At this point, without immediate and direct pressure on the US Postmaster General it is clear to me that the Ward Post Office will be closed.
It is also clear that the USPS Closing Process has been a sham, that the USPS has ignored their own regulations, that there is NEVER a consideration of community input, and that rights of community members have been violated during this process.
In the case of the Ward Post Office, Scott Prestige of Senator Bennet’s office, Danielle Henry of Congressman Polis’s office, and State Senator Jeanne Nicholson can verify that at the Post Office Community meeting of Sept 6, Ward customers presented oral and written testimony regarding the Historic Ward Post Office, including National Registry #, about the extreme high altitude winter weather and dangerous roads, about the many businesses and non-profit organizations, including Boy Scouts, American Legion, Boys/Girls Club Camps, the long distance over 20 miles round trip to nearest other post office, etc., etc.
Almost a month later the USPS posted its Proposal to Close the Ward Post Office. The proposal listed the followimg:
1. Ward Post Office is 37 years old. (Actually the building is about 118 years old and the PO service to Ward close to the same)
2. Not listed as a historic landmark. (Yes, it is)
3. No significant historical events related to the community. (It was the Ward schoolhouse for half a century, and plays parts in many historical Ward events)
4. Only 3 businesses in Postal area. (Actually there are dozens of micro and small businesses in the community and its surroundings)
5. No non-profit organizations in the Ward Postal Area (Probably 10 exist)
Under disadvantges to closing, no mention was made of over 1 hour round trip to other Post Office, high altitude environment, danger of travel on mountains roads, impact on elderly/low income/people without cars/lack of bus service, negative economic impact on small business, Fire Protection District, Town of Ward administration, community as a whole or ANY issue rasied by Ward Postal Customers in a petition, in letters, surveys, oral testimony. ALL COMMUNITY INPUT WAS IGNORED.
In additon, the USPS has not complied with their own required procedures for the closing process.
1. Would not schedule meeting at time when most customers would have access (requested in a letter to USPS)
2. Promised in a letter in response to our request for line-item fiancial information that the financial information would be attached to the Proposal to Close which would be posted and we did not have to file a FOI request — requested info did not accompany Proposal, we did have to file a FOI request.
3, Did not attach ANY copies of letters received, surveys, petitions, etc. regarding the closing when they are required by USPS regulations to attach ALL communications received regarding the Closing.
4. USPS has not responed in writing to questions from Postal Customers that were written in survey, by letters, etc.
In essence, the USPS has totally ignored the community, legislators, historic societies, as well as disregarding rights of citizens. This is in the case of the Ward Post Office.
After researching what has happened in other communities, it is clear that the USPS operates in a similar manner in ALL communities, has already made a decision to close all Post Offices indicated “for study” (in some cases the closing coordinator actually told community members it was a “done deal” and not to bother fighting it or in some cases communities received Final Notice of Closing before study was ever concluded), that over and over the USPS has refused to correct blatant errors in financial info, community information, has violated citizens rights by not allow video taping of the public meeting, has refuesed to comply with community requests to correct information, refused to comply with requests for financial information, and in many cases, did not comply with FOI requests.
This whole closing process is a SHAM. Apeeals to the PRC are summarily turned down with no explantion for decisions. The PRC Chair herself has said
I am concerned the public’s rights to notification and participation in the closing process are now ignored. The Postal Service is a government monopoly with obligations to all its citizens, not only a delivery service for business mailers — as important as that may be to our nation’s economy.
Ruth Galway, Chair, Postal Regulator Commission, May 11, 2011
Senator MCCaskill of Missouri has openely questioned the USPS process http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=535177&shr=addthis
In Appeal after Appeal, attorney’s for large and small communites have cited examples of citizen’s rights being ignored and USPS regulations violated. It is clear that the USPS has already made up its mind to close Post Offices on the “study list” and the study process and citizen input are a SHAM.
At this point, the only things that can help Rural Post Offices have any chance for a fair hearing is a MORIATORIUM ON POST OFFICE CLOSINGS–nothing else will make a difference at this point. Until and unless a Moratium is implement, rural communites have no hope for a fair hearing. We elect our Legislators–they need to stand up for us.
