'Thank you, God': Lakeland makes Juneteenth an official, paid city holiday for its workers

After 31 years of working while others celebrate Juneteenth, city employees will be given the day off to join in the festivities.

On Monday, Lakeland officials voted unanimously to recognize Juneteenth, celebrated June 19, as an official, paid holiday for city workers starting this year. As it passed, a cry of "Thank you, God" could be heard from Black residents gathered in the commission chambers.

The decision comes after months of pushing by the Black community for the city to recognize Juneteenth, which was recognized as a federal holiday by President Joe Biden in 2021. The day honors the anniversary of when nearly a quarter of a million enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas, were informed they were free and slavery was over in the United States.

Harlem Turner, president of the Rose Heights Elks Lodge, first approached the city seeking Juneteenth's recognition in November 2023, then again in February. At the Feb. 5 meeting, he was one of several Black Lakeland residents to stand up and admonish or lecture city officials about the meaning of the holiday and why the city should recognize it.

"I sat here and I'm wondering, 'What is it going to take for someone sitting up there to hear our plea?'" Turner said.

Commissioner Mike Musick said it was put in perspective for him during recent overseas travel, as he and his wife were touring and reflecting on historic markers and sights. Musick said recognition of Juneteenth "is way past due" on the national and local level.

"It really hit me when I was over there, there is history everywhere that encompasses us whether we are part of it or not," he said.

Doris Moore Bailey said the city has had official Juneteenth celebrations for 31 years, which were started by her, her late husband, Beverly Milton Bailey Sr., and their family. Bailey said the legacy of her late husband and family was snubbed when some city commissioners publicly thanked other individuals for educating them on Juneteenth's meaning and significance.

"It was a disserve to the legacy of my husband, my children and grandchildren to discredit and not give respect where respect is due," she said.

Each year, the city would issue a proclamation recognizing Juneteenth in Lakeland, Bailey said, which in the wording of the proclamation provided an explanation why the date was historically significant.

"We go back and to be part of something that is forward-facing is actually an honor," Commissioner Guy LaLonde said. "It's an honor to be here, to support it, to advocate for it."

Lakeland is not among the first Polk County municipalities to recognize Juneteenth as an official city holiday. There are at least five municipalities that honored the holiday in 2023: Bartow, Dundee, Haines City, Lake Alfred and Winter Haven.

Mike Brossart, the city's financial director, said in a "worst-case scenario" it was calculated honoring Juneteenth as a paid city holiday would cost about $170,000 annually. Roughly $100,000 of this cost would go to pay additional salaries of public safety employees, police, firefighters and EMS workers who must show up when the city is on holiday. The other $70,000 would be to pay salaries of utility workers.

The city has a number of vacancies in those areas, and Brossart said he would expect the cost of recognizing Juneteenth to be less this year. He said there are ample fiscal reserves in the city's budget to cover this year's expense, and it will be budgeted moving forward.

"What this is, is an opportunity for us to recognize for most of us that Fourth of July became our Independence Day, but that's not true for our African American constituency. Juneteenth is," Mayor Bill Mutz said. "The reason it's an important holiday to add and one we can observe and increase conversation about, it allows us by adopting it to honor everyone with a day of independence that reflects the heritage of their history."

Commissioner Chad McLeod said the city's debate over recognizing Juneteenth has spurred conversations in his home, with his children, about what the holiday is about.

"Locally, by making this a holiday it allows us to remember this part of our nation's history and teach it to the next generation," he said.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland makes Juneteenth an official, paid city holiday