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May-24-2010 02:55printcommentsVideo

A Bunch of Chickens in Salem

"Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house, as to build a cathedral" - Frank Lloyd Wright

Naked Necked Chicken

(SALEM, Ore.) - Salem once again stands at the crossroads, with a chance to make a good decision for its residents. The city council is faced with a choice to help people in a poor economy; folks who want to keep a few chickens on their property so their families can have fresh eggs, while keeping their gardens free of pests.

Apparently that is a lot to ask for. Good clucking luck. Depending on their decision, the council might come out of this one with egg on their face.

It doesn't seem like a stretch, but then this is Salem, the city on the west coast that holds one record; having the biggest generation gap.

It's illegal for kids to cruise their cars in Salem, they can be ticketed and arrested if they go around the block three times. Motorcycle clubs can't go ten feet without a dose of supposedly illegal criminal profiling from Salem's finest[1].

An extremely legitimate company that performed junk removal was tossed out of town so Salem City Council's choice in garbage companies wouldn't have their toes stepped on.

The owner of GotJunk? was a big participant in the local chamber and narrowly survived cancer; Salem did their dirty deed when this man was ill and undergoing treatment. Some say Salem really snuffed the rooster that time. It was shameful, we wrote about it[2].

"A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage"

- 1928 Republican Party Campaign Slogan

Rich people sometimes don't care about the needs of the poor, conscientiousness & self-sufficient, and so the odds that this will come out in favor of those suffering is slim, but we are here to share it with the world no matter what, even if we ruffle a few feathers in the process.

Of course Salem-News isn't known for walking on eggshells when it comes to the critical evaluation of politics. It is our job, and even if we seem a bit on the hard boiled side, we try not to ignore the importance of stories that affect families.

"I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he can not have a chicken in his pot every Sunday"

- Mahatma Gandhi

Some say Salem's possible insensitivity to the chicken friendly residents equates to short sightedness, and sloughing off on their civic duty look after the needs of everyone who lives here. I know they have a tendency to give the squeaky wheel grease. Granted, people can get up in arms about anything to do with animals and neighborhoods, but this one seems justified. I don't see the point of running around like a headless chicken over it.

"The Chicken Revolution"

The fight is over being allowed to have 3-4 hens in the city limits. Roosters aren't part of the deal.

The very notion that there is an argument is a great testimony to our over lawed and highly over-regulated society. Salem Police exist to raise revenue through ticketing, arresting and just simply negatively impacting residents. One drive through town any night, particularly east of downtown Salem, reveals residents being pulled over left and right, being given expensive tickets when people are increasingly out of work and unable to comply with the plethora of laws.

And now we're arguing about outlawing chickens?

Will that soon be a call for our tax paid black and whites, "This is dispatch, we have a report of illegal chickens at a residence on NE State Street"?

Will they end up raiding homes with flash bang grenades and kicking in the door with search warrants? Are chicken owners future taser victims? Those things kill people! Right here in Salem in fact! And you and I get to pay the tab for things like wrongful death lawsuits. Let's be sure to outlaw chickens, that's real important.

Several advocates have been putting time into this issue on a serious level, hoping to make a point that will be heard by city officials. This is not an issue unique to Salem, in fact there is a movie called, the Mad City Chickens documentary that addresses the subject.

You can go to cityofsalem.net/Pages/home.aspx to look at tonight's copy of the city staff’s recommended proposal.

This information is from the Facebook page for Chickens in the City:

A lot of you have written to me expressing concern about the 10,000 sq ft lot requirement. This is, of course, a ridiculous and unfair stipulation. Statistics indicates this would essentially disqualify 75% of the households right off the bat. There is also a 20’ setback from property line stipulation. We will vigorously argue against both of these requirements and push for no minimum lot size and 10’ from property lines OR at least 20’ from residential structures on adjacent properties (not both). This would allow those of us who live next to an alley or other natural buffer, to build our coops next to the fence. I encourage anyone who disagrees with these stipulations to send an email right away to the mayor and all city councilors explaining why you think it’s unfair. You can cut & paste the following email addresses into a single[polite] message to:

We also need to emphasize this at the public hearing. Therefore, after our assigned speakers argue against these two stipulations, I urge some of you to consider speaking, in your own words, to reinforce what we said. You do not have to be a powerful public speaker and you don’t have to talk for the entire three minutes. Also, you are no longer required to give your address; you can just state your name and the city ward number you live in (which you can look up on the city’s website if you don’t know it). If you would like to speak be sure to sign up beforehand (there are sign-up sheets on the counter near the entrance but you have to arrive early enough to put your name on it). When the Mayor calls your name, go to the closest podium and speak. Be sure to be polite, dress nice, and be sure you can finish in less than 3 minutes (typically 500 words or less). A small light on the podium will flash yellow when you have one minute left and stay solid red when your time is up. The mayor is very strict about enforcing this time limit! I anticipate a big crowd, media attention, and a lot of speakers both for and against chickens. It will be a long night, so please leave young children at home (if you can) and bring as many older children and adults with you as possible. Older children who can see over the podium are also encouraged to speak about why they want chickens. If you are not already a member of the Salem Chickens Yahoo Group, I urge you to join so you can download our petition and flyer about the public hearing and read all previous updates. It would be nice if some of you could help distribute the flyer as soon as possible. Please place them on any bulletin boards you are aware of in your neighborhoods. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at salemchickens@yahoo.com. Thank you and have an awesome day! Christine, TCI, Inc.

