Contingent comes away from postmaster general meeting with hope to save center
By Bret Hayworth Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, May 05, 2006
Following a meeting with the head of the U.S. Postal Service, a contingent of people pushing to maintain the mail processing and distribution center in Sioux City came away with no promises, but a hope that a competing proposal can be offered.
Meeting in the early afternoon with Postmaster General John Potter, were the three members of the Northwest Iowa congressional delegation -- U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley and Congressman Steve King -- and four Sioux Cityans.
Potter didn't step in and halt an Area Mail Processing feasibility study that may propose moving the center to Sioux Falls, and Sioux City Mayor Craig Berenstein said "it wasn't as if we are coming back with a conclusion, either positive or negative," as a result of the discussion with Potter.
But Berenstein said "it was a very productive meeting. The tone was very positive, very cordial. Mr. Potter was extremely receptive to our thoughts and concerns."
The U.S. Postal Service is conducting 51 Area Mail Processing studies on shifting operations nationally to become more efficient. After a long-sought April 20 meeting in which two regional postal officials spoke before 400 Siouxlanders about the feasibility study, some left the meeting feeling questions were not answered. The next day the disgruntled congressional delegation sought a meeting with Potter.
One option discussed that day was that work at the Sioux City processing and distribution center could be greatly reduced, possibly closing the center, and sending the remaining work to the downtown post office. Forty-seven of the roughly 100 Sioux City distribution center employees could be reassigned to Sioux Falls or moved to part-time status at the Sioux City center.
Also attending Thursday's meeting, in addition to Berenstein and the congressional delegation, were city manager Paul Eckert and Debi Durham and Barbara Sloniker of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce.
Going into the meeting, Berenstein said the goal was to "get the most information they could provide" on the study and to have an opportunity to respond to the study, including offering a counter proposal that could maintain the center in Sioux City. With those expectations going in, Berenstein said, his expectations for the meeting "were exceeded."
The mayor said "there was some dialogue (Thursday) on whether we could see the study," but that didn't happen. Berenstein said the group told Potter "that as we go forward, we need to see additional information" from the study and to discuss different alternatives.
Berenstein said the next step is to continue a dialogue with postal officials, and he said he figured another advance may come within a week to 10 days.
Like Berenstein, Grassley termed the 1.5-hour meeting productive, which he said "left me cautiously optimistic." Grassley said he explained his disappointment on the April Sioux City meeting, "and we expect things to be different this time around. (Potter) did show a greater understanding of the community's concerns and a willingness to finally work in partnership with Siouxland leaders to resolve concerns about possible degradation of service."
Harkin said he was "not at all pleased by the failure of the postmaster general to provide me with reasonable answers to specific concerns that I raised. But he may have begun to understand that the postal service needs to deal more fairly with the concerns of Sioux City than we have seen in the past." Harkin noted the Senate has acted on language requiring a more transparent process concerning postal consolidations.
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
Meeting in the early afternoon with Postmaster General John Potter, were the three members of the Northwest Iowa congressional delegation -- U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley and Congressman Steve King -- and four Sioux Cityans.
Potter didn't step in and halt an Area Mail Processing feasibility study that may propose moving the center to Sioux Falls, and Sioux City Mayor Craig Berenstein said "it wasn't as if we are coming back with a conclusion, either positive or negative," as a result of the discussion with Potter.
But Berenstein said "it was a very productive meeting. The tone was very positive, very cordial. Mr. Potter was extremely receptive to our thoughts and concerns."
The U.S. Postal Service is conducting 51 Area Mail Processing studies on shifting operations nationally to become more efficient. After a long-sought April 20 meeting in which two regional postal officials spoke before 400 Siouxlanders about the feasibility study, some left the meeting feeling questions were not answered. The next day the disgruntled congressional delegation sought a meeting with Potter.
One option discussed that day was that work at the Sioux City processing and distribution center could be greatly reduced, possibly closing the center, and sending the remaining work to the downtown post office. Forty-seven of the roughly 100 Sioux City distribution center employees could be reassigned to Sioux Falls or moved to part-time status at the Sioux City center.
Also attending Thursday's meeting, in addition to Berenstein and the congressional delegation, were city manager Paul Eckert and Debi Durham and Barbara Sloniker of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce.
Going into the meeting, Berenstein said the goal was to "get the most information they could provide" on the study and to have an opportunity to respond to the study, including offering a counter proposal that could maintain the center in Sioux City. With those expectations going in, Berenstein said, his expectations for the meeting "were exceeded."
The mayor said "there was some dialogue (Thursday) on whether we could see the study," but that didn't happen. Berenstein said the group told Potter "that as we go forward, we need to see additional information" from the study and to discuss different alternatives.
Berenstein said the next step is to continue a dialogue with postal officials, and he said he figured another advance may come within a week to 10 days.
Like Berenstein, Grassley termed the 1.5-hour meeting productive, which he said "left me cautiously optimistic." Grassley said he explained his disappointment on the April Sioux City meeting, "and we expect things to be different this time around. (Potter) did show a greater understanding of the community's concerns and a willingness to finally work in partnership with Siouxland leaders to resolve concerns about possible degradation of service."
Harkin said he was "not at all pleased by the failure of the postmaster general to provide me with reasonable answers to specific concerns that I raised. But he may have begun to understand that the postal service needs to deal more fairly with the concerns of Sioux City than we have seen in the past." Harkin noted the Senate has acted on language requiring a more transparent process concerning postal consolidations.
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
