On Sunday, Dec. 29, the world suddenly lost a beloved 100-year-old ex-President of the United States.

How do we, as a nation, deal with an event of this magnitude? Perhaps we bravely muddle through with our lives for a couple of weeks, until such time as we can set aside a full day to contemplate the man and his deeds, and in doing so shed some of the trauma we have been carrying deep inside ourselves since we got that terrible news.

On Tuesday, the Humboldt Board of Supervisors will consider giving county employees an extra paid holiday to do just that. President Joe Biden has declared Thursday, Jan. 9, a national day of mourning for his predecessor — a fellow one-term president representing the Democratic Party — and Board Chair Michelle Bushnell has brought forward a proposal to make that day a paid day off for county employees.

“President Carter was the thirty-ninth President serving the United States from Jan. 20, 1977 to Jan. 20, 1981,” notes the staff report on Bushnell’s proposal. (Minor correction: Actually, Carter was the first and only person to serve as president of the United States during this time.)

The staff report continues:

President Carter is remembered as a man of character and compassion. He was a heroic champion of global peace and human rights. Under his presidency, the Department of Education and the Department of Energy were created. Carter is also remembered for his critical work on nuclear nonproliferation with the signing of the Panama Canal treaties and the 1978 Camp David Accords. After his presidency, he continued as a global leader who advocated for peace and fundamental human rights for all.

Did you know that the Panama Canal Treaties and the Camp David Accords did so much to advance the cause of nuclear non-proliferation? Yet another reason to mourn.

Assuming the Board of Supervisors does the humane thing and gives the county’s approximately 2,500 public employees a paid holiday to recover from the shock of Carter’s passing, how might they most productively spend that time, so as to get back to providing taxpayer-funded services with whole hearts and maximum efficiency?

In his proclamation, President Biden has a suggestion:

I call on the American people to assemble on that day in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President James Earl Carter, Jr. I invite the people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance.

This will undoubtedly happen. So don’t expect to find a parking spot at church on Thursday.

The Board of Supervisors meets at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7, in the Supervisors’ Chambers on the first floor of the Humboldt County Courthouse (825 Fifth Street, Eureka).