No walk in the park

Re “An open park, open to all,” Opinion, Aug. 17

L.A. desperately needs new parkland and a proper budget for the department responsible for its care. The last thing L.A. needs is to develop the precious little we have left in the name of politics, power struggles and childish personal agendas. There are places for more ball fields in Griffith Park that do not present the numerous issues Toyon landfill does. If we had more parkland, there would be even more good, convenient locations. The author would know this if he had attended one of the master plan meetings beyond the one Councilman Tom LaBonge orchestrated specifically for the author’s benefit or had done just a smidgen of actual research.

Griffith Park personified as Manhattan’s Central Park is pure LaBonge. Ball fields (and funiculars too) on Toyon have been pet projects of his for years. The councilman really should have just signed the article himself.

Kristin C. Sabo

Lake View Terrace

The writer is the volunteer steward-caretaker of Amir’s Garden in Griffith Park.

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Rubén Martinez implies that the Griffith Park Master Plan Working Group lacks racial and cultural diversity (it does not) and is made up of wealthy individuals (it is not) who largely reside in one neighborhood (they do not). He misrepresents the contents of the discredited Melendrez draft and demonstrates no desire to acquaint himself with the working group’s balanced proposals to sustain the park and keep it open and free before dismissing our work as flawed.

The exceedingly diverse, citywide input about the future of Griffith Park goes unreported: Almost 12,000 people of all backgrounds from 300 ZIP Codes have signed the Griffith Park Urban Wilderness Petition.

Bernadette Soter

Los Angeles

The writer is a member of the park’s Master Plan Working Group.