Stress Management
Dear Editor: I had the privilege of attending the stress management workshop at the Hames Center. It was led by Sitka Community Hospital’s Director of Health Promotion Doug Osborne.
It was called a Stress-Less Challenge and Doug definitely took the challenge out of our stress with his clear presentation and skillful education. Each class began with a mini-relaxation, moved into some discussion time, and then ended with my favorite part: a full relaxation.
During our discussion, we covered a wide variety of stress-related topics, learned coping and relaxation techniques and then practiced these practical tools. At the end of the four sessions, I was having a much harder time recalling all the stressful situations that I encountered in the past week, a problem I didn’t have when we first started. I noticed that I was dealing with my stress and not holding onto it for as long.
My classmates mentioned incorporating some of the tools they learned, and some were even sleeping better by the end. I would highly recommend attending any future workshops hosted by Doug. He did a great job tailoring the class to the participants and created a comfortable environment to learn and relax. A big thank you to Doug, for taking the time to share his knowledge with us!
Kylene Fremling,
Hames Center Americorps VISTA
Cutting Staff
Dear Editor: Mr. Gorman, Assembly and editors, what is done is done, but I oppose any staffing cuts. First, the city payroll is important to the local economy, especially when the work being done by city staff is essential work. Second, cutting a position in the finance department makes no sense at all, since city finances are an area that needs extensive re-organization, starting with the collection of sales tax, the evaluation of contracting practices, the revision of the tax code and many other initiatives aimed at stabilizing the flow of revenue and stopping the leakage of tax money through malpractices.
In light of recent proposals to eliminate or modify exemptions, and to hike tax rates, changes that are needed in order to support the schools and the hospital, we also must run a tighter financial ship. We cannot justify raising sales tax, for instance, without stopping the theft of large amounts of sales tax by major non-compliant businesses. Now the finance department is short-handed, precisely when it needs strengthening. The reason that the city is owed about half a million dollars in delinquent or non-collectable sales tax is that the staff has been overwhelmed for a long time, without the capacity to follow through on collections.
Cutting staff always should be a desperate measure, when all other options have been exhausted. In fact, the hard options of reorganizing our financial system, including our tax collection practices, was not done. Instead, we lost a valuable worker, we lost that worker’s spending with our local merchants, and we lost morale and credibility across the staff and the community.
Cutting people is the wrong way to go about adjusting to the new financial environment. The people are what makes Sitka great. There a lots of places with beautiful mountains and seascapes. Only the people make Sitka special. Let’s quit going to the chopping block with our employees. There are many other ways to attack the budget problems that challenge us.
John Welsh, Sitka
