Tualatin council approves recurring proclamations list for 2025, adds Black History Month

The Tualatin City Council on Jan. 13 approved a list of recurring proclamations for 2025 and directed staff to include Black History Month among the recurring items the city will automatically place on future agendas.

City staff told the council the list and a proclamations policy were included in the Dec. 9 packet and explained the policy organizes proclamations into four tiers: (1) items directly related to city operations; (2) requests from a branch of government or organizations the city funds; (3) requests from community partners that typically recur each year; and (4) all other ad hoc requests. The policy was presented to help staff and council manage which proclamations come before the council without separate agenda requests.

Councilors discussed gaps in the recurring list and whether federal or state holidays should be added. Councilor Brooks said she noticed the list did not include Martin Luther King Day or Black History Month. Several councilors supported adding Black History Month to the recurring list; some members expressed caution about adding single-day federal holidays or creating an open-ended list that would include every observance. After discussion the council agreed to add Black History Month to the recurring roster; the record shows councilors asked staff to continue using the tiers to assess future requests and to bring new recurring items forward through the established process.

The approved recurring list includes items the city already treats as annual acknowledgements (examples cited by staff included employee-of-the-year and other standing recognitions), and the council indicated it will continue to review additions at future annual check-ins.

Staff will proceed to place the approved recurring proclamations on council agendas without separate approval every time, and will follow the policy tiers for requests that fall outside the recurring list.