Congressional delegation demands meeting with Postmaster General
By Christian Richardson Journal staff writer | Posted: Saturday, April 22, 2006
In response to a town hall meeting that drew hundreds of Siouxland residents with complaints about a U.S. Postal Service feasibility study, Sioux City's congressional delegation has filed a letter to U.S. Postmaster General John Potter demanding a face-to-face meeting.
"Because our previous meetings have failed to produce the cooperation we believe the people of Siouxland deserve, we respectfully request a direct meeting with you," stated the joint letter mailed Friday and signed by U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin, Charles Grassley and U.S. Rep. Steve King.
The letter asks Potter to discuss how the Postal Service can work with the Siouxland community to address the concerns raised and to determine how community and business leaders can review the completed study before a final decision is made.
It further requests Potter to place this and any other Area Mail Processing studies on hold while waiting for Congress to take action on the pending Postal Reform bill. That bill would make available data and other information considered by the USPS in making the proposed decision.
"Any attempt to reorganize the Postal Service in Sioux City before the Postal Reform Act is signed by the president will be viewed as an attempt to circumvent the will of Congress," King said.
The delegation is expressing frustration on the handling of a study to consolidate the Sioux City Mail Processing and Distribution Center to Sioux Falls and is criticizing the handling of Thursday's town hall meeting which representatives from their offices attended.
"The meeting was too little and too late," King said. "It has taken five months for the Postal Service to even invite questions from the people who would be affected by losing our mail processing center. At no point in the process has the Postal Service been up-front or honest with the residents of Sioux City."
Regarding the correspondence sent Friday, Grassley stated, "Siouxlanders have a right to a process that's even-handed and transparent by which they can have meaningful participation in a decision that could impact their lives. This is what the Postal Service promised and they have broken their promise so it's time to take this matter to the top."
In the joint letter Harkin, Grassley and King noted the USPS' failure to release the full Area Mail Processing study as promised by USPS officials March 28.
Bill Galligan, USPS senior vice president for operations, had agreed to follow the pending Postal Reform bill; however, the Postal Service has refused to release the information to the public as agreed to during the late March meeting, the letter said.
"Release of this data would have been a critical step in allowing the people of Siouxland to formulate informed and specific questions about the study's content and to analyze the study to determine whether there are alternatives to consolidation in Sioux Falls," the letter said.
On Monday congressional staff members were briefed on the process and results of the USPS study. However, the full report will not be made public, Doug Morrow, Hawkeye District manager for the USPS in Des Moines, recently said.
On Thursday those who attended the town hall meeting received a one-page summary of the study. That paperwork stated 366,941 pieces of outgoing First-Class mail would be processed in Sioux Falls. Of that, 17,710 pieces will incur a service upgrade from two-day to overnight delivery.
There would be no collection time changes due to the plan, Morrow said. Delivery delays would not occur, he said.
Due to a reduced workload 47 career USPS employees would be reassigned.
The Postal Workers Union contends there will be delivery delays and that the loss of the local labor force will impact the economy.
USPS officials in Washington, D.C., must approve the study before changes could be made. That decision could come in the next three to six weeks.
"Because our previous meetings have failed to produce the cooperation we believe the people of Siouxland deserve, we respectfully request a direct meeting with you," stated the joint letter mailed Friday and signed by U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin, Charles Grassley and U.S. Rep. Steve King.
The letter asks Potter to discuss how the Postal Service can work with the Siouxland community to address the concerns raised and to determine how community and business leaders can review the completed study before a final decision is made.
It further requests Potter to place this and any other Area Mail Processing studies on hold while waiting for Congress to take action on the pending Postal Reform bill. That bill would make available data and other information considered by the USPS in making the proposed decision.
"Any attempt to reorganize the Postal Service in Sioux City before the Postal Reform Act is signed by the president will be viewed as an attempt to circumvent the will of Congress," King said.
The delegation is expressing frustration on the handling of a study to consolidate the Sioux City Mail Processing and Distribution Center to Sioux Falls and is criticizing the handling of Thursday's town hall meeting which representatives from their offices attended.
"The meeting was too little and too late," King said. "It has taken five months for the Postal Service to even invite questions from the people who would be affected by losing our mail processing center. At no point in the process has the Postal Service been up-front or honest with the residents of Sioux City."
Regarding the correspondence sent Friday, Grassley stated, "Siouxlanders have a right to a process that's even-handed and transparent by which they can have meaningful participation in a decision that could impact their lives. This is what the Postal Service promised and they have broken their promise so it's time to take this matter to the top."
In the joint letter Harkin, Grassley and King noted the USPS' failure to release the full Area Mail Processing study as promised by USPS officials March 28.
Bill Galligan, USPS senior vice president for operations, had agreed to follow the pending Postal Reform bill; however, the Postal Service has refused to release the information to the public as agreed to during the late March meeting, the letter said.
"Release of this data would have been a critical step in allowing the people of Siouxland to formulate informed and specific questions about the study's content and to analyze the study to determine whether there are alternatives to consolidation in Sioux Falls," the letter said.
On Monday congressional staff members were briefed on the process and results of the USPS study. However, the full report will not be made public, Doug Morrow, Hawkeye District manager for the USPS in Des Moines, recently said.
On Thursday those who attended the town hall meeting received a one-page summary of the study. That paperwork stated 366,941 pieces of outgoing First-Class mail would be processed in Sioux Falls. Of that, 17,710 pieces will incur a service upgrade from two-day to overnight delivery.
There would be no collection time changes due to the plan, Morrow said. Delivery delays would not occur, he said.
Due to a reduced workload 47 career USPS employees would be reassigned.
The Postal Workers Union contends there will be delivery delays and that the loss of the local labor force will impact the economy.
USPS officials in Washington, D.C., must approve the study before changes could be made. That decision could come in the next three to six weeks.
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