TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Mark Leyman, Parks and Recreation Director
Melissa McCollum, Senior Recreation Manager
Kari Bell, Senior Recreation Supervisor
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of Juneteenth Community Events in 2024 (Parks and Recreation Director Leyman).
(Estimated Time: 60 Mins.)
DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
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RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss and provide direction regarding plans and funding for a Juneteenth Ceremony at Bruce's Beach Park on June 19, 2024, and a Juneteenth Celebration at Polliwog Park on June 22, 2024.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
If City Council approves the proposed Juneteenth Ceremony and Juneteenth Celebration for 2024, staff recommends that City Council discuss and provide direction regarding funding options, including the possibility of an appropriation of $30,000 from the unreserved General Fund balance along with an adjustment of $15,000 in revenues to record a donation secured to facilitate the events. Future years will be budgeted according to direction from City Council.
BACKGROUND:
Juneteenth (June 19) is the oldest known celebration to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday was first celebrated in Texas where on June 19, 1865, enslaved people finally received news from Union soldiers that they had been set free by the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years earlier. Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021.
In past years, residents and visitors informally gathered at Bruce's Beach Park to celebrate Juneteenth. Prior to Juneteenth in 2023, the City received a number of requests from community members to host a Juneteenth Celebration at Bruce's Beach Park.
On July 17, 2018, the City Council approved the City's Special Events Policy which creates guidelines and procedures by which outside organizations apply to hold special eve...
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