Charles board backtracks, approves July 5 holiday for county

Based on precedent, the Charles County commissioners have changed their minds and given county employees an extra holiday after all.

County government employees will now get off of work July 5 this year after the idea was initially shot down.

On June 25, a request came from Commissioner President Reuben B. Collins II (D) and Commissioner Ralph E. Patterson II (D) to walk back their initial “no” on the extra holiday for county employees.

Words were briefly had by Commissioner Amanda Stewart (D) in reference to the initial vote, saying that she thought the change of heart was “peculiar” after she and Commissioner Gilbert “BJ” Bowling (D) had stressed the importance of giving employees off July 5, but it was shot down.

Stewart asked the three who voted against the day off, and “What changed?”

Collins cited that he had recalled that July 5 had been a holiday for the county in the past, so he was willing to act on that and reopen the vote.

Stewart asked if they had forgotten the precedent during the initial vote, to which Collins replied that he did.

Patterson stated that he was not around during the last calendar-making process that made July 5 a holiday.

“Just to be clear, I wasn’t here in 2019,” Patterson said.

The motion to make July 5 a holiday passed unanimously this time around, prompting Acting County Administrator Deborah Hall to offer up thanks to the commissioners on behalf of all county employees.

“An extra holiday goes a long way,” Hall said.

“I genuinely say thank you to my colleagues for reconsidering,” Bowling said.

The July 5 holiday comes one meeting after the commissioners denied making the Monday after the Super Bowl a holiday next year like it has for previous games.

At the time, concerns were raised by some commissioners about how extra days off may not be fiscally responsible for the county in such a tight budget season.