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| Ordinance | NO. 03-2022 |
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| | | | | | | | | A proposed Ordinance No. 03-2022 to amend Sections 01 and 03 of Chapter 294, "General Personnel Regulations," to ungender language, and to add the federal holiday "Juneteenth" to the list of official city holidays. | | | |
| | | | | | | | | BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN - 2/15/2022 | | | |
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The City of Battle Creek Ordains:
Section 1. A proposed ordinance to amend Sections 01 and 03 of Chapter 294, "General Personnel Regulations," to ungender language, to add the federal holiday "Juneteenth" to the list of official city holidays, and to correctly reference MLK Day, as is attached and made a part hereof.
Section 2. Should any section, clause or phrase of this Ordinance be declared to be invalid, the same shall not affect the validity of the Ordinance as a whole, or any part thereof, other than the part so declared to be invalid.
Section 3. All ordinances or parts of ordinances, in conflict with any of the provisions of this Ordinance, are hereby repealed, saving any prosecution, criminal or administrative appeal pending on, or violation cited on or before the effective date of this ordinance, which shall remain subject to the ordinance provision existing at the time of the alleged violation.
Section 4. This Ordinance shall take effect ten (10) days from the date of its adoption, in accordance with the provisions of Section 4.3(B) of Chapter 4 of the City Charter.
I, Victoria Houser, City Clerk of the City of Battle Creek, hereby certify the above and foregoing is a true and correct copy of an Ordinance introduced by the Battle Creek City Commission at a Regular meeting held on February 15, 2022.
Victoria Houser
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| | | | | | | | | Battle Creek City Commission
2/15/2022
Action Summary | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Staff Member: | Jill Humphreys Steele, City Attorney | | Department: | City Attorney |
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| | | | | | | | | SUMMARY
| A proposed Ordinance No. 03-2022 to amend Sections 01 and 03 of Chapter 294, "General Personnel Regulations," to ungender language, and to add the federal holiday "Juneteenth" to the list of official city holidays.
| BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
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Adoption of this ordinance amendment does not result in additional compensation from the city budget, because the city is already obligated to pay out the money. The difference is that it is a day that the employees will be paid for without having worked. One day pay for holiday wages across the organization is $95,498.00*, and the related fringes for the day is $58,678.00, totaling $154,166.00.
*Note that this figure does not reflect any overtime wages that would be paid or backfill. That amount likely would be minimal according to the Revenue Services Director.
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HISTORY, BACKGROUND and DISCUSSION
| On June 16, 2021 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Juneteenth National Independence Day Act," on a vote of 415-14, which had previously passed the U.S. Senate with a unanimous vote. President Biden signed the bill into law the following day. This legislation makes June 19th a federal holiday, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
"Juneteenth" is a blending of the words June and the 19th, commemorating the day in 1865 that Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and told slaves of their emancipation. Although this occurred more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, in reality, this had only declared all enslaved people free on paper but wasn't the case in practice.
"Juneteenth" is also known as Emancipation Day. Since it happened, people across the country have celebrated this day with food and festivities much the way Independence Day (July 4th) is celebrated.
Despite having been celebrated since 1865, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980.
With President Biden's signature on this legislation, it makes Juneteenth the first federal holiday to be approved since Martin Luther King Jr. Day, established in 1983.
This proposed ordinance amendment, if passed, would officially recognize Juneteenth as a City of Battle Creek holiday and as a paid holiday for City employees. Note that pursuant to the ordinance, employees subject to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) would need such a provision provided for in their respective CBA for it to be applicable.
There are also several amendments in this chapter to ungender the language as is the goal of the City Commission. There is also a revision made to reflect that the federal holiday related to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the set day of the third Monday in February, and not actually his birthday, which fluctuates each year.
| DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUE
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| POSITIONS
| | The City Manager and the Human Resources Director support this proposed ordinance amendment. |
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