What started out yesterday as a quiet public information meeting regarding the financially troubled Honolulu Memorial Park ended in a shouting match with accusations that the meeting's organizer — City Council member Rod Tam — had tried to hijack the cemetery's operating organization and couldn't account for all the money donated to a trust fund.

At one point, Tam threatened to wash his hands of any involvement in the park's troubles — a comment that garnered applause from some in the crowd.

For nearly four years. various factions involved with the cemetery have been embroiled in controversy and finger pointing. The situation escalated after the owners of the memorial park, founded in 1958, filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

Since then the park has lost its license to operate, bills have piled up and the property's centerpiece pagoda, which contains burial niches, has continued to fall deeper into disrepair.

Some 8,000 anxious plot and niche holders have been left with a bewildering mess to sort through.

Meanwhile, the park's three entities — Honolulu Memorial Park Inc., which is responsible for the sale of plots; the Honolulu Memorial Association, a nonprofit that manages the million-dollar perpetual care trust fund; and Kyoto Gardens Park, a nonprofit originally responsible for fundraising — have increasingly been at odds.

Yesterday Tam began the meeting by handing out a statement to about four dozen people in attendance. It outlined a "reorganization operational action plan for re-licensing Honolulu Memorial Park."

Tam, who is vice president of Kyoto Gardens Park and whose City Council district includes the cemetery, has said the park needs to take steps to get its license back so it could sell plots in order to pay its bills.

Tam called for everyone involved to work together.

One aspect of the plan included a familiar Tam refrain: requesting the immediate resignation of the trustees of the Honolulu Memorial Association, who Tam accused of mismanaging the park. He said he'd asked the state attorney general to investigate.

However, even as Tam spoke, there was grumbling among the people in attendance. Plot and niche owner Nils Katahara, who is a lawyer, said Tam's involvement would "drive everyone to the point of confusion."

Richard Graham commented that Tam has kept people in the dark and refused to release the names of all the niche and plot holders.

Ivan Hoe, who's with a group called the Friends of Memorial Park, said they've tried for months to get information from Tam but their efforts were not successful.

"We don't know what's going on," he said.

Tensions picked up noticeably when attorney Evan Shirley, who represents the Friends group, asked Tam if he was a director of Kyoto Gardens Park.

"How did you get to the position of being a director?" Shirley asked.

"They elected me."

"When?"

Tam said he didn't know, but Shirley supplied the answer — Sept. 25, 2003 — because he said he had the minutes of that meeting.

Shirley said he determined from the minutes that notice to inform members of the meeting had been "waived" and that the meeting lasted two minutes.

The purpose of the meeting, according to the minutes, was the election of the board of directors, said Shirley. Tam was among those nominated, he added.

"Was there ever an election?" asked Shirley. "It says, 'Ann Ono, motion to accept nominations. Rod Tam seconded the motion. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned.'

"When did the election take place?"

When Tam tried to answer, Shirley began to read the minutes again.

At that point Tam said he no longer would respond to Shirley, who continued to ask questions — was there ever another election? Was there ever an annual meeting, in accordance with the bylaws?

"I'm not talking to you anymore," Tam said several times. "You're a lawyer."

Shirley asked Tam how he thought he held office in the Kyoto group, since it was done in a secret meeting that lasted two minutes.

From there, matters deteriorated further.

The same Ann Ono mentioned in the minutes, now with the Friends group, asked Tam what had happened to $56,000 that people had donated to a trust fund for the park. She said that as of May, the figure was down to a little more than $30,000.

John Nuha, a member of the Friends group, stood to say that Tam had repeatedly misinformed and confused the members. Meanwhile, he said, Tam had taken more and more control of everything.

"And now you want to force the board of HMA to resign because you want to take control over the money — the trust."

Eventually Tam said he wouldn't answer any more questions, as members of the audience asked for specifics about "the money."

The meeting ended and the park remains — in confusion.