The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors voted this week to adopt the new state of Virginia holiday calendar that eliminates Lee-Jackson Day and adds Juneteenth.
The new state calendar adopted locally with a 6-1 vote also adds Nov. 2 Election Day as a holiday, meaning local government offices will be closed.
Salem Supervisor Tom Underwood voted against adding Election Day to the county calendar, stating the state calendar continues to diverge with the federal government’s calendar, which does not recognize Election Day as a holiday.
“Following the state calendar doesn’t make sense anymore,” he said. “If you can go to the banks, stock market is open, everything else is occurring but there is nobody in the county offices.”
Underwood said he would support adopting the state holiday calendar without Election Day, “otherwise, to me, it’s confusing,” he said. “We’re creating a new holiday not recognized anywhere but here,” Underwood added, saying the change might not survive the next gubernatorial administration.
Chairman Gary Deal said while he saw his point, he opted to stick with the state calendar for uniformity for employees.
There was no discussion about shedding Lee-Jackson Day, a Virginia state holiday until 2020, in honor of Confederates Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
