Highway district commissioner tried removing Juneteenth as paid holiday. Here’s what came next

An Ada County Highway District commissioner unsuccessfully tried to persuade his fellow commissioners to reverse their decision to add Juneteenth as a holiday this year.

Dave McKinney, who was elected in November 2020 to represent parts of Meridian and Northwest Boise, focused his argument Wednesday on the cost of adding extra paid holidays.

The commissioners voted 3-2 on Jan. 5 to add Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth to the holiday calendar, increasing the number of employees’ paid holidays from 10 to 12.

McKinney and Kent Goldthorpe originally voted against the 12-holiday calendar. Goldthorpe proposed recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth but keeping 10 holidays by dropping the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. McKinney said he thought 12 was too many holidays.

McKinney requested a reconsideration of the vote Wednesday. For a re-vote to take place, one of the three commissioners who voted in favor of the 12-holiday calendar would have to agree. But the three — Mary May, Alexis Pickering and Jim Hansen — didn’t budge.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which celebrates the civil rights leader’s life and legacy, was this past Monday and was recognized by the highway district. Juneteenth is scheduled to be observed on June 20 this year since June 19 is a Sunday. Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

McKinney said Jan. 5 that he didn’t have any issue with what the holidays celebrate, but did with the number of holidays. He also said the two holidays are “largely aimed at the same subject matter,” so he would have been more comfortable making only one of them a paid holiday.

“I don’t have any concern at all about recognizing the importance of June 19,” McKinney said Jan. 5. “There are all kinds of worthy things that are worth recognizing and remembering. I’m concerned about increasing the number of paid holidays. Because there are a conceivably infinite number of worthy things we could recognize, what that does is that just says add another holiday, another holiday, another holiday to recognize this, that and the other.”

Juneteenth becomes official holiday elsewhere

During the Jan. 5 meeting, ACHD Deputy Director of Human Resources Shari Knauss said nine states, including Idaho, have recognized Juneteenth as a paid holiday for state employees. It also became a federal holiday in 2021, and all four members of Idaho’s congressional delegation voted in favor of that.

It is up to other employers to decide whether they, too, designate the day as a paid holiday.

Knauss said she researched other public entities that mostly have between 10 and 12 paid holidays. She said 19 public entities across Idaho have made Juneteenth a holiday, including Ada County, Canyon County and the city of Boise.

On Wednesday, McKinney argued that the decision to add two holidays was made “without getting all the facts.”

“The commission’s vote to add two new holidays sort of out of the blue without looking at the actual cost to the district, without really considering all the facts, was unwise,” McKinney said.

ACHD Director Bruce Wong said he estimates it costs the district $10,000 extra for each holiday because some operations are needed to continue every day.

Commissioners keep Juneteenth holiday designation

Pickering, who was elected in November 2020 to represent western parts of Boise and eastern parts of Meridian, rebutted McKinney by saying that Knauss’ presentation served as the way for commissioners to gather information about the paid holiday designation.

“I think the insinuation that we just kind of ran through and just willy-nilly chose two holidays is pretty inaccurate,” Pickering said. “Because we heard and considered plenty of facts from our team. We had plenty of time to look this over and consider it the last few months.”

Knauss hadn’t presented how much each paid holiday costs the district. Wong clarified that on Wednesday.

McKinney then questioned “what facts” were reviewed two weeks before and said he couldn’t remember.

“Just go and rewatch our meeting,” Pickering said. “Shari presented all of those facts about the benefits of having and recognizing Juneteenth. And just in general, how we all weigh in on how many holidays we recognize as an agency versus other state and city agencies. All of those facts that she presented to us. They might not be the facts that you resonate with, but they were facts.”

Though Goldthorpe wasn’t going to affect the potential reconsideration, he said he initially voted against the calendar for “completely different reasons” as McKinney.

May said she felt she had enough information when she voted the first time and was glad to be in line with state and school district calendars.

She called the decision to add the two new holidays “prudent.”

“I really appreciate Commissioner McKinney coming back with his concerns,” May said, “but I am not of the mind to change my opinion or my vote on that.”

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