A dismal civil grand jury report about city-managed cemeteries in the city of Sonoma depicts oversight buried in dysfunction, dead-end links to cemetery webpages, uncollected sales tax and undertakers undercharging for certain services — all of which could lead to an endowment designed to pay for upkeep ceasing to exist.

Civil grand juries are panels convened annually in each county around the state to investigate and report on local government operations. The jury in Sonoma County self-initiated their investigation into the city’s cemeteries, though reviews of some of the burial sites on social media range from “appears neglected and poorly maintained” to “it’s just a disgrace that a place for one’s final resting place is so neglected.”

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Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.