The Virginia Beach City Council will vote on a resolution Tuesday to make Juneteenth a permanent city holiday.
The resolution follows Mayor Bobby Dyer’s 2020 declaration that city offices would close June 19, 2020, in observance of Juneteenth. The holiday marks the date in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned that they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation — which had been passed nearly 2-1/2 years earlier.
If council votes to pass the resolution, Juneteenth will permanently become a paid holiday in Virginia Beach. The resolution was requested by all council members — except Councilman John Moss, who was absent from the meeting during which the resolution was requested.
Other city councils across Hampton Roads have voted to do the same.
Norfolk voted June 23, 2020, to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday. Portsmouth and Chesapeake also close their offices June 19 in accordance with Gov. Ralph Northam’s June 2020 declaration that the date would be a state holiday.
As Juneteenth falls on a Saturday this year, Dyer declared June 18 a city holiday, announcing that Virginia Beach will close most of its municipal offices next Friday. Waste collection will continue as normal, and recreation centers, including some other facilities, will remain open.
Ali Sullivan, ali.sullivan@virginiamedia.com