This letter constitutes a Complaint again the USPS regarding Closing Post Offices, a request for an investigations, and a request for an immediate Morotorium on Closing Post Offices.
Pat Cypher
Citizens to Save the Historic Ward Post Office
Here are some letters I have submitted to the USPS regarding their proposed closure of the Malden WA post office:
From: Nicholas Backman
Malden WA. 99149-0355
To: Doreen Karoly U.S.P.S. District Discontinuance Coordinator
415 First Ave North
Seattle WA. 98109-9998
Phone 206-442-6171
RE: Docket # 1371535-99149: Proposal to close Malden WA Post Office.
I am writing to object to certain words and phrases used in drafting this proposal and accompanying documents. It is apparent that this document was cobbled together with catch phrases that are inaccurate and do not reflect the data given.
Specifically I am concerned with the improper usage of the words “Several”, “Number”, and “steady”.
By definition, the term“several” means more than two or three, but not many. The term “number” means a great quantity, and the term “steady” means unchanging.
In the docket an accompanying documents it is stated “Over the past severalyears, this office has experienced asteady decline in revenue and/or volume. Your figures presented below do not indicate a “steady decline” over “several years”
WALK IN REVENUE
FY 07: $11,817
FY 08: $12,999
FY 09: $11,364
FY 10: $11,144
Please note that revenue is up the second year over the first, and then the subsequent two years are down. A“steady decline” is not evident across the numbers presented, and that phrase should be stricken from the proposal. Revenues are down only in two years. Two does not make “several”. The term “several” needs to also be removed.
In regards to alternate sites available, the proposal states that “There are a ‘number’ of alternate sites within a short radius of this office that can provide the sale of stamps and the mailing of most package items”. Let me assure you that the only “number” ofthings within a short radius of Malden are wheat fields. The word “number” is improperly used and needs to be removed.
Driving distances to alternate facilities:
Rosalia:7 miles one way (14 round trip)
St. John13 miles one way (26 round trip)
Spangle, Cheney, Steptoe20 miles one way (40 miles round trip, Nearest Saturday alternative
A factual error on environmental impact page lists the post office as only 56 years old, it is over 100 years old. I have mailed you a picture of the building from 1909.
Other catch phrases that are inaccurate or misleading are in the section titled “advantages of this proposal”.They should be removed as well.
Listed as advantage number four “CBU’s can offer the security of individually locked mail compartments…….” does not apply here. We already have individually locked mail compartments within a heated and dry secure building.
Listed as advantage number five“Customers opting for carrier service will not have to pay P.O. box fees”. The carrier does not travel thru Malden so we will have to use A CBU. Besides, we do not pay for P.O. boxes anyway as there is not door to door service in Malden.
Shown as advantage number six“Saves time and energy for customers who drive to post office to pick up mail”.This is untrue, as the carrier by passes Malden, customers will either have to drive to CBU, Rosalia for a p.o. box, or place a rural box miles outside of town. If anything it will cost time and energy, not save it.
Other information missing:
Additional Businesses and orginizations include All American Electric, A Shriners Lodge, and the farmers and grain elevators that surround us should be identified as businesses. These farmers and the residents of Pine City, though they receive rural delivery service thru Rosalia, use Malden as their closest post office for services.
Thank You
Nicholas Backman
CC: KXLY News
Malden Town Council
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From: Nicholas Backman
P.O. Box 355
Malden, WA 99149-0355
To: Doreen Karoly, District Discontinuance Coordinator
Seattle PFC
415 First Ave N.
Seattle WA 98109-9998
RE: Docket # 1371535-99149: Malden WA Proposed Closure
Other Factor not considered in this proposal: Voting
In the proposal under section “V” (five) entitled “other factors” it is not noted that Washington State is a vote by mail state. The Malden post office serves as the de-factopolling location for Malden, Pine City and other surrounding residents. We are able to drop off our ballots throughout the entire Election Day at our convenience. During the last election, a friend of mine had her ballot sitting on her desk on and had to be reminded to get it in. This proposal fails to address this issue and no solutions have been suggested to accommodate voting in a “regular and effective” fashion.
