A few years ago I wanted to begin owning chickens in my city of Ogden. Chickens have numerous nutritional, emotional & societal benefits. There are nutrients found only in chickens raised in a backyard home rather than a mega farm. Many people in poverty or struggling financially can supplement their income selling eggs. Chickens create societal cohesion & wellbeing. Chickens can even be used in mental health therapy. For many, many reasons I wanted to own chickens.
I soon realized that chicken ownership was illegal in Ogden. Upon research I found out that one of the official reasons given was that chicken ownership would cause an upswing in Latino immigration to the city.
Yes. You read that correct. In a modern city & culture the reasoning given for outlawing chickens was, (Paraphrasing) "Mexicans like chickens & we don't want them coming here". Such flawed racist reasoning shouldn't be part of a cultured city as Ogden.
For me, owning chickens is a Constitutional Right for property owners. It's one of the first issues I took up when I decided to run for Ogden City Council.
The American Dream was founded upon the idea that you can come to America & have ownership over land. It was & is a foreign concept in many parts of the world. It's one of the things that makes America great. You have control over yourself, your food supply & your property. It's a concept we are moving away from more & more. Not having control over your food supply smacks of countries with communist ideologies where you cannot control your domain.
When the Government controls your ability to produce food it controls you.
When I served as County Delegate I asked a candidate for County Commissioner about chicken ownership rights. I was told to go ahead & break city code because she would make sure the city was going to look the other way. That was a seriously problematic answer to me. A person seeking to be a public servant shouldn't be telling me to break the law. They should be listening to constituents & fighting to overturn corrupt or flawed laws.
People invest a lot of money & heart into owning chickens. They should feel secure in their investment. They shouldn't live in fear of having their hard work taken away at the whim of a public official who is looking the other way instead of fixing the problem. They shouldn't live in fear of the Government coming to confiscate their property. It's wrong on every level as an American to live in fear of the Government.
People right now own chickens in Ogden. They live with a fear of being turned in by their neighbors. I don't like that people live in fear & can be victimized by neighbors who threaten to turn them in for exercising what is, to me, a God given Right of controlling your food supply.
Today I met with the Ogden Chicken Alliance & I was very impressed with their bravery to come out of the shadows to stand up for what they believe & a Constitutional Right. That takes a lot of guts. These are the kind of people who make America what it is & they shouldn't live in fear over chickens. It's not right. It's just not.
If I'm elected to Ogden City Council I will honor the bravery of these stalwart individuals who have the guts to stand up for our American Principles. I won't fight chicken ownership rights & do all I can to foster an atmosphere where they're passion can thrive.
In many ways these people are fighting for all of us plus the Constitution & I'll fight for them.
