Troubled Cemetery in Wilmington Reopened; Some Workers Rehired

The 130-year-old Wilmington Cemetery, closed in June because of financial problems, has rehired two of the three workers and has reopened, according to Dade Albright, president of the Wilmington Cemetery District board that operates the historic graveyard. Pay owed to the three employees who were laid off has been paid and “things are pretty much back to normal,” Albright said.

The Los Angeles City Council has approved a $36,000 bailout that will see the district through the year, according to the office of Wilmington-area Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores. The cemetery board will hold a public hearing in Wilmington on Aug. 3 on a proposed special assessment of property owners in November that is seen as a permanent solution to the cemetery’s financial problems, which surfaced in May after Los Angeles County froze cemetery bank accounts because of a $21,428 overdraft.