Backyard chicken supporter running for City Council in Iowa City

IOWA CITY – Jarrett Mitchell wants Iowa City residents to be able to raise chickens in their backyards, and he's running for City Council to try to make that a reality.

The 33-year-old coffee shop owner has filed papers to run as an at-large candidate in the November election.

He said his main campaign issue would be backyard, or urban, chickens, calling it a “simple issue of sustainability.”

“You can feed chickens waste food, and they will produce food you can turn around and eat in the form of eggs,” Mitchell said.

In 2009, several hundred people signed a petition calling on the City Council to allow backyard chickens, but a majority of current council members said they weren't interested in a proposal that would have let people keep up to four chickens in their backyards.

Mitchell said he's also supportive of providing tax credits to promote rain gardens and he wants people his age to have a representative on the council. All of the current council members are older than 40.

“I felt I could represent people that I know, young families that are sticking around here” after school, he said.

Mitchell is a Keokuk native who said he graduated from the University of Iowa in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in painting and drawing. He received a master's degree in California and lived in San Francisco, Louisville, Ky. and Portland, Ore. (where he raised backyard chickens) before returning to Iowa City in November 2009.

He operated an espresso stand before expanding it to a downtown coffee shop, Wake Up Iowa City, in July.

Mitchell, who lives at 304 S. Summit St. No. 102, is the fifth person to declare his candidacy for one of two open at-large seats. The others are Mayor Matt Hayek and challengers Josh Eklow, Richard Finley and Mark McCallum.

So far, only Mitchell and Finley have filed their nomination papers with the City Clerk's Office, although candidates have until Sept. 1 to do so. With five or more at-large candidates, a primary election would be required on Oct. 11.

The District A and District C seats also are up for election.