Editor’s note: This article was updated at June 10, 4:10PM to clarify that Charlie Ramos is Mexican, not white, and that he was not referring to Andrea Clark when he accused a member of the public of accosting him with racial insults.
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously – with supervisor Dennis Townsend absent – to begin the process of taking over governance of the Tulare Public Cemetery District.
The move was precipitated by three of the district’s five board members resigning, and a warning from the district’s insurer that the cemetery may be dropped due to continual board dysfunction.
Within the next 60 days – likely sooner rather than later – the supervisors will hold a hearing for the public to voice their opinion on the potential takeover, but the general consensus from cemetery activists and former board members is that they support the county’s takeover.
Tulare County Supervisor Pete Vander Poel, who represents the supervisorial district where the cemetery is located, appoints cemetery trustees.
He said he received requests for the county to step in “a month ago,” but that he didn’t see the necessity until the majority of the district’s board resigned.
He quoted from a letter dated June 9, from the district’s privately-hired attorney Brian Hughes, sent on his own volition.
“[It] talks about failure of management, and this goes into specific details – we’ve got control of the public highlighted here, the loss of insurance highlighted here, and in his conclusion, he basically says no trustee employee or member of the public wishes for the district to be in such a predicament,” Vander Poel said. “This letter does not intend to place blame on any member of the public or individual trustee.”
In the letter, Hughes stated that he supported the resolution.
“The public clearly does not trust the Board of Trustees to (i) make the right decision; (ii) properly discuss matters; or (iii) run meetings that adequately address any issue raised. Consistently, the members of the public, with raised voices, interrupt, talk over, argue, demand, and to a certain extent control the flow of the Board meetings to the point of harm to the District,” Hughes’ letter states. “Multiple claims of harassment from the public, the District staff, and Board Trustees, attempt to blame the other for the District’s stagnation. No sitting board has had actual control over the actions of the trustees or the public in attendance.”
The district recently hired Hughes, who is also legal counsel for the Visalia Cemetery, after meeting him at a professional conference.
Farther back, in 2020, the Tulare County Grand Jury had recommended a takeover as a potential solution for dysfunction at the cemetery in its 2019-2020 report.
“The [Board of Supervisors should] consider exercising its authority under the applicable sections of the [California Health and Safety Code] 9026 with a view toward bringing the governance of the [Tulare Public Cemetery District] into compliance with generally accepted practices and State requirement,” the report recommended.
Supervisors claim takeover necessary due to threats
The board’s proposed resolution included a statement that board members and staff were being subjected to “harassment and threats of violence by members of the public.”
The statement generated controversy among cemetery activists and volunteers, who say they haven’t done anything of the sort.
Israel Sotelo Jr, the Chief of Staff for the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, pushed back at statements by cemetery board member Xavier Avila and others that there were no threats of violence or harassment.
“The Board of Supervisors has obtained written communication in which a member of the public has expressed their willingness to dispatch and dispose of the remains of an employee of the public cemetery district,” Sotelo said. “All threats of violence are unacceptable, and serious. We recognize that this is not representative of the greater constituency of the district, but we do feel it is appropriate to bring this to the attention of the greater public to contextualize the severity of what we’re dealing with here today.”
Sotelo added that he believed the majority of the public discourse was not motivated by malice, but by a “uniting desire to see their cemetery district well maintained, responsibly governed, and worthy of the final resting place of their loved ones.”
Supervisor Larry Micari took offense at the idea that the board lied in the resolution stating staff and board members were subject to “public harassment and threats of violence.” He said he wouldn’t approve removing the “harassment and threats of violence” reference from the resolution.
“We’re reporting what was reported to us, and we have credible information, and reliable information that says that. So, we’re not lying,” Micari said. “What is brought to us is that there was credible threats made towards the cemetery staff, so that’s why that’s in there.”
Jennifer Fawkes, the supervisor’s Public Information Officer, confirmed the seriousness of the threats but clarified that “the public” was actually one person, Linda Maloy.
Linda Maloy, a former member of the audit committee and founder of the Cemeterians, a Tulare cemetery volunteer group, said sarcastically during public comments that she was “the threat.”
“I’m the threat. I’ve been stalking the manager. I have made threats to the manager’s life. Did you see me walk up here? I haven’t driven in five years – how in the hell could I stalk somebody? This is all a big deflection of what is going on at the Tulare Public Cemetery,” Maloy said.
She said that the management of the cemetery was to blame for the state it is in – and that the board needed to examine how Tulare’s cemetery is run.
