JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Brandon Yoshimura of Aiea paid his respects to his grandparents, Clarence and Edith Yoshimura, yesterday afternoon at Honolulu Memorial Park in Nuuanu. Plans to transfer a trust fund meant to pay for maintenance of the cemetery to a nonprofit association of niche and cemetery plot owners are behind schedule.

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Tam to quit
cemetery job

The plot owners at Honolulu
Memorial park have questions
about its trust fund

The way Rod Tam tells it, he's a long-suffering nice guy, who spent almost two years trying to help the Honolulu Memorial Park Cemetery get back on its feet.

Rod Tam: Says he will resign from Kyoto Gardens Park because he is too busy

But angry niche and plot owners attending a meeting Tam called about the cemetery yesterday said they don't want his help anymore.

They questioned Tam about income from the more than $1 million trust fund that's supposed to pay for maintenance at the Nuuanu cemetery and about $56,000 a nonprofit group raised to supplement that trust income in hopes of renovating the badly dilapidated pagoda on cemetery grounds.

"We're not accusing him of stealing it," said Ann Ono, "but we've never gotten a full accounting."

Since September 2003, Tam has served as vice president of the nonprofit entity Kyoto Gardens Park. He was elected to the position at a meeting that some members say in retrospect was illegal.

Yesterday Tam said he would relinquish that post, not in response to pressure, but because he's too busy. He also said he would stop bagging trash at the cemetery or letting people into the locked Golden Pavilion temple on request.

Tam said he would turn over his keys to Vic Hejmadi, president of Kyoto Gardens Park, who was not at yesterday's meeting.

Honolulu Memorial Park filed for bankruptcy reorganization Dec. 21, 2001, but bankruptcy was averted with a plan to transfer ownership to a plot and niche owners' group. Since then, suspicions have arisen over that plan.

"You've taken control now, you want to force the board of Honolulu Memorial Park to resign and get a hold of the money," John Nuha said to Tam at the meeting.

"You tried to transfer the ownership of the pagoda to a Buddhist organization at the university -- do you know how underhanded that is," Nuha asked.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Honolulu Memorial Park in Nuuanu and its historic Sanju pagoda, seen in the background, are the subject of continued controversy.

After the mission turned down the offer, some cemetery plot owners learned of it -- and wondered how such a trade could be considered without letting them know.

Nuha said he believes people trusted Tam to handle things because he has served in elected office, as a state senator and now on the Honolulu City Council.

At yesterday's meeting Tam said he didn't know the answers to questions that were asked about finances. He said those are still matters for the Honolulu Memorial Association to handle.

After the meeting Tam said any money he's expended has been spent on water, electric and trash service for the cemetery. Trash pickup has been stopped, he said, to save money.

Tam said he only found out yesterday about a June 18 meeting of Kyoto Gardens Park, at which new officers were elected: President Gilbert Higa; Vice President John Nuha; Secretary Ann Ono; Director Reggie Takaki; and Director Pamela Cunningham.

Ono said both Tam and Hejmadi were invited to that meeting, but didn't attend.

"I'm helping from the bottom of my heart, but I'm tired of getting called on urns stolen, no maintenance, no water," Tam said. "I don't have to do those things."

Yesterday's meeting didn't address the future of the historic Sanju pagoda, which has deteriorated so badly that it must either be torn down or renovated at a cost estimated at more than $1 million.