Minutes of the Work Session of July 11, 2022
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Meeting Minutes
City Council Work Session
July 11, 2022 | 5:00 p.m.
Council Chambers Conference Room
88 E. Chicago St., Chandler, AZ
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Kevin Hartke at 5:00 p.m.
Roll Call
Council Attendance
Appointee Attendance
Mayor Kevin Hartke
Joshua Wright, City Manager
Vice Mayor Terry Roe
Kelly Schwab, City Attorney
Councilmember OD Harris
Dana DeLong, City Clerk
Councilmember Mark Stewart
Councilmember René Lopez
Councilmember Christine Ellis
Councilmember Matt Orlando
Staff in Attendance
Tadd Wille, Assistant City Manager
Dawn Lang, Deputy City Manager / Chief Financial Officer
Andy Bass, Deputy City Manager
Matt Burdick, Communications and Public Affairs Director
Melissa Quillard, Mayor and Council Communications Manager
Kristin Maier, Human Resources Manager
Niki Tapia, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Supervisor
Discussion
1.
Presentation and Direction to Staff Regarding the Addition of Juneteenth as a City Observed
Holiday, to be Observed on June 19
MAYOR HARTKE thanked Councilmember Harris for bringing this item forward. Mayor Hartke said
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, which was the day that enslaved Americans in
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Galveston received word of the Emancipation Proclamation even though it was signed two and a
half years earlier. In June 2021 it became a federal holiday but that does not automatically become
a City holiday unless adopted by the City. In 2016, the State of Arizona officially recognized
Juneteenth as a holiday but is not one of the 18 states that have made it a paid holiday. Mayor
Hartke called for a staff presentation.
JOSHUA WRIGHT, City Manager, introduced the discussion item and staff would provide
information to Council so that they may direct staff.
NIKI TAPIA, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Supervisor, presented the following presentation.
• Juneteenth Holiday
• Juneteenth
o What is it?
▪ Juneteenth is an annual celebration commemorating the freedom of all enslaved
people in the United States o America. On June 19th, 1865, two and a half years
after the Emancipation Proclamation, Union soldiers went to Galveston, Texas to
enforce the freeing of all remaining slaves.
• How Do We Celebrate Juneteenth in Chandler?
o South Chandler Self-Help has organized Black History Month and Juneteenth events in
Chandler since the 1980’s.
• Expanded Events in 2020 & 2021
o Chandler4Change
▪ Caravan during COVID-19
▪ Festival at Folley Park in 2021
o City facilitated Culture Music in the Park event in AJ Chandler Park
• Juneteenth 2022 Activities
o Mayor and City Council proclaimed the celebration of Juneteenth in Chandler at the June
6 City Council meeting
o Multiple partners collaborated to coordinate four days of celebration from June 16-19,
2022
o City employees provided opportunity to attend informational session regarding the
history of Juneteenth
KRISTIN MAIER, Human Resources Manager, continued the presentation.
• Juneteenth as a Federal Holiday
o On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed a bill making Juneteenth the eleventh
American federal holiday.
o The federal government’s authority to declare holidays extends only to federal
employees and institutions under federal control. Other institutions may, but are not
required to, observe federal holidays. The Chandler City Council retains the authority to
determine observed holidays for the City of Chandler.
• Current City of Chandler Holidays
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o New Year’s Day
o Martin Luther King Day
o President’s Day
o Memorial Day
o Independence Day
o Labor Day
o Veteran’s Day
o Thanksgiving Day
o Day after Thanksgiving
o Christmas Day
o Personal Holiday
• Current Valley Municipalities Observing Juneteenth as a City Holiday
o Avondale
o Buckeye*
o Glendale
o Goodyear
o Phoenix
o Scottsdale
o Surprise
o Tempe
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS asked in the Buckeye holiday schedule if Juneteenth would be observed
only if it was on a weekday.
MS. MAIER confirmed that was correct, if it fell on a weekend here would be no additional day of
observance.
MS. MAIER continued the presentation.
• Implementation Considerations
o Changes to the City holiday schedule require a personnel rule change, approved by City
Council resolution
o Can be added to Memorandums of Understanding (MOU’s) for labor associations
outside of meet and confer cycle
o Estimated financial impact of adding Juneteenth holiday is $222,000
COUNCILMEMBER STEWART asked if public safety employees would be paid overtime on a
holiday.
