Honorable Judge Beaudet,
I represent California’s 65th Assembly District. Within it lies four cemeteries, and a portion of the City of Carson where I also reside. The purpose of this letter is to urge the Court to demonstrate urgency while acting on Case No. 24STCP00786, pertaining to the case of Lincoln Memorial Park in Carson.
The unfortunate presence of a health issue has made the former operator of this cemetery unable to return to the responsibility of keeping the grounds. Lincoln is a well-known entity to the residents of my community, with historical significance. Indeed, Lincoln was once a place that welcomed our regions’ African-American families – yet the community has no legal standing overall. I myself have family whose final resting place lies here, as do many of those I represent. With no operator the site remains abandoned, and with no overseer taking on responsibility for the loved ones laid to rest, the 2023 abandonment has caused my community undue distress. Lincoln’s cemetery grounds currently threaten to bring the legacies of our honored dead into disrepute.[1] News articles feature it in a very negative way,[2] including stories where individuals are vandalizing, stealing headstones, and selling copper for profit.[3] Lack of action by the State convinces residents that equity is unimportant to the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau and our government.
It is to that end that I am respectfully requesting that you appoint a manager to oversee Lincoln Cemetery immediately, which is needed to stop these kind of vandalizations from happening. I urge the court to accelerate its appointment. As a legislator, I authorized AB 1651 in 2021 to prevent caretakers from abandoning cemeteries into disrepair. Yet now, the court needs to act to resolve this management issue and bring justice to Lincoln.
[1] https://abc7.com/lincoln-memorial-park-cemetery-carson-abandoned-vandalized/14654137/ (“Torrance woman heartbroken over struggles to bury her mother at Carson cemetery”)
[2] https://www.nbclosangeles.com/local-2/plaques-stolen-lincoln-statue-compton-carson/3312775/ (“Over 100 plaques stolen from one of LA's first African American cemeteries”)
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/09/us/copper-theft-heavy-metal.html (“Metal Thieves Are Stripping America’s Cities”)