As I Perceived It

Dear Editor,

The city council meeting was well attended for referendum 959-chickens in city limits.

As you have read in the Courier and heard on KLTZ, the referendum failed 4-1 with one council member not in attendance.

From what I’ve read and heard, I perceived some things differently. As per The Glasgow Courier, at one point, when Miss House was answering questions about the ordinance “with the crowd at one point erupting with shouts and assertions.” “This drew rebuke from Stan Ozark and seemed to sway him in favor of the ordinance.”

What I heard was chuckles and laughter about a statement made that seemed naïve for those of us who have lived here in a country setting for years. I said that more skunks and other predators would probably come into town because of chickens and eggs. Mother Nature equipped skunk predators with heightened smell and hearing. Miss House, representing her group, said they didn’t think the skunk population in town would increase. Stan Ozark was primarily the shouting and angry rebuke. One thing he shouted was that we (the crowd) act like we know more than her (them) and we should be ashamed for making fun of Madelyn. When it comes to country living, we do know more. When I chuckled, was I “making fun of” Miss House? No—not her personality, looks, her abilities to speak in front of this group, or her ambition to get chickens in town. She did and will do a good job with her cause. Miss House reiterated more than once that she is a city girl, so her naïve statement caused laughter...most of the council members smiled—just not out loud.

The “sway him in favor of the ordinance” I agree with. The no votes from the 4 council members were prefaced with statements like “everyone I talked to said no,” or “more people called me than are in the stands and said no”. Councilman Stan Ozark repeatedly said he was on the fence and didn’t know how to vote. He never mentioned constituents in his ward and what their comments were. Did no one express an opinion to Stan so he voted his own opinion after emotionally losing his temper? A person in the crowd was of the opinion that out-of-town opinions should not be a part of the discussion. Mr. Ozark told that person with more angry shouting that anyone can come before the council with an opinion any time they want to and it’s how the council learns. Right or wrong, the tone of voice and demeanor of Councilman Ozark was uncalled for.

Some time ago I heard at a council meeting from Stan Ozark that a mistake had been made, and an apology was due to the person offended. I so admired him for that statement. Now, I think that ward one constituents should be offended. I am.

One small error in speaking about property values. Yes, your property value (taxable) will not go down. However, your sellable value has the potential to go down if there are chickens next door. You won’t know until you look for a buyer.

Going to this council meeting was an eye-opener—so was reading about it in the Courier and hearing a re-hash on Stan and Haylie’s talk show. I listened more than once and did not hear the predator issue addressed.