MS. MAIER said yes, they get paid time and a half for working on a holiday.
MR. WRIGHT continued the presentation.
• Options to Consider
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o Keep existing City holiday schedule (no change)
o Designate Juneteenth as a City of Chandler holiday beginning in 2023
o Add another personal holiday for employees to use at their discretion
• Next Steps
o If directed by City Council to proceed with adding a new City holiday, resolution
amending personnel rule would appear on August 18, 2022, regular meeting agenda
o Direction to City Manager on operational expectations for Juneteenth 2023 (e.g.
recreation centers, aquatic facilities, libraries, etc.).
o Cost of new holiday in FY22-23 would be absorbed through salary savings or other
operational efficiencies and would be budgeted in future fiscal years.
COUNCILMEMBER STEWART asked if any employees working on that holiday would receive time
and a half.
MR. WRIGHT said they would either receive time and a half pay or would be able to take the holiday
on a different day.
COUNCILMEMBER STEWART asked if that would change the $222,000 amount.
MR. WRIGHT said that amount is just an estimate, but it would range depending on how they
deployed the staffing model.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS asked on which holidays are facilities completely closed.
MR. WRIGHT said that all facilities are completely closed on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and
Thanksgiving. During other holidays, public-facing facilities are operational.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS asked about the operations on Independence Day.
MR. WRIGHT said that some recreational facilities are open with limited hours during the day. The
cost implications would be within the current fiscal year, and the cost would be able to be
absorbed through operational efficiencies and salary savings. If adopted, the holiday would be
planned for in future fiscal years as a budget item.
COUNCILMEMBER LOPEZ asked for background information on the flexible personal holiday
currently given.
MS. MAIER said she was not sure.
COUNCILMEMBER ORLANDO said that when adopting Martin Luther King Jr. Day, there were more
personal holiday days and one of those was absorbed into Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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COUNCILMEMBER LOPEZ asked if we are still planning to do the Christmas break.
MR. WRIGHT said yes, the Christmas break plan has been announced. It is not the same holiday
schedule, it is condensed, and not considered the same type of leave.
COUNCILMEMBER LOPEZ confirmed that it is still time off.
MR. WRIGHT said yes, it is still time off, it is just coded differently in payroll.
COUNCILMEMBER LOPEZ asked how the break is different from the holiday.
MR. WRIGHT said it is similar in terms of that it is time away from the office. The break is not added
to a schedule. There are 10 holidays with 3 additional days off.
COUNCILMMBER ELLIS asked if the time off around Christmas is part of a benefit program or
incentive program and not a holiday.
MR. WRIGHT confirmed that was correct, it is not a formal holiday. The difference is that this is a
year-to-year program, it has not been announced permanently. Mr. Wright said we are still open
on those days and all services are still available.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS asked which offices are closed and which are open during the winter
break time.
MR. WRIGHT said everything is open: City Hall, water bill, permits, tax and license are all open. This
is done through rotating staff or working remotely. Services are not interrupted. If staff have to
work those days then they take those days off at another time.
COUNCILMEMBER ORLANDO asked if overtime is granted during the winter break.
MR. WRIGHT said that there is some overtime for public safety employees.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS asked if it is possible to reduce the estimated cost of the holiday.
MR. WRIGHT said staff can explore that and look into operations on what services are expected to
be.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS asked about the most cost-efficient way to celebrate the holiday.
MR. WRIGHT said that staff could look into different offices being opened to reduce the impact of
the cost.
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COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS said it is beneficial to look into reducing the cost before
implementation. It is important to celebrate, but we must also be responsible with our money.
DAWN LANG, Deputy City Manager / Chief Financial Officer, answered that the $220,000 estimate
came from a comparison with Presidents’ Day. Public safety is still engaged but services like utility
services and administrative offices are closed. The cost would be comparable unless it is executed
like the winter break. That is an average cost of public safety wages, benefits, and overtime.
MAYOR HARTKE said for a summer holiday, the pools should be open.
COUNCILMEMBER ELLIS said one creative way to reduce cost would be to close early.
Councilmember Ellis asked if there had been any observance of holidays through a half day work
schedule.
MR. WRIGHT said a half day had not been used as a holiday observance.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS asked if on Independence Day, the front-facing offices are closed.
MR. WRIGHT said that that was correct, public facilities like recreation options are still open.
