BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Formalize Juneteenth as a Valley Water Observed Holiday in Accordance with the Newly Adopted Federal Holiday; Adopt a Resolution in Recognition of Juneteenth, as a Newly Designated Annual Holiday at Santa Clara Valley Water District; and Provide Staff a Paid Holiday in Observation of the 2021 Juneteenth Commemoration.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
A. Formalize Juneteenth as a Valley Water Observed Holiday, in Accordance with the Newly Adopted Federal Holiday;
B. Adopt the Resolution in RECOGNITION OF JUNETEENTH, AS A NEWLY DESGINATED ANNUAL HOLIDAY AT SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT; and
C. Provide staff a paid Holiday in observance of the 2021 Juneteenth Commemoration.
Body
SUMMARY:
On June 19, 1865, Union Army Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced the end of both the Civil War and chattel slavery in the United States; more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. General Gordon's General Order 3 stated, in part that "...this involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor."
Juneteenth commemorates and honors African American ancestors who survived the barbaric institution of bondage, as well as demonstrating pride in the marvelous legacy of resistance and perseverance, and now serves as a historic milestone reminding all Americans of the triumph of the human spirit over the cruelty of slavery.
On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill establishing Juneteenth, June 19th, the date marking the end of slavery in the United States, as a federally recognized holiday.
This resolution is consistent with Santa Clara Valley Water District's (Valley Water) core values and the principles used in accomplishing Valley Water's mission. Valley...
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