SR 03-15-2022 11A
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: March 15, 2022
Agenda Item: 11.A
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: David White, City Manager, City Manager's Office
Subject: Adopt Resolution Establishing Cesar Chavez Day and Juneteenth as official
City holidays.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution implementing
Cesar Chavez Day and Juneteenth as official city holidays.
Summary
The City of Santa Monica is working to address systemic barriers to racism, striving to
better include communities, especially communities of color, that have historically been
excluded from civic spaces and celebrations. Acknowledging and honoring the integral
role that members of these communities have played in our community is essential to
ensuring their contributions are recognized community-wide. As a next step in the
journey, staff is presenting Council with an implementation plan for the recognition of
Cesar Chavez Day and Juneteenth as City holidays.
Cesar Chavez Day and Juneteenth are meaningful observances that have been
elevated on state and national levels because of their impact for communities of color
and for the nation as a whole. Staff recommends that both days be added to the City
calendar as official City holidays, to shine a brighter light on these trailblazing
developments and to provide the community and staff the opportunity to remember
these trailblazers and leaders, acknowledge their contributions and the contributions of
communities of color in their struggles for equality, justice, and inclusion.
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Discussion
In recent years, the City has renewed its focus to ensure that people of all backgrounds
feel seen and valued for the broadened perspectives that they bring to Santa Monica,
both in and outside of City Hall. The establishment of the City’s Racial Equity
Committee in 2020, increased numbers and memberships of its affinity groups, and
more have led to staff-driven initiatives to break down barriers to access, including
Council’s adoption of a right-to-return policy for families displaced by construction of the
Interstate 10 Freeway and funding of language access services for public meeting and
document translation.
Santa Monica has also worked to address the under-representation of communities of
color in our public spaces through the expansion of annual cultural celebrations for
Black History Month, Asian Pacific Islander Month, LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and Hispanic
Heritage Month, and other events throughout the year. Likewise, the City has
undertaken projects to acknowledge the inequities of our past and honor the
contributions of communities of color through the Historic Belmar Park project and now
the City Hall murals project that will add new artwork to the City Hall lobby that more
fully reflects our diverse history and community values today.
The addition of Cesar Chavez Day and Juneteenth as City holidays build on this work,
acknowledging inequities of the past, and the struggles of communities of color to
achieve equity.
Cesar Chavez Day
As a community organizer, Chavez improved the lives and working conditions of
millions of Latino/a farm workers nationwide. He dedicated his life to advocating for
labor rights, political representation for ethnic minorities, environmental justice,
registering voters, and improving literacy for farm workers. Nine states, including
California, observe Cesar Chavez Day by closing schools and state offices. At the State
level in California, Cesar Chavez Day is recognized on his birthday, March 31. State of
California offices and courthouses are all closed that day. Locally, the City of and
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County of Los Angeles recognize Cesar Chavez Day on the last Monday in March. Los
Angeles City and County offices, libraries and schools are all closed that day.
Santa Monica formally recognized Cesar Chavez Day for the first time in 2021 with a
proclamation honoring Cesar Chavez's legacy received by Cesar Chavez's grandson,
Andres Chavez at the March 23, 2021 Council meeting. To implement the holiday, staff
recommends aligning the City’s recognition of Cesar Chavez Day with Los Angeles,
observing the holiday on the last Monday in March.
Juneteenth
Juneteenth is held on June 19 in recognition of the date in 1865 when Union Major
General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that the Civil War
had ended and all slaves were free. Many of the slaves in Texas had not known of
President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which had actually given
them freedom more than two years earlier.
Starting in 1979, states began to first recognize Juneteenth and Texas made it an
official paid state holiday, closing government offices for the day. Juneteenth was
federally recognized as a holiday in 2021. Since that time, 49 states have recognized
the day as a holiday or observance and nine states have made Juneteenth an official
state holiday. Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles made Juneteenth an
official holiday in 2021. Like the federal government and here locally, this holiday would
fall specifically on June 19. In 2022, because June 19 falls on a Sunday, City offices
would be closed on Monday, June 20.
