San Luis mayor proposes end to paid holiday for COVID-19

SAN LUIS, Ariz. – A day set aside to memorialize victims of the COVID-19 pandemic would be removed from the calendar of paid holidays for city employees here, under a proposal by Mayor Nieves Riedel.

The San Luis City Council considered the proposal at a recent session but tabled it for continued discussion at a later, undetermined date.

In May 2021, the previous council voted to set aside the last Monday in October as a day off for city employees in observance of those who lost their lives to the coronavirus.

“I have no problem with the holidays that we already have for employees,” Riedel said. “I believe they are similar to what many cities have. The problem that I have is that we lost about 14 older adults because of COVID-19. In many homes in the community, there were people who were infected and there were deaths, but we are not the only ones. (Many) people died in the nation and millions (died) around the world.

“The number of holidays that city employees have are equal to what many cities have, but I believe that people’s pain was politicized. If a holiday is created every time there’s something catastrophic like COVID, we are not going to have enough work days in the year.”

Every paid holiday is an expense to the city and one day less that most city departments will have to serve the public, she said.

No other city in Yuma County set aside a holiday for COVID-19 victims, Riedel added.

Her proposal not only would drop the holiday for coronavirus victims but would also eliminate Columbus Day as a city holiday and replace that day with a Native American Heritage Day that would fall fourth Friday of November.

The city council asked for a report on the financial impact on the holiday changes prior to acting on Riedel’s proposal.

One councilman, Tadeo De La Hoya, said he disagrees with making any changes to the existing calendar of holidays. “The employees of the city deserve it.”

If Riedel’s proposal were adopted, San Luis employees would have 11 paid holidays during the year.