. He will be presenting pros and cons. He will be pointing out negatives as well as positives. If we do not show up in numbers, and communicate the healthy and beneficial reasons to allow hens, all of our efforts could easily be forgotten. They cannot ignore us if we are there in person articulating the simple message of why we believe backyard hen ownership is reasonable and the right thing to do.

Here is the email:

"Dear City Planner",

Thank you again for your ongoing dialogue with our Bakersfield Urban Backyard Hens group. You continue to be reachable and professional.

Our group meets every Monday evening. We have slightly altered the document on the website that used to share a "draft" of a possible backyard hen city ordinance for the R-1 zone. I shared this with you the other day and you had stated that you had seen it. I have attached the updated "proposed" ordinance to this email so that you have a copy of the most current version. The current version is also posted on the website under the "document" tab.

The main adjustment has to do with changing the title from a "draft" ordinance to a "proposed" ordinance. This word choice is a small change but has significant meaning. Our group believes that the ordinance as we have outlined is fair and attainable. We believe it is in alignment with what Bakersfield currently allows for hen ownership in the R-S zone, as well as for other bird ownership such as pigeons, that are allowed in the R-1 zone. We believe that our proposed ordinance makes reasonable adjustments for the urban setting of the R-1 zone for backyard hens.

Thank you for reading it and for understanding our strong opinion regarding the details of what backyard hen ownership should look like for Bakersfield residents in the R-1 zone.

If you have any follow up questions please reach out to me. I appreciate your collaboration with us as we move towards hopefully finding common ground on allowing hens as pets.

Sincerely,

thebubh.wixsite.com/bubh"