The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors added Juneteenth as a paid county holiday to its calendar.
The action increases the number of paid county holidays from 13 and half days to 14 and a half.
On Jan. 19, the board voted 6-0-1-2, with Supervisor Tony Buffington (R-Blue Ridge) absent for the vote. Supervisors Caleb Kershner (R-Catoctin) and Matt Letourneau (R-Dulles) abstained.
The name Juneteenth derives from when all Black people in the United States learned they were free from slavery on June 19, 1865.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln freed enslaved Black people in 1863, slaves in Galveston, Texas, the last of the former Confederate states to abolish slavery, were unaware until two and a half years later.
The date they learned they could be free — on June 19, 1865 — became the signature moment when all Black people in America were set free from slavery.
In September, local leaders had the opportunity to consult with the oldest member of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, Opal Lee. The foundation has helped more than 40 states establish Juneteenth as a day of observance, Virginia among them.
Opal Lee, the "Grandmother of Juneteenth," stopped for lunch in Leesburg during her tour across Loudoun County on Sept. 24. Pictured from top left going clockwise: Steve Williams, president of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation and a Sterling resident; Dion Sims, Lee’s granddaughter and executive director for Unity Unlimited; Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Phyllis Randall (D-At Large); and Lee.
Last June, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed an executive order making Juneteenth a permanent paid state holiday in Virginia for state employees.
The financial impact of observing an additional holiday is primarily related to compensating employees assigned to the county’s 24-7 operations, including sheriff’s deputies, animal services personnel, fire and rescue personnel, ECC dispatchers, and residential group home staff who will need to work on the holiday, according to county staff.
The projected cost of holiday pay is approximately $450,000.
Staff said the amount can be absorbed in the fiscal 2021 adopted budget within existing appropriations. And the fiscal 2022 proposed budget will include sufficient funding to accommodate the additional holiday.
Chairwoman Phyllis Randall (D-At Large), who made the motion, also accepted an amendment to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day from Supervisor Juli Briskman (D-Algonkian).
Letourneau challenged the amendment but was told by Randall that it is appropriate and falls in line with school’s calendar.
Here is an updated list of Loudoun County government paid holidays:
New Year's Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Presidents Day
Memorial Day
Juneteenth (new)
Independence Day*
Indigenous Peoples Day (formally Columbus Day)
Election Day
Veteran’s Day
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving (day after)
Christmas Eve (1/2 day)
Christmas Day
And one (1) floating holiday
*10-month employees are excluded from Independence Day
January 25, 2021 at 10:36AM
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Loudoun County supervisors add Juneteenth as paid county holiday - Loudoun Times-Mirror
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