Frustration for Backers of King Day

Chas Sweeney has a dream.

Even though the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday has been a national holiday for 15 years, only 12 of Orange County’s 33 city governments, along with county offices, observe it by closing their doors.

Sweeney says all cities should honor the slain civil rights leader, starting with his town, Laguna Beach.

So, today, he plans to use his day off to protest in front of Laguna Beach City Hall in what he hopes will be the beginning of a groundswell in Orange County.

“It is a disgrace that the city does not recognize it,” said Sweeney, 49, who moved to Laguna six years ago from Boston. “It is a matter of respect.” The city did add a vacation day in lieu of the holiday.

With much fanfare, President Ronald Reagan signed a law making the third Monday of January a federal holiday, but Martin Luther King Jr. Day remains a relatively indistinct holiday for many Orange County residents and the rest of the country.

Public schools and courts will be closed, as mandated by state law, but for most city and private employees it will be business as usual. Most of the large companies in Orange County do not observe the holiday but allow workers to use a floating personal day or vacation day.

Such a system “keeps official closures to a minimum and allows maximum flexibility for our employees,” said Keith Karpe, a spokesman for Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp., which employs 2,500 in Orange County.

City officials also point to economic considerations. One cost of adding another holiday to their calendars is paying overtime for essential services such as police and fire.

“What we have done over the last 10 years is celebrate Lincoln, Washington and Martin Luther King all on the same day”--the third Monday in February, Presidents Day--said Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth C. Frank. He said city employees were given the option 10 years ago of having Martin Luther King Jr. Day off or getting an extra vacation day. They chose the flexibility of the latter.

“Our employees can take a vacation day to observe Good Friday, Passover. . . . [The King holiday] is no different,” Frank said.

Others, however, would like to see the day elevated to the rank of universally observed holidays such as Independence Day and Memorial Day. They say it is not just about celebrating the man but taking time off collectively as a country to reflect on the fundamental ideals King stood for.

The civil rights movement “was as much about liberating white people from our heritage of racism as it was about recording civil rights gains for blacks and others,” said Larry Agran, mayor of Irvine, one of the first Orange County cities to declare an official King holiday. “Dr. King did more than anyone since Lincoln to advance the cause of civil rights in this country.”

Nationwide, about a quarter of public or private employers that responded to a survey observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a paid holiday. The survey, released this month, was conducted by BNA Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based business news publisher. Among government employers responding to the survey, that figure is 81%.

In California, 95% of companies recognize Memorial Day and 15% recognize the King holiday, according to the Employers Group, a nonprofit human resources association based in Los Angeles.

The federal government and all 50 state governments have laws mandating closure of all but vital services during the holiday. In Orange County, the cities that recognize it are Anaheim, Brea, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, Santa Ana and Seal Beach. Mission Viejo will close its animal shelter, community center, library and recreation center.

The holidays city employees receive are often set by labor negotiations, officials said, and unions haven’t often raised the issue in Orange County.

“They have never wanted to pursue it,” said Howard Perkins, personnel manager for Costa Mesa. Perkins, who is African American, will observe the holiday by taking one of two floating vacation days that city employees get. “We have talked about speakers coming and having seminars [about the civil rights movement], and they haven’t taken up on that, either,” he said.

The holiday has had a protracted and controversial history, often with racial overtones. After a 15-year fight, Congress finally declared King’s birthday a national holiday in 1983. Reagan signed the bill into law the same year, but it took another three years before it was implemented.

States slowly followed suit, but not without conflict. In Arizona, reluctance by voters to pass a measure in 1990 recognizing the holiday prompted the National Football League to boycott the state and move the 1993 Super Bowl from Phoenix to Pasadena. White supremacists have marched to protest the holiday in Georgia, King’s native state. And in 1993, New Hampshire became the last state to recognize the holiday after years of resistance by King critics.

“People still feel that Martin Luther King Day is a black holiday,” said John McReynolds, pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Santa Ana, the oldest African American church in Orange County. “No, it is an American holiday.”

Congregants of Second Baptist and other predominantly African American churches will gather at the St. James Baptist Church in Santa Ana for a joint celebration. McReynolds and others argue that making the holiday optional undermines the very unity that King dreamed for the country.

“Why is Thanksgiving a holiday for everyone?” McReynolds said. “We were not even a republic during the time of the pilgrims. Blacks had not even arrived in this country as slaves. Still, whether you are a Jew, African American, Asian or white . . . why do we all take the time? Because it is important for us to give thanks for who we are.”

Many agree that Orange County and the nation have come a long way over the years, and that eventually the holiday will gain more stature as people look beyond race to the symbolism of Martin Luther King Jr.

“Whether Martin Luther King was African American, he stood for equal justice for all people,” said Ronald Taylor, president of the 100 Black Men of Orange County, the local chapter of an international organization that champions equal rights for blacks and other minorities. “I don’t think we are there yet. It took 200 years for blacks to gain freedom [from slavery], and another 100 years to gain the equal right to vote. . . . It takes time. It takes leadership and courage to step forward and say we are going to do this. Ultimately, I am hopeful we will get there. When that day comes, we will be free at last.”

By some measure, that recognition is growing. For the first time, Disneyland will give the day off to its nonunion employees. The Los Angeles Times made Martin Luther King Jr. Day an official company holiday last year. And the two newest cities in Orange County, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Woods, have done the same.

“Our City Council believes that it is an important day and we should have it off,” said Laguna Woods City Manager Leslie Keane.

Rancho Santa Margarita City Manager William Talley said nothing should be read into his city’s decision.

“When we put all the holidays out for the council to vote, they selected 10 and we didn’t ask them to justify,” he said. “They didn’t mean to make any statements with their decision or to break new ground.”

Whether using a recognized holiday or floating vacation day, many in Orange County will reflect on King and his teachings today. And that is a good sign, said Bobby McDonald, executive director of the Orange County Black Chamber of Commerce.

“I think the growing multicultural quality of the county is forging a lot of change,” said McDonald, who has a slew of engagements today, including giving a speech about King at the county Republican Party Central Committee’s meeting.