When the rooster crows, it gets kicked out of a Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting!
On Jan. 9, during a hearing about future rooster regulations, the cacophony was a little too loud, upsetting the delicate balance of debating deeply held convictions with decorum. Instead of simply enjoying the peaceful boredom of facilitating discussion between the public and politicians trying to hash out new public policy, 5th District Supervisor and board Chair Steve Lavagnino had to sic security on those who were crowing.
The meeting turned into a cock-a-doodle-doozy, with attendees yelling at the board, accusing them of being racist and violating constitutional rights for capping the number of roosters allowed on properties—ag-zoned properties of less than an acre could have one rooster, between 1 and 5 acres could have two, those larger than that could have five roosters.
What’s a rooster? Well, the ordinance defines it as a chicken that doesn’t lay eggs, has full adult plumage, is at least 6 months old, and is capable of crowing. I can think of a few humans who fit that description.
Cebada Canyon residents ruled the roost that day, with a large focus on the community during discussions. Eduardo Ramos said that his neighbors launched a “campaign” against him because they suspect him of cockfighting, even though the 140 animals on his property—which he claims are used for poultry shows—are managed in accordance with state and federal regulations.
“What I thought would be an accomplished dream is starting to turn into a nightmare,” he told supervisors during the public comment period. “I’m getting harassed by the county, by code enforcers.”
His comments devolved into accusations against the board, and 1st District Supervisor Das Williams interjected, asking that Ramos and others who didn’t like the proposed ordinance to suggest revised language for the county to consider.
They didn’t like that either and starting shouting things I couldn’t quite decipher.
“Your time’s up,” Lavagnino said. “Go talk to a lawyer and charge somebody. Let’s go.”
More yelling.
“Guys, order, order, order. That’s all we’re asking for.”
More yelling with added accusations of racism and constitutional violations.
“Just want to remind everybody, this is about roosters,” Lavagnino said. “Security can we expedite them out?”
Raucous!
The board did pass the ordinance after the rabble-rousers were escorted from the coop, but not unanimously. Ramos wasn’t the only one to say that the ordinance would put a damper on poultry showing. Under the new ordinance, those who show could possibly get a permit to keep more roosters than the limit, but 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson wasn’t happy with the new requirements.
“There’s a lot of passion in this room for that and they don’t want this hobby to go away. If you can’t do that in Santa Barbara County, where can you do that?” Nelson said. “I do support curbing cockfighting; I don’t like the way it was done but I do understand the frustration with the process. People are here for their hobby and something they won’t be able to do.”
It does seem like there’s wiggle room there for hobbyists, but the county would have to get involved. And I guess some people don’t like that because it could curb their enthusiasm.
The Canary hits the bird show circuit occasionally. Send support to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 11-21, 2024.
