Juneteenth will become a paid holiday for City of Leesburg employees after commissioners reversed their previous decision Monday night, drawing applause from residents gathered inside City Hall.

The commission voted 4-1 to add Juneteenth to the city’s paid holiday schedule, with Commissioner Jay Connell casting the lone dissenting vote.

The decision followed weeks of community backlash after commissioners voted 4-1 in July against adding Juneteenth after approving New Year’s Eve and the Friday of Leesburg Bikefest as paid holidays. Mayor Allyson Berry cast the only vote at the time in favor of Juneteenth.

Berry brought the issue back before commissioners Monday, again emphasizing the significance of Juneteenth to members of the community.

The reconsideration came after residents, veterans, business owners and community leaders packed the Aug. 10 commission meeting to object to the earlier decision. Several speakers told commissioners that choosing Bikefest and New Year’s Eve while declining to recognize a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery sent a troubling message.

Community representatives later met with City Manager Al Minner on Aug. 19, and the issue was subsequently placed back on the commission agenda.

Connell maintained Monday that his objection was not about Juneteenth itself, but about the number of paid holidays provided to city employees.

He explained that New Year’s Eve and the Friday of Bikefest were initially brought forward by city staff. The Bikefest holiday, he said, was proposed to address a staffing issue the city has dealt with during the event for more than 20 years, rather than as a celebration of the motorcycle rally itself.

Adding those two days brought Leesburg to 13 paid holidays, Connell said. Juneteenth would bring the total to 14.

“We don’t need 14 holidays,” Connell says.

Connell reiterated an idea discussed Aug. 10 that would allow employees to choose which holidays were most important to them rather than continuing to increase the total number of paid days off.

Commissioner Alan Reisman disagreed with putting that responsibility on employees.

“We have to make hard decisions,” Reisman says. “As overseers of the city we should make that decision.”

Commissioner Mike Pederson also supported Juneteenth on the second vote, though he expressed frustration with how the controversy unfolded.

Pederson said the original discussion began as part of the city’s budget process and focused on employee benefits. He said Juneteenth was not part of the initial discussion before commissioners approved the other holidays.

“I don’t appreciate how it was all handled,” Pederson said. “But I will support the holiday.”

The vote marked a significant turnaround from the commission’s July decision.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their freedom more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The day is now recognized as a federal holiday.

As the commission’s 4-1 vote became official Monday night, members of the audience responded with applause.