City of Piedmont
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
DATE: May 1, 2023
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Rosanna Bayon Moore, City Administrator
SUBJECT: Consideration of Rescheduling the Date of the Second Council Meeting in June 2023 to Tuesday, June 20th in Commemoration of Juneteenth
RECOMMENDATION
Approve rescheduling the second Council meeting in June 2023 to Tuesday, June 20th in commemoration of Juneteenth.
BACKGROUND
After the Union Army captured New Orleans in 1862, slave owners in Confederate states migrated to Texas with more than 150,000 enslaved Black persons. For 3 years, even after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved Black Americans in Texas remained in brutal bondage, immorally and illegally deprived of their freedom and basic dignity. On June 19, 1865, over 2 years after President Lincoln declared all enslaved persons free, Major General Gordon Granger and Union Army troops marched to Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and free the last enslaved Black Americans in Texas.
On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed S. 475 into law, which created a legal holiday on June 19th of each year, entitled “Juneteenth National Independence Day.” Juneteenth provides a chance to celebrate human freedom, reflect on the grievous and ongoing legacy of slavery, and rededicate efforts to rooting out the systemic racism that continues to plague society.
The Piedmont City Council meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month. In 2023, the second regular meeting in June occurs on June 19th. In order to allow Piedmonters to commemorate and celebrate Juneteenth, staff recommends that the City Council consider rescheduling the public meeting to Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
By: John O. Tulloch, Assistant City Administrator / City Clerk