HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976 06-23 Coping with stress a concern of officials THE REVIEW Coping with stress a concern of officials .
• 23 127.6 c' �n , � :•
by the Review newsstaff Procrastination and indecision are fac- I `'`
Walk into any city council meeting andtors which build up stress,he said, -=
the odds favor that at some time the - ;;
publicofficials will be under varying MAPLEWOOD'S ENTIRE CITY . }' qtr a
degrees of stress. council attended the convention. e"�' lrr• {�r' Y °
Sometimes the stress takes the form of Two councilmen asked to comment on ^ti=-, -s" `crt �;-
having to listen to angry audiences.Other the session termed it''excellent." ,a«
times stress takes its form in the shape of. Councilman Norm Anderson said the t
doubts the lingering question of"did I session on stress on public officials was ,
do the right thing?"or"did I make the "very interesting.I found out all of our " gt, --,
right decision?" j problems are alike."He noted that for .-r fadi s w� ?
many cities,the pressures brought on at a r '
BUT THE STRESS IS EVER present, public hearings and the stress of making r ' w � _ � '
local public officials agree.And in at some decisions is great,"And this seems .5� x3,1 ,„,,,,,,,?,;,N,,,
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tending a workshop at the League of to have more effect on newer councilmen �.�m i7Y::',',/:r.,,,„i.
•Minnesota Municipalities convention in than on those who have been on the s>4 ' er.. ,, "ss
Duluth earlier this month,most of them council awhile." e ti
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found out that their lot is common. Anderson said it was"helpful to talk ��, _ �,i},� �
City councilmen from Maplewood,Oak- about these problems.It's nice to know :':. .' .y„ ''`" 4 j . `.'
dale and North St.Paul who attended the you're not alone." C '` ' �"
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seminar entitled"Stress and the Public Councilman Burton Murdock also felt s. a tv • ,s;;
Official"all agreed they learned some that the session was very beneficial and i
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very valuable things. . - said of the seminar on conflict between a .w t ,...:;..,:;.,14!f.,,,,,.^r :
Oakdale councilman Robert Hanson councils and managers, I thought s " i.try t' `, }i ; ,, , u7
found that of all sessions heattendedthe Maplewood really had some conflicts.But • • '. ,5; n
one on stress"was the most rewarding." Richfield and Duluth are buried in them. �� s, �a^' • a „,,,4,4,1„,";,,.,
And it was doubly valuable since Han- "When we leave council chambers,wer
son's wife accompanied on the trip and leave our animosity behind.Many of them , , r t xi (1
the two were able to share that session. carry their battles into the outside world. r �
"That allowed us to relate to and The detriment of that is to the public.” -
recognize some of the things that cause He added,"It was truly an insight to me tt 1St
stress for people who serve in'public of- to find out how important it is to bring ya a `
flee,"Hanson said. problems out in open ' '' ;4 ,..4,,,,,••• Nr t""° `w"'
the so they can be yc 'f
Hanson said that many of the things worked. out instead of carrying them i m
were not new Rut it(the session)brought around with us." r '.:•„--¢ ,..e. ; • „,a ..
out many things don't think about Murdock also said he learned the �Y',,� • ,s a'-iw.w 4.
often,"he said.•" "necessity of having outgoing councilmen 6 �" ""�*�, „¢:z „ ,,,,.ra
have a work session with new council v' �' .. ,',»�`a..w:., "..�•,*••*•"e
"ONE OF THE MOST important points members"just to explain the job."
mow
,
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made was that stress and depression are •--�
natural," Hanson said. "We have the THE STABILITY of the city of North :�
capacity to cope with them." St.Paul was reflected in comments by
The danger,Hanson reported,is to turn two of its council members who attended
to
ctors for
elp when you
d help the seminar on stress. ,
yo
self.
sheet
Participants
rank hwee kindsskeof eventsfout
his ma humorous quips than hes unique ability ,byd
order in council ham 1�
stressful to them,Hanson said.The list hers,said,"I feel no stress,so it wasYe
_
included everything from a death in the difficult to relate to the subject,but it was "'
family to changed sleeping habits, probably good for those who do ex-
The exercise provided public officials perience stress.
with"a numerical approximation to "The only stress I felt at the convention LOCAL CITY COUNCILMEN found out at a recent Minnesota League of Municipalities workshop
consider at what points they can take care was at breakfast time—the food was _ seminar that coping with stress is a problem faced by all public servants.How they respond to the
of their own stress and when they might terrible!"added Whisler. stress is another issue,however.
turn to help from the outside. Councilman Ralph Corwin wasim-
Hanson said that stress can be pressed with the seminar, but he too
minimized if a person is able to assess claims he feels no stress as a public of-
their direction and if they have goals. ficial.
'- "Because I'm new on the council I don't
have as much stress,"Corwin explained., ,
"I don't get the telephone calls that the.
other councilmen get between meetings.'
In fact,most people in the community! •
I don't even know I'm on the council."
In a small group session following
opening remarks at the seminar on stress,
Corwin said his group discussed i.
relationships between older and younger
public officials. .I
"Officials of different age brackets'
should work together to bring young
people into public service,"he said."The
older ones should take it easy and let
young people do things wihtout getting up
tight about it."
Corwin was pleased with the con-
vention,calling it a good experience for
those who took part,