COUNCILMEMBER ELLIS said that she was considering the observance as more of a floating
holiday. It is a holiday observance. There is a whole week of events of bringing organizations
together. We did an amazing job this year of putting Juneteenth celebrations together.
COUNCILMEMBER LOPEZ asked if the floating holiday would be a different value than the
$220,000 estimate.
MR. WRIGHT said staff would look into it.
COUNCILMEMBER LOPEZ agreed that a floating holiday is a good idea to implement for this
observance. This could promote inclusiveness so that everyone can celebrate their cultural history
on a day they see fit.
MS. LANG said that this would be easier to schedule as not everyone would be off on one day, so
the cost would probably be less.
MAYOR HARTKE stated that this discussion was to consider the celebration of Juneteenth
specifically. It could be a floating holiday but for recognizing Juneteenth.
COUNCILMEMBER ORLANDO said he is fine with either a formal day or a floating holiday, he would
like to observe the holiday either way. There would be a cost no matter the logistics.
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COUNCILMEMBER STEWART said that recognizing the holiday is important. How it is celebrated is
still to be determined, but the pools should be open.
VICE MAYOR ROE said that it is important to have good benefits. Adding a holiday where
individuals can choose what they celebrate is a good idea. It is cost effective and still recognizes
the holiday. We can do it affordably and be inclusive of many celebrations.
MAYOR HARTKE said that the consensus is to move forward with this. The name could still be
Juneteenth, but people could use it as a floating holiday. Critical services would still be operational.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS said he liked the idea of how Buckeye observed the holiday on
weekdays. Critical services would be operational, but in general reduce staffing. It could be
comparable to Independence Day.
MAYOR HARTKE asked that if it fell on a weekday, it would be a hard day off, as opposed to a flex
day.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS said yes.
COUNCILMEMBER ORLANDO said we could add Juneteenth to the holiday schedule and use a
floating holiday to take that day off.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS said some of the services like the pool would be open. Other services
not essential would be closed.
MAYOR HARTKE said that the front-facing departments would schedule different than
administrative staff.
VICE MAYOR ROE commented that Juneteenth is specific to that day and is appropriate. The
floating holiday might have a different name so that it was not tied to the day.
MAYOR HARTKE said that it should be called Juneteenth, whether people observe it or not.
VICE MAYOR ROE said that naming it something else would be in line with promoting diverse
celebrations of holidays. Vice Mayor Roe asked if it is important to name it Juneteenth or provide
an opportunity for others to celebrate what is appropriate for them.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS said that staff has opportunities with winter break to use the days at
other times. Councilmember Harris said that this holiday should still be named Juneteenth but is
open to other recognitions of holidays.
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COUNCILMEMBER ELLIS said that we are not creating another holiday, we are making sure that
staff can recognize this federally designated holiday. Councilmember Ellis agreed that looking into
diverse celebrations of holidays would be good to investigate.
COUNCILMEMBER ORLANDO commented that there is a set number of holidays that can be taken.
There are some permanently off. There could be a list of varied holidays that if the employee
wants to take off, they would be able to. There could be a pool of holidays that employees can
take off, but that would be a different conversation.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS said that for today, that can be brought up later. Councilmember Harris
wanted to ensure there is a consensus for the observation of Juneteenth.
COUNCILMEMBER STEWART summarized that we are at consensus that Juneteenth should be
celebrated. We just need to decide how we are going to recognize that and still provide customer
service. We will figure out how time off will work with staff and contracts.
MR. WRIGHT mentioned that the concern was how to balance service to residents while still
recognizing the holiday. There are ways to balance that operationally.
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS said that pools should be open. Councilmember Harris asked for
information on what should be open in conjunction with the holiday. It should be parallel with
Independence Day operations.
MAYOR HARTKE directed staff to look into this. There is an overall acceptance of observing
Juneteenth, the details just need to be worked out.
COUNCILMEMBER STEWART said there several different holidays to celebrate and asked about
other days that should be recognized in the same vein.
MR. WRIGHT said that staff can look into other cultural celebrations.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 5:47 p.m.
ATTEST: _______________________
______________________________
City Clerk Mayor
Approval Date of Minutes: August 15, 2022
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Certification
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Work
Session of the City Council of Chandler, Arizona, held on the 11th day of July 2022. I further certify
that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present.
DATED this _______ day of August, 2022.
__________________________
City Clerk