Selling gravestones

As the owner of a family owned and operated community oriented Jewish monument company, I believe it would be a real shanda if cemeteries were allowed to directly sell monuments to the public (“Cemetery talks stall after latest meeting,” July 20). This, along with direct corporate owned funeral home monument sales, would continue to erode the ability of mom and pop companies, like my own, to profitably survive an already tough economic environment. Our family takes great pride in providing very personalized service to our clients. Our firm has the flexibility to adjust our pricing and services according to the needs of our clients, not a set of predetermined and inflexible prices determined by those who see monument sales as another source of income, the same as selling plots, grave carek and so forth. I would strongly urge our elected officials to consider the needs of small business owners like my family and continue the longstanding prohibition against cemeteries selling monuments directly to the public.