Title
MOTION TO PASS PROPOSED ORDINANCE 2020-20 ON SECOND AND FINAL READING.
PROPOSED ORDINANCE 2020-20 IS AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF PEMBROKE PINES, FLORIDA; AMENDING CHAPTER 34 OF THE CITY’S CODE OF ORDINANCES ENTITLED “EMPLOYMENT POLICIES,” CREATING SECTION 34.185, ENTITLED “CITY HOLIDAYS”; SPECIFICALLY RECOGNIZING JUNETEENTH AS A CITY HOLIDAY; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Summary Explanation and Background
SUMMARY EXPLANATION AND BACKGROUND:
1. On December 2, 2020 Proposed Ordinance 2020-20 went before Commission and passed on first reading by a 5-0 vote. Second and final reading is scheduled for January 13, 2020.
2. On November 18, 2020, Commissioner Thomas Good, Jr. introduced his Commission Item #14 for discussion and possible motion to direct the City Attorney's Office to prepare an ordinance to create "Juneteenth" as a City-paid employee holiday in order to celebrate the emancipation of African Americans who were enslaved in the United States, and to be celebrated on June 19, in the City of Pembroke Pines, coincident to a review by the City Administration to advise of the financial impact/estimated cost to add this as a paid holiday, and as a recurring expense.
3. The City Commission of the City of Pembroke Pines, Florida is desirous of updating and codifying Juneteenth as a City Holiday.
4. Approximately eleven and one-half million African-Americans survived the voyage to the New World (the “middle passage”), only to be subjected to chattel slavery for more than 200 years after arrival in the United States.
5. President Abraham Lincoln first issued the Emancipation Proclamation effective January 1, 1863, freeing the enslaved citizens from legalized slavery in the United States.
6. Juneteenth commemorates the day freedom was proclaimed to all enslaved ci...
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