Dear Friend --

I’ve said from the start we would never let Sunnyside Cemetery close or fall into disrepair. On Tuesday, the City Council will look at final steps to take ownership of the cemetery and make it a permanent part of our City's park system.

The cemetery, where many of our city’s founding fathers and mothers are buried, has faced financial difficulties and is unable to continue operations in private hands. But it will soon be in public hands if approved by the City Council.

This would not have been possible without many weeks of hard work and negotiation. I want to thank Councilmember Roberto Uranga, whose support for these efforts was crucial from the beginning, as well as our Economic Development Director John Keisler and our Parks, Recreation and Marine Director, Gerardo Mouet, who led the teams that worked out the complicated details.

My thanks also to the Board at Sunnyside, who collaborated closely with the City to find a good resolution.

The cemetery is an important part of our city history and I’m proud we are going to take ownership, restore it, and make it part our city parks system.

Go Long Beach!

Mayor Robert Garcia