Delegation finds city will be able to respond to postal study
By Dave Dreeszen, Journal business editor | Posted: Friday, January 27, 2006
Meeting with federal lawmakers and a top U.S. Postal Service official Thursday, local leaders learned they likely would have a chance to respond to a postal study that threatens to close Sioux City's mail processing center.
"I think we feel better about our role in the feasibility study," Mayor Craig Berenstein said after emerging from the two-hour meeting in Washington D.C.
The mayor was part of a six-member local delegation that presented its case to Bill Galligan, senior vice president of operations for the Postal Service. Galligan ultimately would be asked to sign off on recommendations from the study, aimed at making mail sorting in the region more efficient. The completed study is currently being analyzed at the Postal Service's Western Area operations offices in Denver, and is expected to be sent to Washington in less than a month. No decisions have been made, but Iowa officials fear postal officials will recommend shifting some or all of Sioux City's mail processing to Sioux Falls.
Besides costing Sioux City up to 100 jobs and its 150-year-old postmark, local leaders fear the change would delay mail delivery and increase costs for some businesses.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, arranged for the local delegation to meet Thursday with Galligan. Fifth District Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, also attended, and Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., sent staffers.
At the meeting, the lawmakers and local leaders expressed frustration with how the postal service conducted the study, allowing no input from local stakeholders. As it stands now, the public would not be notified until after a final decision had been made.
Harkin said nearly all prior studies have led to the closing and consolidation of mail processing centers.
The senator told local officials he would request a special audit of conclusions reached in the postal service study, Berenstein said. In at least one previous case, such an audit derailed plans to close a mail sorting center.
Harkin said it makes no sense to close a postal center in Iowa's fourth-largest city. Though Sioux Falls handles more mail, Sioux City is viewed as a more efficient center, he said.
"Sioux City is not just some small post office sitting in the middle of nowhere," Harkin said in a conference call with reporters.
Lawmakers also said they would request that the community be given a chance to present an alternative to moving processing operations to Sioux Falls. Local leaders have suggested expanding the center in Sioux City and shifting more mail here.
"The Sioux City region needs to have an opportunity to see the study before it's set in stone and then respond to that study by producing a competing model," King said in an interview following the meeting. If the alternative is as much, if not more, effective, the Postal Service should be compelled to accept it, he said.
Berenstein said the congressional delegation's intervention proved invaluable in getting the Postal Service to listen to the community's concerns.
"I think we have put a face on the decision which allows Mr. Galligan to take into consideration factors other than numbers on a piece of paper," the mayor said.
"The Postal Service was put on notice today there will be a great deal of scrutiny of the process at the highest levels," Siouxland Chamber of Commerce President Debi Durham said. "That's exactly what we wanted to accomplish with this trip."
Besides Berenstein and Durham, the local delegation included South Sioux City Mayor Bill McLarty; Sioux City Councilman Jim Rixner, who is also executive director of Siouxland Mental Health; Journal publisher Ron Peterson; and Barbara Sloniker, the Chamber's vice president of government relations.
The Journal, which direct mails 4,300 copies of the newspaper on a daily basis, is one of the largest postal customers in Sioux City. The Journal has serious concerns whether it could maintain that level of service if the mail processing would move to Sioux Falls, Peterson said.
Galligan listened to those and others concerns raised by local officials, but offered no predictions about the eventual outcome of the study.
"He didn't give anything away or offer any false hope and he didn't concede any point," King said. "He stuck to the process that was laid out."
Journal business editor Dave Dreeszen can be reached at (712) 293-4211 or davedreeszen@siouxcityjournal.com
"I think we feel better about our role in the feasibility study," Mayor Craig Berenstein said after emerging from the two-hour meeting in Washington D.C.
The mayor was part of a six-member local delegation that presented its case to Bill Galligan, senior vice president of operations for the Postal Service. Galligan ultimately would be asked to sign off on recommendations from the study, aimed at making mail sorting in the region more efficient. The completed study is currently being analyzed at the Postal Service's Western Area operations offices in Denver, and is expected to be sent to Washington in less than a month. No decisions have been made, but Iowa officials fear postal officials will recommend shifting some or all of Sioux City's mail processing to Sioux Falls.
Besides costing Sioux City up to 100 jobs and its 150-year-old postmark, local leaders fear the change would delay mail delivery and increase costs for some businesses.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, arranged for the local delegation to meet Thursday with Galligan. Fifth District Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, also attended, and Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., sent staffers.
At the meeting, the lawmakers and local leaders expressed frustration with how the postal service conducted the study, allowing no input from local stakeholders. As it stands now, the public would not be notified until after a final decision had been made.
Harkin said nearly all prior studies have led to the closing and consolidation of mail processing centers.
The senator told local officials he would request a special audit of conclusions reached in the postal service study, Berenstein said. In at least one previous case, such an audit derailed plans to close a mail sorting center.
Harkin said it makes no sense to close a postal center in Iowa's fourth-largest city. Though Sioux Falls handles more mail, Sioux City is viewed as a more efficient center, he said.
"Sioux City is not just some small post office sitting in the middle of nowhere," Harkin said in a conference call with reporters.
Lawmakers also said they would request that the community be given a chance to present an alternative to moving processing operations to Sioux Falls. Local leaders have suggested expanding the center in Sioux City and shifting more mail here.
"The Sioux City region needs to have an opportunity to see the study before it's set in stone and then respond to that study by producing a competing model," King said in an interview following the meeting. If the alternative is as much, if not more, effective, the Postal Service should be compelled to accept it, he said.
Berenstein said the congressional delegation's intervention proved invaluable in getting the Postal Service to listen to the community's concerns.
"I think we have put a face on the decision which allows Mr. Galligan to take into consideration factors other than numbers on a piece of paper," the mayor said.
"The Postal Service was put on notice today there will be a great deal of scrutiny of the process at the highest levels," Siouxland Chamber of Commerce President Debi Durham said. "That's exactly what we wanted to accomplish with this trip."
Besides Berenstein and Durham, the local delegation included South Sioux City Mayor Bill McLarty; Sioux City Councilman Jim Rixner, who is also executive director of Siouxland Mental Health; Journal publisher Ron Peterson; and Barbara Sloniker, the Chamber's vice president of government relations.
The Journal, which direct mails 4,300 copies of the newspaper on a daily basis, is one of the largest postal customers in Sioux City. The Journal has serious concerns whether it could maintain that level of service if the mail processing would move to Sioux Falls, Peterson said.
Galligan listened to those and others concerns raised by local officials, but offered no predictions about the eventual outcome of the study.
"He didn't give anything away or offer any false hope and he didn't concede any point," King said. "He stuck to the process that was laid out."
Journal business editor Dave Dreeszen can be reached at (712) 293-4211 or davedreeszen@siouxcityjournal.com
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