Monday, Jul. 21, 2008

State denies operating license for Evergreen cemetery owner

By VICTOR A. PATTON
vpatton@mercedsunstar.com

The state has denied the owner of Evergreen Memorial Park and Funeral Home an operating license for the second time in less than a year, according to documents from the state's Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.

The denial is the latest chapter in the troubled history of the 100-year-old cemetery, which has been in foreclosure since October.

The state's Cemetery and Funeral Bureau sent a letter to Evergreen on May 16, denying Evergreen's application for a funeral establishment license because its owner and operator still owes the state more than $44,000 in unpaid fines and fees.

The letter identifies Michael Scott Wallace as the owner of Sunset Service Corp., the company that owns Evergreen. Wallace owes those fines and fees because of a long list of violations occurred while he was a director at Madera Funeral Home.

Because of those violations, the state revoked Wallace's funeral establishment license and director's license in 2003.

Even though the letter clearly identifies Wallace as the owner of Sunset Service Corporation, Wallace publicly denied ownership of Evergreen during a public meeting in April.

Kevin Flanagan, spokesman for the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, said the state believes that Wallace is the owner of Evergreen. "That's what we believe," Flanagan said. "He can certainly contest that at a hearing if he so chooses."

Wallace did not return several phone calls on Friday. The state also denied Evergreen a cemetery certificate of authority and funeral establishment license in September.

To address the situation at the failing cemetery, Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani has two bills that are being reviewed in the Senate.

AB 1816, if signed into law, would allow the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau to appoint a temporary conservator to maintain the upkeep of a private cemetery when a manager has ceased to perform their duties. That bill is scheduled to be reviewed Aug. 4 in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Her second cemetery bill, AB 1911, would require anyone who applies for a funeral or cemetery licence from the state to provide all copies of their managerial contracts and ownership.

The bill would also prohibit a funeral home from hiring an unlicensed funeral counselor. That bill is scheduled for a third reading Aug. 4 on the Senate floor.

According to a July 2003 Madera Tribune article, Wallace's citations centered around charges that he failed to provide contracted service and failed to provide services in a timely manner.

Some of the charges included misplacing the cremated remains of a client and failing to provide a refund to a family after they were offered a reduced rate for funeral services.

Many of the cemetery's problems were reported after residents began to raise questions about its management and faltering upkeep.

Phillip Manning, the business' former president, surrendered the cemetery's operating licenses to the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau in June 2007 -- and a public auction of the property has been postponed several times. At the time the property fell into foreclosure, the unpaid balance on the property was $1.7 million.

Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com.