Your Action Is needed ...

I'm sharing an email that I have sent to Mrs. Barbara Grimm-Marshall of Grimmway Farms with you. My hope is that it motivates you to also reach out to people, businesses, and/or organizations. I challenge you to contact the high school in you community and track down the FFA (Future Farmers of America) and 4H club adult leaders. Get them on board with writing letters to Council Members and to the Californian. Hopefully they (along with their students and students' parents) will join the Facebook group and follow this website.

Imagine, if each one of you fostered this relationship and turned it into action for legalizing backyard hens we would have the will of the people. This is what it is going to take. For our Council Members to stand up to the lawsuit there will need to be a mass number of people putting pressure on them to do so. You might know a business owner or have ties to an organization, ask and see if they will support backyard hens.

Continue to write your own letters. Continue to recruit neighbors and friends to write letters. And, start thinking bigger. If we do not act, we will lose what we worked for - the legal protection for hen ownership.

What we are asking for is reasonable and fair while it enhances the quality of life experiences for families.

Here is my email. I hope it motivates you.

"Dear Mrs. Barbara Grimm-Marshall and Dylan Wilson,

Barbara, we have actually met once. I am the principal of Stockdale Elementary, and I was on a committee that validated your Arvin Grimmway Academy for statewide Distinguished School recognition in 2014. I enjoyed my visit to your campus, and I still recall how passionate you spoke about education, wellness, and agriculture. As well as having a passion for helping our youth experience success, we obviously share other common interests. I am still at Stockdale Elementary. In my free time I am actively involved with working with the City to amend an ordinance to allow for backyard hens in the R-1 zone. I work with and represent a large community of supporters.

On September 23rd the Bakersfield City Council passed a backyard chicken ordinance that allowed for the raising of hens in areas zoned as R-1 with restrictions and safeguards. This ordinance allowed families to raise their own hens for nutritious eggs as well as many additional benefits including educating our children on farm practices. The day prior to full implementation of the ordinance the City was slapped with a lawsuit by an anonymous group of supposed Bakersfield residents citing CEQA violations. We believe the case of a CEQA violation is not strong and the City ordinance will prevail. Unfortunately, this action put the backyard chicken ordinance in jeopardy of being rescinded. The vote that passed the ordinance was a 4-3 majority, however, two of the City Council Members that voted in favor of the ordinance have left the council on December 16th. We are actively trying to contact their replacements and are hoping that they will stand strong against this attack on a lawfully created and passed ordinance. If the Council chooses not to defend the ordinance against this frivolous attack it will be rescinded and our community will lose out on the quality of life issues that are dear to us.

I believe we have common ground that is important to our collective interests. On your website the following four topics are highlighted in your “Community” section: Wellness, Community Improvement, Nutrition, and Education. The topic of urban backyard hens is strongly alien with all four. Rescinding this ordinance would not be good for our community or for farming, agriculture, wellness, families, children, and education. It may signal a willingness to entertain future actions against these topics. If you, Edible Schoolyard, and Grimmway Farms help us we can ensure the ordinance is fully enacted and our community will realize we are still a farming and agriculture town that values family, education, and quality of life interests.

I would like to schedule a conference call to discuss our options and approach with you sometime soon after Christmas in early January. It would be helpful to talk prior to the next scheduled Council meeting if possible. Please let me know a day and time that works for you.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

thebubh.wixsite.com/bubh

thebubh@gmail.com"