Change.org Starting an online petition

[serama hen]

hi im from nothern new jersey and want to legalize chickens in my town but i dont know what to rwrite to attract people to sign my petition that i havent even started yet so i decided to come here and see anyone with good ideas on writing a really good petition i would love to have chickens in my city it would be so much fun and i wont have to keep them in hiding i can also host a chicken fair so plz help me out you guys just give good reasons about them catchy titles and stuff you would like to hear and what would make you sign the petition thanks

 

[lizard of oz]

i will

 

[lizard of oz]

I don't think anyone is viewing the whole section right now

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

Well, what are your reasons? I would do some research on writing a good petition. Talk to your neighbors. What do they think about chickens being allowed in your area? If none of your neighbors want chickens in the area, then your going to have a hard time with this. Do some research. Learn how to start a good petition. Familiarize yourself with what the law against chickens in your town is.

That's just my advice.

~~Ms.B

 

[Hawkeye95]

hi im from nothern new jersey and want to legalize chickens in my town but i dont know what to rwrite to attract people to sign my petition that i havent even started yet so i decided to come here and see anyone with good ideas on writing a really good petition i would love to have chickens in my city it would be so much fun and i wont have to keep them in hiding i can also host a chicken fair so plz help me out you guys just give good reasons about them catchy titles and stuff you would like to hear and what would make you sign the petition thanks

I would head to your local County Extension Office--- or give them a call and see if they have any existing ones already or forms or some ideas. You will need to show up at a city meeting, and beyond that, I have no idea! I would start by googling petition forms. But really, I here locally, none of the ordinances have been changed due to a petition, but rather have been changed because people showed up to city meetings and asked to be put on the docket. Then you stand up, list all the great reasons why chickens are great for backyards, and why they should allow them. Finish by listing some other local cities that allow them, or some really neat places you discovered allow them -- like the suburbs of SanFransciso-- Berkeley, etc... Doesn't New York, New York??? I don't know, you'd have to check that out to see. But make a case.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Also, if my city paid attention to what non-citizens want over what the citizens want, I would be HIGHLY peeved. Local government is for the locals to decide, not people from elsewhere! Certainly you can use informative resources (and they need to be INFORMATIVE, not just persuasive) from elsewhere, and list what other communities have found works, but ultimately, you need to pay attention to local, grassroots opinion, and work from there.

 

[localri]

From my experience, I would suggest the following steps prior to setting up an online petition.

1) Find out what the current ordinance states regarding backyard chickens. Most cities and towns have websites with an electronic copy of their code of ordinances. Is there an ordinance that currently specifically prohibits chickens? Or do you want to create one that specifically allows chickens?

2) Find others in your city or town that is also in favor of backyard chickens. This is very important!

3) Get together with these people and brainstorm ideas of why backyard chickens should be legalized. It is from this information that you will start to put together a petition. For my city, we set up table at a local farmer's market to get petition signatures in person. We provided an informational handout stating what we were trying to do and why. From that, we were able to obtain over 100 signatures in three hours time! With those signatures, we approached a City Councilman who would eventually sponsor our ordinance (see #4 below).

4) You will need a City Council representative to "sponsor" your ordinance. This means that this person is in favor of backyard chickens and will "introduce" it to the appropriate group in your city government. I've found in my research that almost every municipality does things differently so check with your councilperson and have them give you the steps required for your specific area.

Once you have completed the above steps, you can create an online petition. For our online petition we decided to keep it open to anyone. We were just looking for people that supported the backyard chicken movement. From there you can have those from within your city call their city representatives as well as the at-large seats to ask for their support. Telephone calls from citizens are very important! At our initial Ordinance Committee meeting (the first step in our city's ordinance process) we were told that our ordinance has generated the most phone calls of any ordinance that had been introduced for the entire year! That is what gets the attention of politicians and that is what will eventually get chickens legalized.

I hope that helps you get moving in the right direction. And good luck!

 

[serama hen]

hopefully i will do so but right now ill stay undercover i got a ayam kapan and when she got loose people thought she was a crow but i will win the right for everyone to enjoy chickens let me intrduce her to people