The latest debate over government regulation in Solano County in Northern California involves property rights, agricultural businesses and — perhaps most unexpectedly — a bunch of yellow hay-bale minions caught up in red tape.
The iconic figures standing along westbound Interstate 80 near the Cool Patch Pumpkins corn maze have become the subject of a disagreement between the county and the farm, prompting Vacaville Mayor John Carli, who is running for the Solano County Board of Supervisors District 4 seat in November, to publicly declare where he stands.
With one of the hay-bale minions looming beside him, Carli posted a video on Facebook Thursday announcing his position.
“Well, after 32 years in law enforcement, I thought I’d seen every lineup,” Carli said, referring to his years as a police officer and chief. “Well, apparently, I was wrong. Solano County government wants to put these guys in jail.”
He pointed toward the minion.
“Even though thousands of people exit this freeway every fall and spend money on our local farms,” he said. “If we want to protect agriculture and open space, what we need to do is let farmers sell things like tomatoes and pumpkins and corn. As your supervisor, I will protect all farmers — even the minions.”
Reached by phone Thursday, Carli took his position a step further.
“I stand with the minions,” he said.
The issue arose through the county’s permitting process for Cool Patch Pumpkins, according to owner Matt Cooley.
“The county has rules on signage along the freeways, so they ask me going forward that they would like us to remove the minions because they said they felt it slowed people down looking at them on the freeway,” Cooley said.
Cooley, however, doesn’t believe the minions are the cause of the traffic slowdown.
The section of Interstate 80 near the pumpkin patch is part of a stretch of highway where lanes narrow from five to four, then to three before expanding again.
“That’s exactly what it is,” Cooley said of the source of the slowdown.
Carli made the same observation, pointing to the lane reductions as the reason traffic is slowing through the area.
He learned about the dispute at a recent fundraising event at Cool Patch Pumpkins, describing the conversation as one of those that begins with, “Can you believe …”
For Carli, the minions have become a symbol of a broader concern about how government interacts with local businesses and property owners.
“To me, this is an issue of good governance and how we operate,” he said.
Carli said he has found himself having increasingly frequent conversations about government processes and whether officials are keeping their focus on the people and businesses they are supposed to serve.
“It feels like everything becomes a concern for government for some reason,” he said. “It seems like I’m having conversations all the time about the government process and how we sometimes just seem to forget who we’re here to serve.”
On Facebook, Carli characterized the county’s position as another challenge to property rights.
“The county is pressuring the property owner to take down the Minions,” he wrote in response to questions about his video. “It’s another challenge to property rights in this county. Farmers are just trying to make a living and promote their businesses. The county should support them, not place undue burden.”
Cooley said he has no plans to remove the minions.
In fact, the dispute has become something of a running joke at Cool Patch.
“We laugh about it,” he said.
He added that the response from some local officials has been clear.
“The Dixon mayor told me, ‘I love those minions. Don’t you take them down,’” Cooley said.
The farm even contacted the California Highway Patrol to ask whether the minions posed a traffic problem.
“And they told us they’re not a problem,” Cooley said.
So, for now, the minions are staying put.
There is also a practical reason the current lineup won’t remain there forever.
The minions are made from hay bales, after all.
Cooley said the figures currently along the freeway were moved into position after last year’s pumpkin patch and corn maze closed. Each year, Cool Patch creates new minions to entertain visitors during the fall season.
When this year’s operation ends, those new figures will replace the older ones along the freeway.
“You have to switch them out because it’s just hay bales and they’ll rot, especially if we get a lot of rain,” Cooley said. “We didn’t get a lot of rain last year.”
That means the county’s minion dilemma may ultimately have a built-in expiration date — at least until the next batch of hay bales arrives.
For now, the bright yellow figures continue to stand watch over westbound I-80, while the debate over whether they are a roadside attraction or a traffic distraction plays out around them.
Original article
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