EDITORS COMMENTS: Posted without opinion, bias or editing.
In just a few weeks, it will have been a full calendar year since I began the task of lobbying for drastic reform at both city cemeteries- Oak Hill & Locust Hill.
https://city-countyobserver.com/2012/07/16/evansvilles-grave-injustice-by-jordan-baer/
What started out as a simple goal of finally fixing what has been a decades old problem has now surprisingly turned into a full blown battle against those dedicated to maintaining the status quo of neglect, dilapidation, and disrepair. This has been the case in just about every task I’ve worked on in this city. It has been the same gang with the same excuses with the only difference being a new case of demolition by neglect each time. It’s getting old, and it’s getting old fast.
First of all, I would like to thank those who have done what they can do for these cemeteries. The first people to join the cause were 5th Ward Council Member John Friend who introduced Resolution C-2012-16 and 6th Ward Council Member Al Lindsey who cosponsored this much needed legislation. Next, a ton of credit goes to 4th Ward City Council Member Connie Robinson who actually took the time to go and view these cemetery conditions for herself.
https://city-countyobserver.com/2012/07/31/councilwoman-connie-robinson-appalled-by-condition-of-oak-hill-cemetery/
As most residents in this area know, having a council member, or any city official for that matter, actually go out and survey the problems first hand is something new and unheard of here in the Evansville area. I thank Connie for doing this and God Bless You Please Mrs. Robinson.
Finally, I would like to thank those who directly handle and manage the cemetery grounds that have made a few improvements to Oak Hill after it was brought to their attention by the city council. This group includes the mowing crew as well as Chris Cooke- Our local Superintendent of Cemeteries.
http://agraveinjustice.blogspot.com/2012/10/update-slow-but-steady-progress-at-our.html
Although much progress has been made, the conditions of either cemetery are beyond anything acceptable, and truthfully, I’m at a loss for words as to why anyone would find either cemetery in acceptable condition. You’ve seen the pictures and it doesn’t look pretty. Toppled head stones, out of line plots, and covered up grave markers are just a few of the problems that have plagued these cemeteries long before you, I, or any other CCO supporter has been alive.
http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=1120820
Last week, I returned to the historic confines of both Oak Hill and Locust Hill Cemeteries, and it didn’t take long before these conditions were out in the open for all to see once more…
http://agraveinjustice.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-grave-injustice-still-lingers-oak.html
https://www.facebook.com/jordan.baer1/media_set?set=a.10101317136390040.1073741839.12913772&type=3
Last month, the Courier & Press decided to pay Oak Hill Cemetery a visit. How nice of them to finally join the party and report on the neglect going on at these cemeteries. For a newspaper that doesn’t want a half baked hotel plan, they seem quite content with a less than stellar cemetery grounds. One would think that with the amount of cemetery advertisements popping up on their site they would have joined the CCO last year in fighting to repair these iconic grounds.
https://city-countyobserver.com/2012/12/07/spend-the-money-on-the-cemeteries-not-cp-advertising-by-jordan-baer/
Thankfully, Chris Cooke took them on a walk through Oak Hill Cemetery in an effort to get the word out about cemetery erosion. What the following image should prove to those who want to maintain the status quo in these cemeteries is that denial is not a river in Egypt.
http://www.courierpress.com/photos/2013/may/24/141084/
The bottom line is this: there is ample amount of evidence that both of these cemeteries are suffering from erosion and neglect, and these conditions are only getting worse. The hardest part to accomplish in the goal of getting these conditions corrected was to get someone to go in front of the City Council and demand cemetery repair, maintenance, and perpetual care funds be replenished back to their proper levels. I did this last summer, and it was quite a battle. Initially, at the first council meeting discussing these funds there were not enough votes to get these funds. It, like every other project, took a lot of political will power to eventually round up enough support.
At the end of the day, I was able to secure these funds thanks to John Friend, Al Lindsey, and Connie Robinson on the City Council. These funds are believed to be around the $70,000 mark ($35,000 per cemetery). No other city official was willing to do this from the mayor all the way down to the mowing crew. So, it shouldn’t be too much to ask for the city to give us a plan of action as well as a rough estimate for a timetable as to when these cemeteries might be fully repaired.
Although having Chris Cooke and the lawn mowing workers make subtle improvements such as avoiding hitting head stones with lawn mowers, placing broken stones on stop of the rest of the stone, and standing head stones up that had fallen are all good improvements, they are far from reaching the goal of having a completely repaired cemetery that is the pride of residents from all over Evansville.
Any comprehensive plan of action will have to involve the mayor’s administration- particularly Mr. Todd Robertson who was the one who spoke at the Council Meeting about the cemetery funds. One person on one level of city government will not be able to solve this problem alone. Like Mr. Robertson said in an Eyewitness News interview, it is a “long standing†problem. It will not be solved overnight. Therefore, any plan of action must include, but not limited to, the following…
1. What are the main problems facing the cemeteries?
– i.e Toppled head stones, lost grave markers, out of line rows, damaged grave markers, and diminished repair/maintenance/perpetual care fund(s).
2. What is the size and scope of these problems?
– i.e Approximately how many head stones are broke, damaged, or lost and how many are out of line? How much needs to be placed in the proper perpetual funds and accounts?
3. What resources will it take to fix these problems?
– i.e How much labor, what kind of labor, what kind of materials, how much/many materials, and what kind of political support is needed?
4. Roughly how much funding would be needed to fix these problems?
– i.e What would the total bill be for labor, materials, and funds to replenish the proper cemetery accounts?
5. Approximately how long will it take to fix these problems?
– i.e How many years? How many phases?
6. What problems can volunteers solve? What problems can only qualified staff members solve?
– i.e What problems can the public volunteer to help solve? What problems must qualified individuals be utilized or newly hired to solve?
These questions, which should serve as a backbone for a comprehensive plan of attack, should be debated, answered, and addressed in front of the public eye and not behind closed doors. And once a plan is formed, we will then know what kind of problems we are dealing with and what you, I, and the rest of the city needs to do about it.
Make no mistake, these problems can be solved. Recently, I came upon a company website of a man named John Walters who many call the “Graveyard Groomer,†whose business deals with rehabilitating dilapidated cemeteries in the Indiana and Kentucky areas. When you look at his before and after images, you will see that the pictures a posted above could easily be fixed by someone like this.
http://www.graveyardgroomer.com/Before-and-After.htm
A quote from him stuck out to me: “It don’t take a rocket scientist to do this, but it does take a heart.
And I got one of them.” That’s the mentality we need here with our two great cemeteries. The fact is, death is undefeated. One day, you will be buried in a place like this…
And I will be buried in a place like this…
We all need to take care of these cemeteries!