Denver frets over antistress ballot initiative

Not everyone has concluded that Peckman is on a Rocky Mountain high, however.

Editorials in the Waco, Tex., Tribune-Herald and the Journal Tribune in York County, Maine, suggested Peckman might be onto something worth trying. That's all he's asking for, says the Denver activist: "The idea is to get a discussion going. Stress is a global epidemic."

Peckman is a walking advertisement for the lifestyle he encourages. He practices Transcendental Meditation and yoga, listens to sitar music, and eats organic foods. Even in the face of widespread criticism, he emanates inner calm.

Although Peckman suggests options he says are proven to reduce stress, the ballot initiative doesn't dictate specific techniques that Denver should adopt, but leaves that up to the City Council. If approved, the ordinance would give the council six months to devise and implement a plan of its choosing.

In Denver, a picturesque city near world-class ski resorts and mountain recreation, citizens aren't known for off-the-charts stress. They tend to be laid-back and outdoorsy. But this city of roughly half a million has its share of crime. "Every city has too much crime, and every city can do things to significantly reduce stress and violence," says Peckman.

From Brown's perspective, Denverites' stress will decline the moment the ballot measure is defeated. "This is New Age religion that he's trying to force on our New West city," he says. "But we're going to return to our Old West common-sense values and soundly defeat this in November.

"If people want to practice yoga or do Transcendental Meditation, that's absolutely fine with me," he adds. "My wife's at a yoga class right now. But do it on your own time with your own money. Don't force it on the city and force taxpayers to pay for it."

Ensuring "public safety and domestic tranquility" is precisely the responsibility of government, counters Peckman. "We the people said that's why we wanted to create government."

For many, the question isn't whether stress reduction is a worthy goal, but whether government should be mandating citizens' personal lifestyle choice.

Denver resident Peter Heller, an author and poet, says he doesn't buy the notion that stress reduction should be the province of government. It's dangerously close to social control, he says. "I do believe global change begins in the heart of an individual. But do you want to give something this important over to the hands of government?"

Still, Heller finds the stress-busting initiative amusing. "It's written so loosely that city government doesn't have to do anything," he says. "And no one's going to put up with New Age music being piped into elevators."

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