Debate during public comment
Darla Rambonga, a Tulare citizen who submitted her public comment by email to Pete Vander Poel, claimed that Maloy had written a text message stating she attended the meetings with loaded weapons, ready to use, leading to a board resolution prohibiting handguns on cemetery property.
Rambonga also wrote that Maloy made statements that could be “viewed as a manifesto […] to murder and dispose of a Cemetery employee who has since resigned,” asking Vander Poel to take action to save the cemetery.
Charlie Ramos, one of the three board members that resigned after the cemetery district’s last board-meeting-that-wasn’t, said he was accosted with “racial insults” after exiting the meeting room. He is of Mexican heritage.
He was followed out of the meeting room by Andrea Clark, with whom he had a long conversation with while Xavier Avila and Michele Lima sat to listen to members of the public. Ramos says that Clark was not the person making racial comments to him.
“The way the board sits right now, with the so-called four against one, there’s no way to do business. We have members of the public who continually interrupt the meeting. We have a public comment period in excess of an hour at our meetings. There’s no control, and when the chair tried to exercise the control, he wasn’t able to do so,” Ramos said.
Ramos claimed that “things are being leaked out of closed session, that should not be leaked out” and that members of the public were becoming aware of workers’ compensation claims and other internal details of the district, blaming an unnamed board member.
Xavier Avila, one of the two remaining board members, said in a video message before the meeting that he did not oppose the Tulare County supervisors taking over cemetery governance but that he took offense at the claim of public threat and harassment.
“They say it, but where’s the proof? They haven’t provided it. This is really shameful,” Avila said. “I thought the county board of supervisors were more high-level, and more professional about that. It’s very disturbing to read that.”
Avila told the board at the meeting that the board members who are alleging harassment have lied on other issues.
“I’m one of the board members, and there’s people – it can be proven, from the people that were at these meetings, those meetings are still recorded and still online for people to watch. It’s a lie,” Avila said. “Now you know why so many people are upset, after dirt and gophers and broken headstones – up until recently, they’re being lied about.”
Supervisors: Cemetery “a shitshow”
After comments, Micari said that he “really didn’t want to,” but that he had family in the cemetery, and that he’d been dealing with the district since 1999 – and that he’d had “nothing but issues then, too.”
He said that during the time he’d been on the board, the district had always been embroiled in one issue or another.
Micari made a motion for the board to take over the district, but with five conditions:
- the cemetery district accepts “all liability, past present and future,” with their own insurance coverage,
- that the district reimburse the county for all “staff time and costs by the county,”
- that the board form an ad-hoc committee that would include Vander Poel to select cemetery trustees,
- that Tulare County Counsel provide legal counsel while the supervisors run the cemetery district,
- and that no cemetery board member serving in the last five years “ever be reappointed to the cemetery district [board].”
Shuklian supported Micari’s preconditions, and said that she didn’t want to take over the cemetery, but that the cemetery has been in some form of turmoil ever since she was elected to the board of supervisors.
“It’s been a shitshow ever since I’ve been on here,” Shuklian said. “If you can’t even get that right when you’re dealing with family, that’s pretty pathetic.”
Resolution changed between publication and meeting
The resolutions that the supervisors voted on changed multiple times before the June 10 meeting.
On June 5, the first version of the resolution was published. It stated:
“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; and
WHEREAS, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors finds that appointing itself as the Board of Trustees will promote efficient governance and oversight of the district’s operations, ensuring the continued provision of cemetery services to the community; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to California Health and Safety Code section 9026, the board of supervisors must adopt a resolution declaring its intent to assume governance of the district and hold a public hearing on the matter;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors:
Declares its intent to appoint itself as the Board of Trustees for the Tulare Public Cemetery District, effective upon completion of the required public hearing and approval process.
Direct staff to hold public hearing within 60 days of the adoption of this resolution to receive and consider public comments regarding this governance change.”
On June 6, a revised version was published. That version rearranged some sentences and statements, and changed “being subjected to public harassment” to “being subjected to harassment.”
It also acknowledged concerns by the public about the operation and governance of the cemetery and the risk of the cemetery losing its insurance coverage:
“WHEREAS, concerns have been brought to the attention of the Board of Supervisors over the past 5 years regarding the current administration, operational efficiency, and overall effectiveness of the District Board of Trustees”
“WHEREAS, the District risks losing insurance coverage which render the District unable to engage in normal operations unless it is able to demonstrate stability amongst its Board of Trustees”
“WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors recognizes the importance of the District in providing essential interment services to the community and maintaining a respectful and well-managed public cemetery”
“WHEREAS, the District risks losing insurance coverage which render the District unable to engage in normal operations unless it is able to demonstrate stability amongst its Board of Trustees”
It’s unclear why the changes were not in the initial resolution.
