It was with great interest that I read the article in the Jan. 18 Red Deer Advocate entitled Chickens on the menu.
The article went on to describe the agenda for the next council meeting, which included discussions on burdening taxpayers with millions more dollars in borrowed money, to fund future road developments, amongst other things.
What caught my eye, though, was the mention of the administration requesting an extension of the review of the chicken policy!
Am I to believe that the combined talents of our city administration have not been able to craft a bylaw that would look after a simple thing like keeping a few chickens in a backyard, after working on it for a year?
What a joke!
Is it any wonder that we see a total breakdown in snow removal, streets full of potholes, not to mention the bike lane debacle?
How can we weary taxpayers expect better results when the powers that be can’t make a decision on such a simple thing like chickens in the backyard?
It appears to me that in this city, the tail is wagging the dog, as the administrators seem to be able to manipulate the council to make sure their own jobs are secure.
I wonder if one of the reasons whoever is doing the pilot project wants the extension is so that they can interview the chickens to get their opinions once the weather improves?
I’ll bet it’s difficult to recruit a chicken whisperer, probably not too many around.
Seriously though, this in my opinion, this is an indication of what goes on at City Hall when a council loses control to the city manager and the administration and is just one more example of why we as taxpayers will end up paying higher taxes again this year, whilst the councillors pat themselves on the back for keeping the increase to below five per cent, we hope.
George Croome
Red Deer