Voters in north Clark County will have a few options this fall when it comes to who should be calling the shots in their area’s publicly owned cemeteries.
Eight candidates are running for commissioner positions in two districts. The positions are uncompensated, six-year terms, according to the county website.
Most candidates have lived in north Clark County most of their lives and have family members in cemeteries within their districts. All seem to have the same top priority: keeping things well maintained.
District 4
All three commissioner positions in District 4, which serves Mountain View Cemetery, Amboy Cemetery and Chelatchie Cemetery, are up for election.
The district has been the scene of controversy before.
The Washington State Auditor’s Office issued a report in March that contained results from an independent accountability audit of the district between 2008 and 2010. It said the district lacked proper documentation for 41 plots that were sold to the public. The report said the plots had a total value of at least $8,000.
In addition to the lack of documents, the auditor’s office said the district sold plots in areas of the Amboy Cemetery where burials could not occur; sold plots for amounts not on the board-approved price lists; did not require payment for plots, headstones and liners when they were provided, and did not document payment arrangements, and charged an individual twice for two plots.
Old commissioners were replaced after the controversy and the new ones are still trying to get things in order, said Commissioner Bob McClellan, who is seeking re-election.
McClellan, who has held the position for two years, first got interested in getting involved when controversy sparked in the district, he said.
Now he and the other commissioners are trying to get things back in order with county and state regulations, he said. He says book work is the largest problem but the district has pretty much straightened things out.
McClellan, of La Center, is facing off against Dennis Frasier of Amboy for Position 3.
Frasier held the position before. He opted out of speaking with The Columbian about the election.
Ruth Ham is seeking re-election for commissioner Position 1. She has family buried in the cemeteries and has six generations in one, she said.
She said she believes in honesty and has pride in the cemetery grounds.
The other candidate running for the same position, Gene Winders of Amboy, more or less agrees.
He said the district’s three cemeteries are in pretty good shape but he thinks there is room for improvement. In particular, he wants to make sure the American flag is flown at cemeteries 365 days a year instead of only during a few select holidays. A few small things — like adding a well and watering cemetery grounds — would make a big difference, he said.
Heidi Zimmerman of Amboy is facing off against Carol West of La Center for commissioner Position 2.
West said she started going to all the meetings about three years ago. She hopes to boost community involvement in the district by publishing district information in The Reflector and encouraging more people to come to meetings, she said.
Zimmerman became a commissioner in 2009. She helped make many changes that she is proud of, she said. Those include: creating a district website, making district documents available online and creating new policies to help the district run more smoothly, she said.
She said she hopes to continue her efforts by creating more policies and procedures, improving the website and, of course, improving the cemetery grounds.
District 6
Nearby District 6, which is based out of Battle Ground, also has a contested commissioner position.
Murray Falk of La Center is up for re-election for Position 1. He faces off against Barbara “Kaye” Goheen of Battle Ground.
“To me, it’s very important that it’s a place that people can go and spend time and be comfortable about it,” Falk said. “We want to make it as nice and pleasant for the folks as possible.”
The district has three commissioners who represent four cemeteries: La Center Cemetery, Crawford Cemetery, Lewisville Cemetery and Highland Cemetery.
Goheen became interested in the cemetery districts after she lost her 27-year-old daughter in 1995. She said her daughter was buried in Lewisville Cemetery, which wasn’t very well maintained at the time. She said things are much better now, but she wants to make sure it stays that way.
