Over 25 Years of Service to Public Cemeteries

 

The Public Cemetery Alliance is an association of California public cemetery districts, as well as several public cemeteries owned and operated by counties and cities. Public cemetery districts evolved in California from village “burial grounds” of the 1850s through “community cemetery associations” of the 1870s to today’s public cemetery districts, created by the Legislature in 1909.

The Legislature-mandated function of public cemetery districts is to provide “respectful and cost-effective interments” for the residents and taxpayers of each district. The Legislature em-powered public cemetery districts to publicly finance the ownership, improvement, expansion and operation of cemeteries.”
 

In 2019 the PCA celebrated its 25th anniversary. In its early years the PCA was composed primarily of northern and central California members, but its member districts now come from across the state. PCA’s mission is to promote the interests of public cemeteries which protect and preserve the family, cultural, and historical resources of the communities they serve. To achieve these goals, the PCA holds an annual conference; area and regional meetings and training pro-grams throughout the year; publishes a quarterly newsletter; drafts, advocates and promotes legislation; provides operational, administrative and general legal guidance and other support and assistance to its member districts.

Operating public cemeteries involves the vast range of activities similar to any other business or public agency—contracts and documents; real estate purchases, sales and leases; accounting and auditing; employees and employment; construction and maintenance; architecture and engineering; purchasing everything from paper clips to lawn equipment to vehicles to excavating ma-chines; safety; hardware and software systems; as well as compliance with numerous legal requirements imposed on public agencies; and so forth. To help with these myriad functions the PCA makes available to its members a wide array of resources, not the least of which is bringing members together with a range of product and service suppliers and vendors.

Vendor opportunities are available to participate in PCA’s annual conference, regional area meetings and training sessions, and to advertise in the Alliance’s quarterly newsletters.