Additional information: Some Businesses and organizations not listed in proposal include:
Malden Town Hall (We are an incorporated town)
Malden volunteers Fire Department
Malden Library and Community Center
Malden-Rosalia Municipal Airport
Wired or Wireless Communications
Kile Machine and Manufacturing
Knit-Wits knitting club
Malden Community Church
Malden Fence Menders (service organization)
The Mason’s Lodge
The Order Of The Eastern Star
Felton Hall Community Center
Malden Gift Shop and Hair
American Pride Electric (accidently referred to as All-American in a previous letter)
Pine City Cemetery
Malden Pine City Gun Club
Rock Church of Pine City
Pine City Grange
A gravel mine
2 grain elevators and numerous farmers
Thank You
Nick Backman
***********************************************************************************************************************************************
From: Nicholas Backman
P.O. Box 355
MaldenWA 99149-0355
To: Doreen Karoly
Seattle PFC
415 first ave North
Seattle WA 98109-9998
RE: Docket # 1371535-99149: Malden Washington proposed closure
OTHER FACTORS NOT CONSIDERED IN DRAFTING THIS PROPOSAL: WEATHER, BAD ROADS
In the proposal under section “V” (five) it says “The Postal Service has identified no other factors for consideration”. Left out of the proposal is the fact that the roads in and out of Malden are narrow two lane roads with no shoulder and steep drop offs. These roads are subject to blowing and drifting snow, and can be blown shut for days. The main road is posted chains required in snow/ice conditions for trucks.
Your proposal has us meeting a truck by the CBU for retail service during a 15 minute window. ROAD CONDITIONS CAN AND WILL CAUSE DELAYS AND/OR CANCELLATION OF THE MAIL TRUCK. People including seniors and handicapped could potentially wait hours for a truck that is delayed or does not show up.
Breaks in storms do not follow your truck’s schedule, and people need to take care of their postal needs when they can get out of their driveway, quickly do what they have to do then get back home. If someone should forget to shovel in time, they might miss the truck.
This places un needed hardships and dangers for our seniors and disabled that do not need to be traveling on the road to Rosalia in severe weather events. They definitely do not need to wait around forever in a storm for the mail truck.
Thank you
Nick Backman
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
11-11-2011
From: Nicholas Backman
P.O. Box 355
Malden WA 99149-0355
To: Doreen Karoly, District Discontinuance Coordinator
Seattle PFC
415 First Ave N
Seattle WA 98109-9998
RE: Docket number 1371535-99149: Malden Washington proposed closure
NOTICE OF NON COMPILANCE WITH PO HANDBOOK 101 PERTAINING TO POST OFFICE CLOSURES
It has come to my attention that many members of our “community”, namely the farmers (who ARE businesses) and residents that surround Malden including Pine City, have not received mailings regarding the proposal to close the Malden post office. None of them were invited to the “community meeting”, nor did they receive a questionnaire. These people and businesses receive their mail via rural carrier from Rosalia, but Malden is their closest retail outlet, and they should have been included in the process from the beginning.
Under the glossary of terms (appendix A page 53) in P.O. Handbook 101 the term “community” is defined as following: “A general term that denotes a group of individuals, with common interests, living in a particular area. These common interests may arise from social, business, governmental, scholastic or recreational associations and may involve consideration of shared institutions, traditions, and public services that help bind the community together. Institutions, services and associations do not always have clear centers or geographic boundaries. A COMMUNITY, THEREFORE, IS NOT NECESSARILY FORMALLY ORGANIZED OR CONFINED WITHIN CORPORATE LIMITS.”
Under P.O. handbook 101 section 714 regarding community meetings, the post office has failed to meet subsections ‘c’ and ‘d’. Adequate notice was not provided customers, and the meeting was held at 4:30p.m. on a work day when most people with a job would be unable to attend.
Also under section 715(a) the proposal does not clearly state the reason for discontinuance. As I have pointed out in previous letters, certain words and phrases that are used are mis-leading and do not properly reflect the data presented.