One takeover – and two near-misses – due to governance
The Tulare Public Cemetery District’s impending takeover by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors is relatively unique: Voice research found only a handful of takeovers performed under Health and Safety Code Section 9026. One case – and two others that came close to takeovers, but did not happen – appear similar to Tulare’s current situation.
In 1988, Napa County took over governance of the Monticello Public Cemetery District after “complaints were heard regarding the operation” of the Monticello district. The county supervisors have continued to govern the Monticello district since their take over.
More recently, in an ongoing situation that has parallels to the current Tulare cemetery controversy, community members in Barstow have for the past few years raised concerns over the state of the Barstow Cemetery District’s Mountain View Memorial Park cemetery.
Additionally, the Barstow Cemetery District has made headlines in the past for the state of the cemetery’s grounds and the district’s governance. In January 2024, the San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission listed a county takeover as a potential solution to perennial problems at the cemetery, though no action has been taken by the county.
In 2008, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors came close to taking over the Santa Maria Cemetery District’s Board of Trustees, but did not do so, according to a story from the Lompoc Record.
The board was made up of only three trustees, and expanded their ranks to five in the hopes of avoiding a takeover, according to the story. A county supervisor pointed to problems with the cemetery board as the reason to take it over.
In a statement reminiscent of those by former Tulare cemetery trustees, one of the three trustees pointed the finger for the issues at another trustee, claiming that “ever since [they] came on, we’ve had nothing but trouble.”
Most takeovers due to resource constraints or lack of community interest
Most instances of takeovers were due to a lack of involvement by the community, research found, and they eventually returned control back to district constituents.
Most recently, in 2022, the Inyo County Board of Supervisors took over the Tecopa Cemetery District between January 18, 2022 and February 22, 2022, when supervisors were unable to seat a quorum on the Tecopa board.
“While two individuals expressed interest in joining the District board, two people would not be enough to form a quorum and allow the District to conduct any business,” an agenda item states. “Currently, the plan is that, if the Board of Supervisors becomes the governing board of the District, the Board of Supervisors will take action to reduce the number of board members on the District board to three, appoint the two interested individuals to the District board, and then turn back control over to the District board.”
At the February 22 meeting, the Inyo board did just that, additionally seating a third board member.
A similar situation occurred in Yuba County in 2017. Yuba County’s Board of Supervisors took over the Smartsville Cemetery District, whose board had been vacant for a significant amount of time.
“Over the past decade, trustees have resigned and were difficult, if not impossible, to replace. In May 2017, the last remaining trustee passed away. This person had not only been the sole trustee, but had also minimally operated the district, although operations appeared to have ceased sometime in 2015,” a Yuba County agenda item states.
Over the next two years, the Yuba County supervisors completed a financial audit of the district, operational assessment audit, and established “appropriate business practices,” returning control of the district to a new three-person board in April of 2019.
Separate process allows cities to take over cemetery boards
In one other case, a city permanently took over operations of a cemetery district – instead of ceding control to the county.
In a process separate from Section 9026 in 2011, the Wildomar Cemetery District became a subsidiary district of the Wildomar City Council with the support of the district’s board and the Riverside County Local Agency Formation Commission. Wildomar council members now form the district’s board, and city officials run the cemetery.
I take offense at being called an activist. I am a concerned citizen and have Ben for many years. It is unacceptable to have the grounds in such disarray. To not have the financials up to date with no transparency and giving the public an update as to the questions that have arisen from the public. It is no wonder that emotions are elevated, we get no answers. It is very frustrating.
I strongly agree with the County take over of operations of the Tulare Public Cemetery. The current organization as it stands has proven over and over again it’s unwillingness operate a Cemetery worthy of respect and dignity to all our loved ones buried there. The current leadership has proven to be incompetent and unwilling to accept accountability of it’s obvious shortcomings.
I would assume that the Board of Supervisors will conduct an indepth autopsy (no pun intended) on all aspects of the cemetery to get a complete and total picture in understanding all cemetery operations from A to Z, especially in regards to the financials since the cemetery will be footing the bill to pay for the Supervisors’ oversight and management. I hope going forward that everyone will keep opened minds, hopeful thoughts, and have patience to see eventually what we hope will be better results. Who knows, this could very well be the beginning of what we all had asked for…… a fighting chance to have a healthy and financially solvent cemetery. It is high time to turn the corner.