The Tulare Public Cemetery District’s governance may soon be taken over by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors.
The supervisors will vote at their regular meeting Tuesday, June 10 on a resolution to appoint themselves as Tulare Public Cemetery District trustees.
Jennifer Fawkes, Public Information Officer for the TCBOS said, “On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will hear a resolution of intent to appoint itself as the Board of Trustees for the Tulare Public Cemetery District.”
“This process provides the Board of Supervisors a chance to assess the situation,” said Fawkes.
Fawkes said that if the board votes to do so, they will proceed according to California’s Health and Safety Code 9026 that governs special districts, such as cemetery districts.
According to the code, a public hearing is to be called within 60 days of adoption of the resolution.
The resolution states:
WHEREAS, the Tulare Public Cemetery District (“District”) is currently governed by a board of trustees appointed by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors; and
WHEREAS, District staff and trustees of the District have reported being subjected to public harassment and threats of violence by members of the public, impacting the District’s ability to conduct public meetings and carry on the day-to-day activities of the District; and
WHEREAS, three of the five trustees of District tendered their resignations, leaving the Tulare Public Cemetery District without a quorum to continue orderly operations of the district; and
WHEREAS, California Health and Safety Code section 9026(a) authorizes the board of supervisors of the principal county to appoint itself as the board of trustees
for a public cemetery district;
“The California Health and Safety Code section 9026(a) authorizes the board of supervisors of the principal county to appoint itself as the board of trustees for a public cemetery district. This item is being brought forward to consider whether the Board of Supervisors intends to terminate the existing District Board of Trustees and appoint itself as the new Board,” stated the staff report.
If the resolution is approved, and after the required public hearing to gather community input takes place, the five supervisors will sit in as the five cemetery trustees.
Some level of action by the supervisors – whether it was to appoint new board members, or to go down this path – was required by the abrupt resignation of three cemetery board members and the possible cancellation of the cemetery’s Golden State Risk Management Authority insurance due to board instability.
Vice Chairperson Charlie Ramos, Secretary Patricia Hitlin, and Treasurer Michelle Lima submitted notices of resignation May 27 five days after a contentious cemetery meeting that was adjourned after mere seconds.
The staff report states, “The Tulare County Public Cemetery District is currently governed by a board of trustees appointed by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors. Three of the five trustees of the District tendered their resignations, leaving the Tulare Public Cemetery District without a quorum to continue orderly operations of the district. In addition, the Golden State Risk Management Authority (“GSRMA”) has informed the District that due to the instability of the District board GSRMA intends to terminate coverage, rendering the District unable to continue operations unless it can demonstrate board stability.”
The staff report added, “The Tulare County Public Cemetery operates under its own independent budget and fiscal management. Therefore, no fiscal impact is anticipated on the County’s budget.”
Cemetery activists and volunteers react
“I can’t believe the BOS would want to deal with the cemetery instead of just appointing three directors,” said Elaine Hollingsworth, founder of Caring Cause, a Facebook group dedicated to supporting the cemetery.
Trustee Xavier Avila had not been informed that the cemetery’s insurer was threatening to cancel their policy.
“The county may not have a choice about taking over. That’s extremely bad if we lose Golden State. If they won’t insure you, no one will.”
Chairperson Steve Presant, said without insurance the cemetery would have to close its gates.
Presant said he was informed by the district’s lawyer, Brian Hughes, that “Golden State Insurance wants a drastic change in the direction on the district and a decision needed to be made by the end of June.”
Presant was unaware the supervisors were discussing the cemetery at their next meeting, but agreed with the supervisors taking over the cemetery.
“I support it,” said Presant.
Vicki Gilson, a former cemetery trustee, said “I’m very pleased the Tulare County supervisors are taking action to help our cemetery district.”
History repeats itself
This is not the first time that the TPCD has experienced mass resignations or the loss of their insurance.
In September of 2017 the office manager, grounds manager, and a groundskeeper secretly quit along with the secret resignations of trustees Toni Chavez and Phil Vandegrift.
Former Trustee Patricia Colson openly resigned, but that left Trustees Phillip Deal and Vicki Gilson without a quorum and unable to conduct business.
In response, the board of supervisors hurriedly appointed Trustee Alberto Aguilar as a third trustee and the board was able to get back to work.
Then, in 2021, the cemetery came within hours of losing their insurance.
Allied World Specialty Insurance sent a “Notice of Cancellation of Insurance” to the district office on July 21, but cemetery trustees weren’t informed until August 30.
In an email to the trustees, the cemetery manager wrote, “As of September 1, 2021, we will no longer be covered under Allied World Specialty Insurance Co. (Walter Mortensen Agency). We are being non-renewed for 10/1/21 but they are canceling us early. Which means our coverage ends 8/31/21.” She added, “The insurer, Allied World Specialty Insurance, will not renew the district’s policy and even attempted to end it early due to “the risks with bad publicity and risks involved with our past management.”
