Glencoe Chickens

When I went to the Village Board on September 20 to ask them to take up the discussion on allowing backyard chickens in Glencoe, I never would have dreamed what ugliness would ensue. I have had many, many wonderful people who care about the environment, our food sources and sustainability showing great support. But somehow the loudest and meanest voices are the ones that stick. I have had two very disturbing interactions from my neighbors, neither one of which was particularly neighborly. I refrained from naming the first offender since all he did was act in an aggressive and objectionable manner. He most likely privately insulted me and my family (as he did to our faces), but not publicly as Lee Goldberg chose to do. Lee Goldberg is a bird of another feather. I have no reservations about naming him and calling him out on shameless, misinformed, aggressive, premeditated and downright mean behavior and actions.

Mr. Goldberg called me on October 10 (which happened to be my birthday). I tried my best be polite to him, remain civil and non-combative, and answer his concerns in a rational, neutral way. First, he asked me if I knew that having chickens was against village ordinance. I explained that this is the reason I went to the village board. He went on about how it was an “invasion of decency” to have a “chicken farm” in my backyard. He repeated over and over that he is allergic to feathers and talked about the smell and the noise and the predators that a chicken farm would bring. And several times, he talked about how this is going to lower his property value.

I addressed each issue calmly and rationally. I explained that we are not talking about a “chicken farm,” but just a few backyard hens. I told him that there would be no odor or sound. I addressed the predator issue telling him that we already have predators in Glencoe and that a few hens would not bring more here and explained that if the chickens were kept in a proposed required predator proof coop, that this would not be an issue. I also told him that there is no evidence from other neighborhoods that backyard chickens lower property values. But he kept asking “so you intend to pursue this chicken farm?” I replied that all I did was go to the board to ask them to take up the issue and that he would have plenty of opportunity to make his opinion known if the board does takes it up. I explained that this is not about me personally, but it was clear that he didn’t see it that way – he was directing his rage at me.

He went on to question the tomato garden and the sunflowers that we had in the front (we made raised beds far away from the street, near the house). Why couldn’t we have a nice landscaped flower bed like everyone else? And we kept bicycles out in front and never put them away. I told him that we ride bikes every day and we put them in the garage every evening, which he contested. Why the hell are we talking about bicycles, I thought to myself? He continued to say that we left our recycling bin outside and that he saw a ladder in front of the house for days (we were working on cleaning up the roof and fixing the downspout). And the coup de grâce, he related how one of the other neighbors asked why we would want a bench in the front yard. “We are not the west side of Chicago,” he said. Mr. Goldberg said that the way we kept our house has probably already lowered his property value. We do have a lovely bench in the front where I, my wife, and my two kids love to sit in our lovely neighborhood that I now know includes racists and bullies.

Although he did not threaten me with any harm, he made it clear that if I pursued this chicken farm that rest assured he would stop me. He has been talking to all of his neighbors, who he claims all object to the chicken farm. Mr. Goldberg, seemed very intent on making this personal and at stopping me, the personification of chicken ranches and objectionable benches. I never knew that asking the village board to take up an issue would elicit such an extreme and viscous personal response directed against me and my family. We no longer feel safe or welcome in our own neighborhood. What a shame… and what an eye opener.

But wait, there’s more. Last week, we received a letter that Mr. Goldberg sent to the entire neighborhood. It started with my name and address and went on to say I live in my mother’s house. If he knew anything about me, my wife, my two children or my 90 year old mother, who is doing quite well, thank you, he might not be talking about my living arrangement in purely insensitive, calculated, Machiavellian way. I consider his publishing this and my address as being an invasion of privacy.

Not that I should be in any position to defend it, but the fact is my wife and I have taken very good care of my mother and may have something to do with her excellent health, her daily joy of seeing her grandchildren and the fact that she is not in a nursing home. I wonder if Mr. Goldberg will have the same fortune when he is 90.

None if this is any of Mr. Goldberg’s business and I am wrestling with whether I should bring up Mr. Goldberg’s personal situation of which I know a bit, having grown up with and continue to be friends with his daughter. It might make him uncomfortable, but I try to keep this on the high road as tempting as it is to get revenge and as much as I think he deserves it.

But what did Mr. Goldberg really have to say in this letter to my neighbors? First, the “chicken farm” is now a “chicken ranch,” which he repeats three times, even quoting a village trustee using the phrase, which never happened. He also calls it a “chicken facility,” which in spite of my repeated attempts to inform him that we are talking about a couple of hens in a coop, he insists on propagating an image of a large farm operation, full of roosters and chicken feathers flying all over the place. Oh, the chaos. He writes “If this chicken facility were to be set up it would for a very wide area, create an objectionable smell, a clucking noise and another Village Trustee has said that it would attract animals from nearby forest preserves.” At least this isn’t the same trustee who called it a chicken ranch. I tried to address each and every one of these issues for Mr. Goldberg and even asked him to read what I wrote on glencoechickens.blogspot.com. Again, this is a conversation, Mr. Goldberg, or so it was supposed to be.

When I originally went to the Village Board, at least one board member (I think it was the village president) brought up how this might affect my relationship with my neighbors, but chose to put the onus of proof on me that there is support for backyard chickens in Glencoe before they would discuss it. The Board chose to make me prove it instead of doing what should have been their job. They could have talked to neighbors, asked people how they felt and so on. I actually have done this and found plenty of support in Glencoe along with the nastiness that I encountered. I don’t know why they made me do it, knowing that it might irrevocably damage my relationship with my neighbors, which in fact it has.

But I save the best for last. Mr. Goldberg, in his infinite neighborliness and good will, wrote, “It’s obvious that Mr. Harvey has no care or concern for the neighborhood.” BAM! Mr. Goldberg is so full of wisdom and insight, that he knows that I have no concern for the neighborhood. And the proof – I went to the Village Board to ask them to discuss an existing ordinance. I didn’t flout the ordinance. I didn’t get any chickens, (or, in his mind, a chicken ranch with flying feathers). I went the proper route to get a discussion going on allowing a couple of backyard hens in a coop, what I see as a move towards sustainability. What kind of horrible person would go through proper channels to try to make a change for a greener Glencoe?

Thank you, Mr. Goldberg, for that lovely letter that you sent to all my neighbors. I now have people slowing down in front of the house, walking by to see where this chicken farmer lives, and even coming on the property at night trying to make out the offending address. One neighbor with whom we were at least cordial won’t even say hello any more. They have seen the devil and he looks a chicken.

I have seen the devil and he looks like an indistinct 82 year old man sitting behind the wheel of a Mercedes with nothing better to do than bully a formerly pleasant neighbor.

Glencoe Chickens

Pages

Friday, November 2, 2012

Whiff of chickens brings out the bullies in the neighborhood

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Great Pumpkin Day - Rainy with a Chance of Chickens

Friday, October 5, 2012

Glencoe Library Meeting Huge Success

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Sustainable Living Series