CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The County Commission will vote again in September to make Juneteenth a legal, paid holiday for Montgomery County, as suggested by Commissioner Joshua Beal on Facebook.
Resolution 20-8-1, which would have added a paid holiday for Montgomery County employees on June 19, failed by one vote at the Commission’s August meeting.
In his post, Beal says that two commissioners who voted no to the resolution were under the impression that they were voting on an amendment, not the resolution itself.
Commissioners Tangi Smith and Lisa L. Pritchard confirmed that this was the case. each saying that the high number of amendments (five in total) combined with the new system caused them to lose track of what they were voting on.
“I make mistakes. I own it. I’m a first termer, it happens,” said Smith.
The County Commission operates under Robert’s Rules of Order, the most popular manual of parliamentary procedure in the U.S. Beal claims in his post that these rules allow commissioners to rescind their votes.
According to county spokesperson Michelle Newell, votes cannot be changed once they have been tallied. The matter is considered closed. Robert’s Rules allow a member of the prevailing side to make a motion to reconsider within the same meeting, but not after the fact.
However, no rule prohibits the same resolution from being brought back up at a future meeting if it is again placed on the agenda.
Smith said that she spoke with Commissioner Rashidah Leverett, who initially put forth the resolution and that it will again be on the agenda in September.
Should all other commissioners vote the same way they did previously, this would give the resolution 12 affirmative votes, enough to pass.
Commissioners Ricky Ray and Brandon Butts, were absent from the August meeting. When asked, Butts said he had not yet decided how we would vote on the Juneteenth resolution. Ray could not be reached for a comment.