By close of business on August 31, TPCD had managed to negotiate with Allied World Specialty Insurance to honor their original agreement and cover the cemetery through October 1.
Cemetery staff kept the insurance issue quiet while it was being worked on.
“I don’t know where that is coming from at all. I don’t know what information she (the concerned citizen’s elderly relative) was given, but we have long-term insurance, and we still have it from the same carrier that we had from last year. We have actually had them for a while,” Bernardo told a concerned community member at the time.
She continued by telling the concerned constituent not to worry about the cemetery’s insurance.
“It’s not an issue.”
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors meeting will be June 10, 9:00 AM in the Board of Supervisors Chambers at 2800 W. Burrel Avenue Visalia. Public comment is welcome.
Perhaps this is a move to allow the Supervisors to clean house entirely. The cemetery sadly has become a toxic place with the Trustees, the District Manager and the public at large taking sides and engaging in public feuds over just about everything from A to Z at monthly board meetings as well as online posts on a website whose administrator is one of the remaining two boards members left standing. Public comments are no longer able to be made on the Cemetery’s website as that was shutdown by the District Manger (I assume) to the public at large with only selected people having permissions to post comments, ask questions, etc. as noted in their website. It could be a good thing for the Supervisors to find out first hand what the actual financial health of the cemetery really is, the competency of the current District Manager when it comes to performing the duties that she is being paid to do as well as the direction her leadership is taking the cemetery. It seems to me that for years now the trustees appointed by Vander Poel haven’t been able to keep personalities in check which to the public eye has evolved into personal agendas between trustees. As a taxpayer for this cemetery I only want two things, financial solvency and beautiful healthy looking grounds that house this city’s history and our departed loved ones. Dealing with the death and loss of our loved ones is enough drama, we certainly don’t need the added drama that has been occurring at these board meetings and from the District Manger with her office staff no longer wanting face-to-face interaction with people who are seeking information and direction without an appointment. Locked minds and locked doors are not good for our cemetery no matter which direction it is coming from.
Maybe we can get Supervisor Shuklian to do more taco stand reviews at the cemetery? This time she can do taco trucks. It’s a win-win for the public and taco loving people everywhere.
If anything i think the cemetery should just go union and knock everyone out they have good employees just bad management and the money needs to be straightened out. The little high school drama needs to stop.
This is a very sad situation! I’ve been watching and listening for quick a long time. As for my opinion of what was the Board, the only Board Member actually caring what the cemetery looks like was Xavier Avila. If the others cared their disposition and lack of community involvement failed them. And the scenic view of our cemetery today is not acceptable and it didn’t just happen over night. It’s been a downhill spiral for quite sometime. The Board Member who called the public a “Colt” has done exactly what he should have done, “RESIGN.” It’s been very frustrating watching wages grow to extremely sweet wages and the cemetery grounds continuing to worsen or not look any more eye appealing than last year. If BOS would have listened when letters and cry’s were sent directly to them, they could have de-escalated many of the issues that are well out of hand. The insurance issue scares me terribly! I can’t imagine the doors being shut to what used to be an absolute beautiful cemetery and in the center of town could possibly become a dried up dirt field with many of our loved ones supposed to be “Resting in Peace.”
Health and Safety Code 9026 (b) In the case of a district that has a board of trustees appointed by the board of supervisors, the board of supervisors may adopt a resolution declaring its intention to appoint itself to be the board of trustees of the district. In the case of a district where the board of supervisors has appointed itself to be the board of tructees, the boardof supervisors may adopt a resolution declaring its intention to divestitself of that authority. 9026 (c). Within 60 days of adopting a resolution adopted pursuant to subdivision (b), the board of supervisors shall hold a public hearing on the question whether the board of supervisors should govern the district. The board of supervisors shall give notice of its hearing by publishing a notice pursusnt to Section 6061 of the Government Code in at least one newspaper of general circulation within the jurisdiction of the district at least 10 days before the hearing. In additionthe board of supervisors shall mail the notice at least 10 days before the hearing to the district and any other person who has filed written request for the notice with the clerk of the board of supervisors.
I recommend all registered voters of the cemetery district researsh Health and Safety Code 9026 to understand your rights as tax payers.
But in the meantime Alberto, is the District Manager and her ground crew going to be able to continue to do their daily jobs without a functioning Board of Trustees? What are the odds that another interim trustee position is quickly appointed so that there is a Board quorum until the County figure out their game plan? What are the odds that both Steve and Xavier are asked to resign so the Board can appoint 3 new interim trustees to buy them time to figure out what needs to be done?
It has been a long time coming, but the BOS should have taken more careful look at what the Grand Jury reports have been in the past. It’s ironic that the two board members left are the
two from years ago, i have many loved ones buried in Tulare and have a concern for how things have gotten so bad.
Geneva Philpot
Geneva Philpot