The U.S. Government has considered Martin Luther King, Jr. Day--a holiday since 1983.

Some feel it’s time for the City of South Bend to follow suit.

“City services are still open, the water company is still open, all the city’s downtown, you want to come do city business it’s still open, and so therefore it really goes not to respect the nature of the day,” said South Bend Councilman Oliver Davis, (D) 6th District.

Davis will introduce a resolution at Monday’s council meeting that would start discussions on making MLK Day, a full blown holiday.

“I was shocked that the City of South Bend didn’t get off when I first got on the council and then over the years, I was talking to other people in the prior administration to try to look at it and try to get the history of what happened and why are we not here,” said Oliver Davis.

Councilman Henry Davis, Jr., (D) 2nd District, is a co-sponsor of the resolution. “We share in activities during the course of the holiday, obviously our schools are closed and the county is closed, so why not the City of South Bend?”

As it stands, the City of South Bend considers Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a “non designated” holiday, which employees have the option of selecting.

MLK Day is observed on the third Monday in January.