CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
              CITY COUNCIL AGENDA



   Agenda Date:           July 20, 2020

   Action Required:       Ordinance Amendment

   Staff Contacts:        John Blair, City Attorney

   Presenters:            Mayor Nikuyah Walker
                          John Blair, City Attorney

   Title:                 Amend Section 2-6 of the Charlottesville City Code


Background:

On January 4, 1971, the Charlottesville City Council enacted City Code Section 2-189.1
codifying the legal holidays observed by the City of Charlottesville.

The City Council establishes the legal holidays observed by the City of Charlottesville in
Charlottesville City Code Section 2-6. A legal holiday results in the closure of the City of
Charlottesville’s offices for business on the designated day.

The City Council last amended the City’s official holiday schedule on July 1, 2019, by adding
March 3, Liberation and Freedom Day, as a holiday and removed April 13, the observance of
Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, as a holiday.

Discussion:

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free
enslaved people in states that were in rebellion against the United States. Due to the rebellion,
many enslaved individuals did not experience freedom upon the issuance of the Emancipation
Proclamation.

United States Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 18, 1865. On
June 19, 1865, General Granger read aloud General Order 3 which stated, “The people of Texas
are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all
slaves are free…” Formerly enslaved individuals immediately celebrated their freedom.

On June 19, 1866, formerly enslaved individuals gathered in Galveston, Texas to celebrate the
first anniversary of their freedom. This celebration became an annual tradition, and it is now
celebrated as Juneteenth. Juneteenth celebrates Black freedom and achievement. It is a day to
celebrate formerly enslaved individuals, subjected to inhumane and evil conditions, gaining their
freedom and to honor their contributions to this nation.

The celebration of Juneteenth as an official government holiday began in Texas in 1980.
Governor Northam recently stated that he intends to introduce legislation to make Juneteenth an
official state holiday in Virginia in 2021.

Budgetary Impact:

An additional city holiday would have a budgetary impact of approximately $62,500 in Fiscal
Year 2021 if the Council adopts the proposal to make June 19 an official City holiday.

Attachments:
Proposed Ordinance Adding June 19 as an Official City Holiday
                                     AN ORDINANCE
                                  AMENDING SECTION 2-6
                              OF CHAPTER 2 (ADMINISTRATION)

        WHEREAS, on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 95,
known as the “Emancipation Proclamation” which freed enslaved people in states “in rebellion
against the United States”; and

       WHEREAS, the Emancipation Proclamation was not enforced in many areas of the
United States then in rebellion; and

      WHEREAS, on June 19, 1865, United States Major General Gordon Granger read
General Order Number 3 to the residents of Galveston, Texas; and

       WHEREAS, General Order Number 3 stated, “The people of Texas are informed that in
accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free” and
formerly enslaved people celebrated upon General Granger’s statement; and

       WHEREAS, on June 19, 1866, formerly enslaved individuals celebrated the first
anniversary of General Granger’s statement by establishing the holiday now known as
Juneteenth; and

       WHEREAS, Juneteenth is a celebration of Black freedom and achievement that the
Charlottesville City Council desires to celebrate on an annual basis.

       NOWE, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Council for the City of
Charlottesville, Virginia, that:

Section 2-6 of Chapter 2 of the Code of the City of Charlottesville (1990) is amended as follows:

Sec. 2-6. - Legal holidays.

In each year, the first day of January (New Year's Day), the third Monday in January (Martin
Luther King, Jr. Day), the third Monday in February (George Washington Day), the third day of
March (Freedom and Liberation Day), the last Monday in May (Memorial Day), the nineteenth
day of June (Juneteenth), the fourth day of July (Independence Day), the first Monday in
September (Labor Day), the eleventh day of November (Veterans Day), the fourth Thursday in
November (Thanksgiving Day), the Friday after the fourth Thursday in November, the twenty-
fifth day of December (Christmas Day) or, whenever any of such days shall fall on Saturday, the
preceding Friday shall be a legal holiday, and whenever such days shall fall on Sunday, the
Monday next following such day shall be a legal holiday.