Chickens are one of God's little creatures that people know how to handle. We live in a world where we aren't always completely sure what is in the food approved by the FDA and placed on our shelves. To some extent we are stuck with it, but those who try, can avoid a great deal of this genetically modified 'mad scientist food' that evil criminally convicted companies like Monsanto want to plop onto your plate.

Quickly, for those who don't know... Monsanto is the creator of Agent Orange, a defoliant that was sprayed over Vietnam and has killed tens of thousands of Veterans in the years following the war, from cancer. People in Vietnam are born with horrible birth defects from it. Today Monsanto controls food products and they are scientifically changing what you eat by essentially 'tricking it' genetically, with a goal of creating agriculture that can be seriously doused with Roundup and not die[3][4].

They never atoned for their debt over Vietnam and how they do this.. Sorry, but if that doesn't make your blood boil, you might be more along the lines of that chicken on the right laying eggs. Cluck cluck.

Learn more about Monsanto by visiting this link Salem-News.com key word 'Monsanto', and by reading the stories generated by Salem-News.com writer Chuck Palazzo in Vietnam, and great friend Len Aldis in London. [5][6].

Alice in Chains 'Rooster'

The above mentioned group is not one that I have had specific personal contact with, but when I heard about what they are up against via email Sunday, I had to write this article. Try to understand that each year, your city, county and state governments in Oregon simply draft and pass one more law after another.

They just keep listing more things, adding more potential sources of revenue for the government coffers. I hope someday soon we have a politician whose entire platform will be based on striking laws, unraveling ones that are written poorly and ambiguous; I call foul on almost every single politician in office who talks about 'freedom' - while simply following suit and playing the game. The term 'maverick' has been highly abused, but it has a place in the world of American politics.

This is a great chance for Salem to allow the freedom not to simply have chickens, but also allow Salemites to raise the bar for family health, and have a slightly closer connection to the earth and agriculture.

Then there is the fact that kids learn from having the responsibilities that go along with raising animals.

References:

[1] Apr-18-2010: U.S. Defenders Take Oregon Motorcycle Rights to the Streets - Tim King and Bonnie King Salem-News.com

[2] Jan-09-2008 : Salem City Council Passes Ordinance Threatening Future of Local Business - Bonnie King Salem-News.com

[3] Apr-26-2010: GM Food... Feeding the Hungry or Population Control? - April Scott Salem-News.com

[4] Mar-01-2010: While We Were Sleeping...GM Food and the Brink of No Return - April Scott Salem-News.com

[5] Mar-10-2010: Agent Orange Victims Aren't Enough for Monsanto; Now GM Food - Len Aldis for Salem-News.com

[6] Jan-09-2010: Company of the Year... Monsanto? - Chuck Palazzo Salem-News.com

====================================

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.

Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com




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Henry Clay Ruark May 24, 2010 9:22 am (Pacific time)

  Could it possibly be tied to "development"-continued at any cost, since "development" denies "natural"-ities like home-held chickens ?
  Also unfettered development often sells metal roofs, too.
  Conflicts of interest seem somehow tied tightly into the heavy impacts of unfettered "connected" development, a point made long ago for some who may recall dialog then.


Henry Clay Ruark May 24, 2010 8:54 am (Pacific time)

  Could it be this issue tied to "development" at any cost to provide profits for those "connected ?"
  "Development" naturally denies anything so "natural" as home-held chickens...and we do have conflict of interest involved here, since metal roofs are major usage in high-cost developments, right?
  That point was made long ago too, for those who can recall.


Daniel May 24, 2010 7:30 pm (Pacific time)

Ain't nobody here but us chickens ain't nobody here at all .


Amanda Leduc May 24, 2010 3:13 pm (Pacific time)

Great story Tim! A few months back the city council did hold a meeting about this issue. I think it is ridiculous to outlaw chickens (hens) within the city limits. They are easy to care for, quiet, can eat almost everything (including human leftovers- which would greatly reduce the amount of food stuffs going into landfills) and provide a source of nourishing food. For me, and many others, chickens also offer a certain comfort, a feeling of humanity and the ability to be able to provide for ourselves. I am glad that you wrote this. Hopefully the city council will make the right decision!


Dexter May 24, 2010 1:51 pm (Pacific time)

"OH NO"... I recognize one of those chickens!. I think it's the one that violated the next door neighbors dog, followed by verbally abusing people walking by while under intoxication. Tim I think this chicken is on the F.B.I's most wanted list, who do I contact to get this menace of society off the safe streets of Salem?. We need to prevent this rather hostile bird in to distributing illegal contraband (eggs) to the general public.


gp May 24, 2010 1:43 pm (Pacific time)

I wrote the Salem City Council and rcvd a reply from one that was positive, nothing from the others yet. Chickens teach children so much, provide manure for the garden, help reduce organic waste by consuming it, offer pleasure and eggs for the neighbors and are legal in towns all over the world. Everyone should have a little flock for these reasons.


Douglas Benson May 24, 2010 6:42 am (Pacific time)

We have chickens ,we didnt ask permission and any silly enforcement officer can feel free to step off. This is my castle you cant get a warrant ,you cant see them from the street or neighbors yard without voilating my privacy . By the way marion county sherrifs office thank you for having better things to do. Salem PD could take a page from your book. Freedom is taken not given if you are too scared to take it mabey you didnt want it .

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