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The role was one his family had found frustrating in the past.
In the early 1900s, his great-grandfather unsuccessfully pushed the City Council to place a park improvement bond measure on the ballot. Half a century later, his grandfather lost lawsuits to prevent the city from siphoning away part of the park for the 5 Freeway and from turning Toyon Canyon into a landfill. In 1981, his parents sued the city and lost when it imposed vehicle entrance fees of 50 cents on weekdays and $1 on weekends. Three years later, the city rescinded the fee.
Griffith said he hopes that this time, the city will see it his way.
He faces a skeptic, however, in City Councilman Tom LaBonge, perhaps the park's best-known cheerleader.
"This is a park, not a preserve," said LaBonge, who sports a well-worn white Dodgers sweat shirt and totes a football when he hikes the park's Charlie Turner Trail nearly every day at sunrise.
"I'm all for designation of buildings and spots of significance in the park, but right here?" LaBonge asked, circling his finger over the dirt trail path one Friday morning, "Would it be something to designate? I'm not sure."
LaBonge said he supports a review of the application by the Cultural Heritage Commission but questions how a designation would affect the park. In particular, he worried that it might hamper park maintenance and his dreams for significant improvements to infrastructure.
Ken Bernstein, manager of the Cultural Heritage Commission, said a historical designation would not "freeze historic properties at a point in time."
If the commission's five members vote today to take up the application, they would spend the next several weeks touring the park before deciding whether to refer the matter to the City Council for a vote.
Although Griffith said he will never again live in Los Angeles, he vowed that as long as there are Griffiths, they will act as park caretakers. His son Trevor, 20, and daughter, Morgan, 24, are proud of the park that bears their name and well aware of their legacy, he said.
"As time goes on here, we get farther away from who actually gave away the park," Griffith said. "I don't know what the future would hold, but I hope the city respects that the Griffiths are still around, looking over their shoulder."
joanna.lin@latimes.com
In the early 1900s, his great-grandfather unsuccessfully pushed the City Council to place a park improvement bond measure on the ballot. Half a century later, his grandfather lost lawsuits to prevent the city from siphoning away part of the park for the 5 Freeway and from turning Toyon Canyon into a landfill. In 1981, his parents sued the city and lost when it imposed vehicle entrance fees of 50 cents on weekdays and $1 on weekends. Three years later, the city rescinded the fee.
Griffith said he hopes that this time, the city will see it his way.
He faces a skeptic, however, in City Councilman Tom LaBonge, perhaps the park's best-known cheerleader.
"This is a park, not a preserve," said LaBonge, who sports a well-worn white Dodgers sweat shirt and totes a football when he hikes the park's Charlie Turner Trail nearly every day at sunrise.
"I'm all for designation of buildings and spots of significance in the park, but right here?" LaBonge asked, circling his finger over the dirt trail path one Friday morning, "Would it be something to designate? I'm not sure."
LaBonge said he supports a review of the application by the Cultural Heritage Commission but questions how a designation would affect the park. In particular, he worried that it might hamper park maintenance and his dreams for significant improvements to infrastructure.
Ken Bernstein, manager of the Cultural Heritage Commission, said a historical designation would not "freeze historic properties at a point in time."
If the commission's five members vote today to take up the application, they would spend the next several weeks touring the park before deciding whether to refer the matter to the City Council for a vote.
Although Griffith said he will never again live in Los Angeles, he vowed that as long as there are Griffiths, they will act as park caretakers. His son Trevor, 20, and daughter, Morgan, 24, are proud of the park that bears their name and well aware of their legacy, he said.
"As time goes on here, we get farther away from who actually gave away the park," Griffith said. "I don't know what the future would hold, but I hope the city respects that the Griffiths are still around, looking over their shoulder."
joanna.lin@latimes.com
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