Orinda Votes to Make Juneteenth A Paid Holiday For City Employees

LAMORINDA, CA -- During its May 17 meeting, the Orinda City Council voted to make Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African-American people, a paid holiday for city workers.

In June 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation that established Juneteenth as a federal holiday after a measure doing so made it through Congress.

Juneteenth, which is observed annually on June 19, became the first new federal holiday since the addition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. Since that time many states and cities neighboring Orinda, including El Cerrito, San Pablo and Hercules, have added Juneteenth as an additional holiday.

"Orinda is a community which values diversity and as part of the greater Bay Area, which is one of the most diverse regions in the country, it is appropriate to join others in the region in observing Juneteenth as a holiday," the city said in a statement.

With the adoption of the resolution, the city begins observing Juneteenth as a paid holiday this year, and city offices are to be closed that day. Since June 19 falls on a Sunday this year, the holiday is to be observed on Monday, June 20.