Just days before the election, a new Harvard study is putting a spotlight on burnout and negative interactions facing public servants, and why serving your community may be becoming a tougher sell.
Watch public servant story here:
The study looked at 5,000 public servants across all 50 states and found 35 percent experienced some sort of harassment.
The survey also shows 40 percent display at least one symptom of burnout.
Yellowstone County commissioners can sometimes hear from passionate citizens during public comment.
Billings City Councilman Denis Pitman, served as a Yellowstone County commissioner from 2017 to 2023.
Before that, he served two other terms on the Billings City Council from 2009 to 2017.
And he's faced his share of misery.
"If you're looking at it as a job, you're going to be miserable," Pittman said.
During pubic comment, he says it can be frustrating to the council as well as the citizens, because of the protocol for council members to just listen.
"I'm going to disagree with him. He may disagree with me, but ultimately the bigger picture will prevail," Pittman said.
MTN caught a tense moment last August in the hallway between Yellowstone County Commissioner Mark Morse and Kassi Solberg, a Broadview activist who opposes a proposed data center.
Across town, William Porter works to get the public where they need to go.
"You have to do your best to try to put a good face forward and try to, you know, be... assistance to the general public," Porter said
The job is stressful and fatiguing, but Porter finds ways not to burn out.
"You may end up finishing the day later," Porter said. "It's an extended day, but not burned out."
Rusty Logan, assistant transit director, says he doesn't see the burnout.
In fact, many of those who ride buses are appreciative of the drivers.
"It's hit and miss," Logan said. "Generally, the public is pretty easy to deal with. A lot of them are pretty grateful that the bus is there, but everybody's got their bad days, right?"
And bad days can bring public outcry, sometimes at the Billings School District 2 board meeting.
"You have to think of all the ramifications of your decisions, and it's, it's not, it's not easy," said Janna Hafer, School District 2 board chair. "So yes, it's hard."
But maybe partly happy is enough, because many keep coming back to the job.
"I love being able to help people whenever I can," said Pitman.
"My favorite part is graduation because that is the ultimate goal is to get those kids across that stage," Hafer said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
