Keep St Louis Cemetery #1 Open To The Public

The purpose of the petition is to keep the beautiful St. Louis Cemetery #1 open to the public and possibly offer solutions to the vandalism issue.

Just so we're all on the same page. As a comment stated elsewhere, " It is private property, and they could close it off completely and only allow family to visit. They own it, they can do what they want."

Also, families on the books won't have to pay to tend to their loved ones; they do however have to register to do so. If families aren't on the books due to errors, Katrina, etc, I'm sure the diocese will look at it on a case by case basis. Again, not ideal for the wife that, on a whim, wishes to see her husband. But that's the red tape.

The tour companies, bless them, are equally as taxed I'm sure. Paying extra fees to continue their livelihood. They have nothing to do with this other than being forced to pay to show.

Truth, this isn't about anger. It's about compromise and common ground. We want to give the Archbishop working knowledge of people's thoughts and ideas, whether it be money, security, upkeep, or anything else.

I do completely understand why they want to do this. But I think there are many other ways of dealing with it, fury and ire not being one of them; but constructive discourse, caring, understanding, and love.

I don't claim to know all the answers. I don't. That's why I'm here.

EDIT: Local article explaining the In's and Out's.

http://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2015/01/because_of_vandalism_only_tour.html#incart_river

EDIT 2: For those wanting to contact the Archbishop now in regards to keeping St Louis Cemetery accessible. As always keep it civil and polite.

To mail a letter, direct it to Gregory Michael AyMond, the Archbishop, 7887 Walmsley Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70125.

Or send an email here: https://www.arch-no.org/contact

Points to stress:
- This policy will not protect the cemetery from vandalism that occurs after hours
- This policy will restrict access to local residents who cannot afford to pay a tour guide when they want to visit the cemetery, whose rich history belongs to all residents
- The proposed rates charged to tourist companies are exorbitant and will require them to bring in large groups of 25+ people just to break even. Large groups are more difficult to control
- The policy is difficult to enforce
- Better solutions include a security system (alarms), cameras, and a guard posted during opening hours