2020/07/08 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

• July 8, 2020 Roll was called with all council members voting yes, except Council Members Moore and Bader who were excused. Motion carried. COUNCIL BRIEFING AGENDA: COUNCIL BILL 2006-40 FIRST READING: AN ORDINANCE establishing Juneteenth as a recognized city holiday Lori Cummings provided background information on the timeline and the significance of the proposed ordinance. She introduced Michael Duerr, Human • Resources manager, who presented information about the observance of Juneteenth commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Considerable discussion took place regarding the need for more information about the fiscal impact of providing an additional holiday for all employees, whether to implement at the expense of other actions the Council could take to help improve the lives of citizens, pressure on an already reduced City workforce to provide services, the need for more information related to bargaining agreement negotiations, whether offering another paid holiday to employees is the best way to commemorate Juneteenth, the importance of listening and learning about the options, and the joy the action of declaring Juneteenth as a City holiday would bring to the black community. Council Member Stonecipher added that much work needs to be done on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and she would prefer to see a menu of options of other ways that the City could use resources to make progress on the issues of equity and justice that the Black Lives Matter movement has brought forward. She also noted there is nearly 11 months available to review the issues and get input from the community before the holiday comes around again in June 2021. • 203