wandering the streets is charming, a gaggle headed toward your
outdoor lunch table is disconcerting.
There are pressing issues: Saddam Hussein and the possibility of war with Iraq; a massive, almost unfathomable, state budget deficit; and then there’s the future of free-roaming chickens in San Juan Bautista.
Are they charming or is this just a bunch of …? Well, perhaps a comment on the chickens will provide a deserved break from more weighty matters.
The “chicken fight” in smallish San Juan has gotten serious: During a town hall meeting, residents told Mission City officials to either enforce an ordinance that requires chickens to be kept in pens or rewrite it.
They’ve had enough with the birds – the numbers, the noise they make during the early morning hours, the possible health concerns the chickens may cause and the possibility of a lawsuit.
One resident counted nearly 130 chickens at one intersection.
City officials ought to take those concerns seriously. An occasional chicken wandering the streets is charming, a gaggle headed toward your outdoor lunch table is disconcerting.
At the very least, the population should be thinned by whatever means are necessary – preferably capture and adoption as opposed to large cats.
You, dear reader, can become a part of the solution to this Mission City dilemma. Chickens are, in fact, available for adoption. Call City Manager Larry Cain at 1-831-623-4661 for your free chicken.
If the herd is thinned and kept reasonable, we say long live the chickens.
San Juan Bautista is built on its past. History abounds – from The Mission to the Castro-Breen Adobe to the antique shops that line main street.
San Juan Bautista’s economy revolves around tourists and that history.
An occasional wandering chicken lends a bit of ambiance to the city that is not found elsewhere in the area. San Juan is not, after all, Los Gatos or Morgan Hill. It’s a town with a past that is alive. Besides, the San Juan Chamber has a chicken on its official T-shirt and eliminating the chickens would force a total redesign.
When the future eventually encroaches on the city, perhaps it will be time for the chickens to move on.
For now, San Juan clings to its past, and the chickens – at least some – should be allowed to roam free.
