So, after I submitted my ordinance, the Director of City Planning wrote me a letter that said that the town would consider my proposal later, but that I was still non-compliant and must get rid of my hens. But the code enforcement officer told me to lay low and work hard on trying to get people involved. He told me the city was very against backyard hens and he shared with me the names and emails of people who were pro-hen. He told me that the city would not take up the issue until they had a new Mayor. Unfortunately for me, I should have pressed harder then -- the new Mayor engaged in cronyism. I had through Fall and Winter 2011 and Spring 2012 to enjoy my hens before the city finally took up my ordinance.
It turns out there were two people who were facing citation from the city -- me and a pediatrician and her husband who had six hens at their home on Simpson Garden. On the day city council first took up the issue, she and I met for the first time. She and her husband are very nice people and, like me, got hens because they thought they were fun companions and enjoyable to children. So be it. The city council decided to send it to the planning committee who gave it to a sub-committee. For 20 months, I followed the ordinance from city council to planning to the planning subcommittee, to planning, to city council, to the city attorney's office and finally the Mayor killed it.
During that 20 months, I delivered my kind letter to his office, emailed him often, wrote him at least two letters, went to his office twice, saw him around town, and saw him at every meeting about the hen issue. And he never once spoke to me, addressed me, or responded to any email. He was horrible. But it was sure clear that he gave lots of attention to his Townie friends, M*lt and L*e H*kel and Ed C*nnell. I got my first life lesson in cronyism.
Anyway, the very first meeting was a shock. I thought the issue would be simple. What could be nicer more ecologically friendly more patriotic more family supporting more Mrs. Obama's backyard kitchen garden-inspired than a backyard hen ordinance in a town which prides itself on being the cornerstone of industry, rural, and university life? I thought it was a slam dunk.
Nope. As it turns out, a few crony friends of the Mayor's found out about the ordinance and took time out of their life to come to the meetings and spew hate and disinformation. At these meetings, M*lt H*kel would say that I wasn't educated enough to understand that hens are diseased and that I'm trying to turn America into a Third World Country. His wife, L*e H*kel, would say that I'm trying to turn our city of gardens into a foul place filled with fences and that hens are trashy as are our coops. Mr. C*nnell would shake his finger at me and say that I was a lawbreaker who should be punished and that I was a fringe element with a silly personal agenda. I was told to get out of town. It was just lunacy.
And at each meeting, I would present information. Over the course of the 20 months, I reported about my phone conversations with the CDC -- which supports backyard hens. I reported about the five cities I spoke with and how their own Code Enforcement, Animal Control, and Public Health Departments like their backyard hen ordinances. I had the Public Health Veterinarian of Columbus write to the city council. I had the avian veterinarian and animal welfare officer at BGSU report that hens are not dangerous or health risks. I presented written memos about what our OWN Animal Control, Public Health, and Code Enforcement Officers said -- which was that backyard hens are not bad and they could handle them. I brought in friends to stand at public lobbying -- we made buttons, t-shirts, posters. We posted posters all around town. We wrote, called, and emailed everyone. And we were routinely treated poorly.
It was a real lesson in how a small handful of people who oppose social change can scuttle positive things in their community. I felt like I was in a teeny tiny scary Republican nightmare. They didn't like information. They didn't like science. They couldn't tolerate facts. They were happy to say crazy stuff. One city councilman emailed me that he didn't believe in surveys! Another city councilman was happy to say that he felt that the majority of BG was against hens. The Mayor was happy to say that the majority was against hens. An appointee on the sub-committee said that, "We've heard that hens are angels. And hens are the devil. But I think in the end, we'll all agree that hens are just hens. And we wouldn't want them any other way." It was the most crazy, demented, misinformed, patronizing time!
And by the time the end of the summer had rolled around, and I'd been called a fringe element one time too many, my spirit flagged. And that's when friends got my back!!! Here's where the story takes a happy turn!