Votes Fly the Coop

It became the comically contentious subject of 2020, but a two-year effort to change the law in Glasgow to allow for the raising of chickens has failed after being placed before the voters of Valley County. With a 329-vote margin, the people of Glasgow rejected Glasgow City Ordinance No. 971 for hens to be raised in the city limits. The total votes were 1,049 voting against and only 720 voting in favor.

The ordinance was spearheaded by Madelyn House, who moved to Glasgow and had hopes of setting up a chicken coup at her home in the city. After discovering the prohibition on chickens in the city limits, House started an initiative to change the law and the "Peck Yes" chickens for Glasgow campaign begun.

House started by first addressing it with the City Council in 2018. She gathered research, comments from officials in communities that had allowed chickens within their limits and she even hosted fair booths and collected unofficial signatures in support of the effort. The council referred it to the ordinance committee and an ordinance draft was then written and returned to the council for the first and second readings.

The first reading went well for the pro-chicken camp, and the ordinance advanced to a second reading with no comments opposing it, but after word of the ordinance was made public, the second reading attracted dozens of residents to the city council meeting to both support and oppose the law's change. Opposition proved at the time to be the loudest voice and the council voted it down with only one member, Stan Ozark, supporting the ordinance.

After the failed attempt to clear the ordinance through the council the issue fell off the public's radar until early 2020 when House reapproached the council to have them add the ordinance as a ballot issue during the 2020 general election. After a few more, less contentious, public meetings, the ordinance was put forth to the people of Glasgow for a vote.