Stafford County offices will close an extra half-day on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2026, after the Board of Supervisors approved the additional holiday leave on Oct. 20.
The board voted 5-2 to approve Resolution R26-383, which gives county employees a full day off the day before Thanksgiving. Supervisors Crystal Vanuch and Pamela Yeung voted against it.
County employees already had a half-day off that Wednesday. With the extra half-day, county offices will be closed Wednesday through Friday of Thanksgiving week. Staff confirmed during the meeting that the half-day is estimated to cost $120,000, the figure listed in the board’s background packet.
Supervisor Kecia Evans moved to approve the resolution, and Supervisor Tinesha Allen seconded it.
Vanuch said residents often use time off around the holidays to take care of county business and have complained to her when offices were closed. She recalled delayed permits and inspections for a major economic development project in her district the day before Thanksgiving a few years ago, when she said few employees in one department were available to answer questions.
“I support our staff, but our main role is to be of service to our community and our constituents, and we need to have our doors open for them,” Vanuch said.
Yeung said employees could use their own leave instead.
“I’m not going to support this simply because I feel that the employees have days off, PDOs or PTOs, and they could use those for that second day,” Yeung said. She also criticized an earlier half-day closure tied to a baseball game.
Supervisor Darrell English said county employees do not have a floating holiday this year.
Evans said she was thinking of staff spending time with their families.
“I put myself in staff shoes. If it was me, I want to spend time with my family. It’s Thanksgiving,” Evans said. “Life is short, you guys.”
Allen called the debate inconsistent and said it sends the wrong message to employees.
“You can’t, you know, shut down the county when it benefits you and give staff days off, but then when it doesn’t benefit you, you don’t want to. That’s not a good message for morale,” Allen said.
She said county workers have not received pay adjustments matching inflation in recent years and that the extra time off recognizes their work, including utilities and parks and recreation crews who work in bad weather.
“To me, it shows a sign of building morale and saying, we understand the sacrifices that you show up for the county,” Allen said.
Vice Chair Maya Guy, who brought the item forward, said she agreed with Allen.
Chairman Deuntay Diggs said he would support the resolution and pointed to employee retention.
“We are losing employees in this county, and we’re losing them because we do not have the benefits and we cannot keep up with the region,” Diggs said. “So little things like this, the supportive events that administration holds, those things matter, when we’re talking about keeping and retaining our employees.”
The resolution passed 5-2.