Santa Monica has observed Juneteenth for close to three decades, beginning with
LaVerne Ross’s Juneteenth Celebration Committee which is now entering its 30th year
in partnership with Virginia Avenue Park, Calvary Baptist Church’s Juneteenth
Celebration, the Black Surfer’s Collective’s celebration at what was once known as
Inkwell Beach in Santa Monica, and more.
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On these days, consistent with other City holidays, City facilities such as City Hall,
libraries, and the GoSaMo Center will be closed. Additionally, street sweeping and
Resource Recovery and Recycling (RRR) pickup, Mobility on Demand Everyday
(MODE) service will be suspended. Out-of-school-time programs at Virginia Avenue
Park and the Police Activities League, and CREST after school programs, would be
cancelled. The Swim Center, Memorial Park Gym and Fitness Room, Skate Park, Reed
Park Tennis Office, and Beach House would operate on a reduced-service schedule
similar to other holidays
With respect to labor considerations, the City will follow existing language in current
Memoranda of Understanding with the City’s 11 employee bargaining groups and will
engage in any meet and confer obligations as necessary in accordance with the Meyers
Milias Brown Act.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate budget action necessary as a result of recommended action. Any
costs associated with holiday pay per the terms of the various employee bargaining unit
memoranda are anticipated to be absorbed within the vacancy savings in departments’
existing budgets.
Prepared By: Lisa Parson, Wellbeing Project Manager
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Resolution: Cesar Chavez Juneteenth Holidays 03-15-2022
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City Council Meeting: March 15, 2022 Santa Monica, California
RESOLUTION NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DECLARING CESAR CHAVEZ DAY
AND JUNETEENTH AS CITY HOLIDAYS
WHEREAS, on March 23, 2021, the City Council presented a Proclamation
declaring March 31, 2021, as Cesar Chavez Day in the City of Santa Monica, to
commemorate the history of the farm labor movement in the United States and to honor
the life and work of Cesar Chavez; and
WHEREAS, on August 18, 2000, the Governor of the State of California signed
Senate Bill 984, which provides among other things that March 31st is a paid holiday for
State employees, as specified; and
WHEREAS, the City of and County of Los Angeles both observe Cesar Chavez
Day as a holiday on the last Monday in March; and
WHEREAS, on June 18, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden signed a Proclamation
declaring June 19, 2021, as Juneteenth Day of Observance, which officially recognizes
Juneteenth as a federal holiday, to acknowledge and celebrate the end of the Civil War
and the emancipation of Black Americans, and to further the commitment to eradicate
systemic racism; and
WHEREAS, in following the presidential proclamation, many employers across the
United States have implemented a paid holiday for employees on Juneteenth; and
WHEREAS, as part of the City’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; in
11.A.a
Packet Pg. 59 Attachment: Resolution: Cesar Chavez Juneteenth Holidays 03-15-2022 [Revision 1] (5024 : Resolution Adding Cesar Chavez and Juneteenth
recognition of the important contributions of Cesar Chavez to the farm labor and civil rights
movements; and in furtherance of the ongoing work of achieving a more just future for all
while understanding fully our nation’s past, the City Council desires to declare Cesar
Chavez Day on the last Monday in March as a City holiday and Juneteenth Day of
Observance on June 19th as a City holiday;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Monica hereby declares Cesar
Chavez Day, on the last Monday of March, as a City holiday.
SECTION 2. The City Council of the City of Santa Monica hereby declares
Juneteenth Day of Observance, June 19th, as a City holiday.
SECTION 3. City employees shall receive a paid holiday for Cesar Chavez Day,
the last Monday of March, and for Juneteenth Day of Observance, June 19th, consistent
with their bargaining unit’s applicable Memorandum of Understanding and following the
completion of any necessary meet and confer process between the City and the
respective exclusively recognized employee organizations in accordance with the
Meyers-Milias Brown Act.
SECTION 4. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and
thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
11.A.a
Packet Pg. 60 Attachment: Resolution: Cesar Chavez Juneteenth Holidays 03-15-2022 [Revision 1] (5024 : Resolution Adding Cesar Chavez and Juneteenth
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
JOSEPH P. LAWRENCE
Interim City Attorney
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Packet Pg. 61 Attachment: Resolution: Cesar Chavez Juneteenth Holidays 03-15-2022 [Revision 1] (5024 : Resolution Adding Cesar Chavez and Juneteenth