Piedmont Park is special; master plan can make it better
How lovely to see one of our parks on the front page in the Dec. 2 article “Piedmont Park’s future is what we make of it.” Similar to other cities, Atlanta has Piedmont Park because of a World’s Fair/Exposition. Until the Beltline brought us Westside Park, Piedmont was our largest park at 180 acres and had the involvement of the Olmsted Brothers in its design. It’s definitely a special park.
I am hoping that the current master plan effort will either correct or at least mitigate the loss of the highest point in the park and the view and vista from such a point. Instead of a belvedere or something similar, the highest point in Piedmont Park is the top floor of a parking deck. Citizen efforts for a different outcome were to no avail when the garage was built, but perhaps now something can be done.
ALIDA C. SILVERMAN, ATLANTA
Prayers in the boardroom shouldn’t be a problem
I noticed a few noteworthy things in the article Dec. 8 AJC article “Should CEO invoke Jesus in meetings?” The meeting prayers focus mainly on the health and safety of the employees, their families and clients. The concerned employee mentions the company is “diverse, egalitarian and doesn’t require employees to be Christian.”
Its website contains statements of faith, so there shouldn’t have been surprises about prayers in meetings. The only problem the employee has is the mention of Jesus by the chief executive officer.
Nowhere did the article say the employee is being forced to pray a Christian prayer or being ostracized for being non-Christian. Indeed, it’s worth mentioning the employee has been with the company for four years and hopes to retire there. A company that is both diverse and egalitarian sounds like an ideal workplace and one that adheres to the teachings of Jesus.
Unless there are unmentioned violations of the concerned employees’ First Amendment rights, the answer to the article’s question about mentioning Jesus is simply yes.
KIP HOWARD, MARIETTA
