RAP Commissioners Consider George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon Signage

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

With George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon reported to be opening soon, the discussion and approval of finishing touches is now underway.

The Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners of the City of Los Angeles voted during its October 6 meeting to approve some of the proposed signage for the park—while another facet has been tabled.

When completed, the project will include two informational kiosks at the Frontera Drive and Friends Street entrances. The placement and design of the signs had previously been approved by the board,  explained Darryl Ford, superintendent of the Planning, Maintenance and Construction Branch.

“The only remaining item that is related to these kiosks involved the adoption of the text and images to be included on the boards that are there,” Ford said.

Both of the kiosks, Ford explained, have informational boards that are three feet wide by four feet tall.

The report proposed that at Friends Street, the kiosk would be one sided, containing a park map and informational graphics. The kiosk at Frontera would be dual-sided, with one side containing the park map and informational graphics, while the other side would contain proposed biographical information about the park’s namesake, George Wolfberg.

In January 2021, RAP Commissioners voted to approve the naming of the forthcoming Potrero Canyon Park in honor of the late community member and activist. Wolfberg, who died in February 2020, was chair of the Potrero Canyon Community Advisory Committee, which was formed to help the city manage the design of the project.

“The other item before you in this report is the interpretive signage that would be installed as part of the project,” Ford continued. “So again, when the board approved the scope of the project, the board also approved the installation of a total of eight interpretive signs throughout the canyon.”

The eight proposed signs include information about the history of the canyon—the flora, the fauna—as well as information about living in a zone that experiences brush fires.

RAP Board President Sylvia Patsaouras opened the discussion by noting that while it would be appropriate to include a plaque or other signage to recognize Wolfberg, the “extensive level of detail in the recommended biographical information, including the photographs in the proposed signage, is not appropriate for permanent signage in one of the city’s parks.”

Commissioner Nicole Chase shared that she thought it was a “beautiful tribute,” acknowledging the “amazing contributions” Wolfberg made to the park—but that approving the signage would set a standard that would have to be maintained in the future at other locations.

“We try to allow for flexibility in our written policy,” Patsaouras said, “but it seems that we now have to be much more concise in the language in the naming policy as to what is allowed and can be considered so that we can minimize expectations that may not comply with the intent of our policies.”

After a discussion among the commissioners, Patsaouras planned to hold the report in its entirety, but Commissioner Joe Halper suggested revisiting the report, leading to the decision that the side of the panel on the kiosks with the map and information, as well as the eight interpretive signs throughout the park, would be considered for approval, while not approving the side of the sign with information about Wolfberg.

“I can’t tell you how unhappy I am that the board is not going to be approving, after so many hundreds and hundreds of hours of work on the Wolfberg sign, that we now find at the last minute it can’t be approved,” David Card, a Palisadian and member of the Potrero Canyon Community Advisory Committee, shared during public comment. “So we will go back to the drawing board on that. But as to the motion to amend, I fully support the interpretive signs and urge all the commissioners to approve them.”

Patsaouras apologized to the community following approval of the amended motion.

“It’s unfortunate that this person who spoke said, you know, there were hours of discussion on this board, but if that discussion is on signage that is inappropriate, it still makes it inappropriate,” she said. “So, we just have to work closer with the staff to make sure that they encourage the communities to come forward early on in the process, so that they know what’s allowed for the signage at our parks.”

Commissioners voted to approve the report, with the amendment in place.

Following the meeting, Card shared with the Palisadian-Post that the sign was created months ago by Wolfberg’s daughter, Anya, with “loving input” by his wife, Diane, and sons, David and Michael—with “guidance from the RAP staff.”

“All of us who worked on the sign honoring George, including RAP staff, thought it complied with sign guidelines or policy,” Card explained. “We were very surprised and disappointed in hearing the criticisms of two of the commissioners and their rejection of the sign. We don’t know what they might approve for a sign, because we don’t know how it did not comply with the policy.”

Card said a standard park sign with the name George Wolfberg Park in Potrero Canyon, similar in format to the one at the entry to Palisades Recreation Center, is in the plans and will be installed.