Therefore, in accordance with section 415.1(d) of the P.O. 101 handbook, this proposal should be found NOT WARRANTED. “The discontinuance investigation was not conducted in accordance with the law and postal service policy”.
Thank you
Nick Backman
Thanks Nick,
We too have found similar issues with the proposal – complete BS interspersed with inaccuracies. Our Post Office building is around 117 years old and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. I have pictures of it taken by Rocky Mountain Joe Sturtevant, a prolific photographer of the late 19th / early 20th century. Post Office service in Ward dates back to 1863. And yet they listed our PO as only being 37 years old. Our revenue was up in a few of the last years for which we obtained budgets, and our mail volume has gone up and down, though percentage wise, not as much as the Postal Service generally.
We too have no close facility, the nearest being 13 miles over steep, narrow, winding roads (26 RT) and the other 15 miles (30 RT) over steep, winding windswept roads with dropoffs of 1000 feet in places. We’re surrounded by national forest. We’re one of the windiest places in the country (no brag, just fact), and I have seen 3′ drifts develop on the road to Nederland in just a few minutes. Yet they say that we have access to nearby facilities.
We too have multiple small businesses in town but apparently they only count storefronts, of which we only have 3. We have the headquarters of a cleaning fluid manufacturer (BioGreen Clean), a web design and technical consultancy (Best WWW Solutions and Best Mac Solutions), a log furniture studio (RavenWinds Studio), a water bottler, a solar installation business, several (understanding the meaning of that word as you pointed out) contractors, and 3 professional artists. Those are just what I can think of right off hand. Additionally we have several non-profits that they just ignored: 2 churches, a children’s organization, a volunteer fire department, the town government, a Boy Scout camp, a Boys and Girls club camp, an American Legion facility, and a library.
Thanks again. Do you know about SavethePostOffice.com? Submit your info there too.
Here I challenge them on their numbers. They forgot to factor in walk-in revenue, which is sufficant to pay for the building and the postmaster relief. Thge postmaster still gets paid pre union rules, might as well be here:
From: Nicholas XXXXXXX
To: Doreen Karoly USPS District Discontinuance Coordinator
415 First Ave North
Seattle WA 98109-9998
Phone 206-442-6171
RE: Docket # 1371535-99149: Proposal to Close Malden WA post office.
Re-visitation of economic savings letter
In an effort to keep my letters at two pages or less, I failed to clearly state my thoughts on the economic savings part of the proposal. I have some major concerns as there are anomalies in the figures that are not explained:
1: The numbers do not add up. On the discontinuance financial summary (item 8 page 1 of the docket) and in the proposal (item 17 page 3) you show the utilities having an existing cost of $2,893.00 with first year projected savings of the same $2893.00 with a ten year projected savings of $24,834.00 which is confusing. If the savings are $2,893.00 per year wouldn’t the ten year savings be $28, 93.00? The difference is not explained.
2: Transportation costs are projected to go down $135.00 per year which should when multiplied by 10 years a projected savings of $1,350.00 not the $1,454.00 listed. Once again there is no explanation of the change over the 10 years.
3: Rent is listed as $4,800.00 per year which when multiplied times ten would be $48,000.00 not the $40,621.00 that you list. It is a really weird number that once again is not explained.
4: All your proposal lists are expenses, Walk in revenue is not included. Projected average 10 year walk in revenue of $118,310.00 should have been included. The walk in revenue is sufficient to cover the rent, transportation, utilities, and the Postmaster Relief’s pay. The only thing not covered is the salary of our postmaster. By union rules he cannot be laid off. He will still be receiving pay somewhere; it might as well be here. EVERYTHING ELSE IS COVERED BY WALK IN CUSTOMERS. Malden has maintained a steady population in the low 200’s since the 1970’s. Our future looks bright. The only advantage to your proposal is 24 hour access to the mail. You could provide CBU’s outside the post office as the free delivery option, then charge for the P.O. Boxes inside. This would create a nice new revenue stream for this office. The new Malden Library and community center had its grand opening over the summer. The remodeling of houses continues.
Malden is conveniently located in the middle of nowhere. We are an attractive community for those who want to get away, but still be only 45 minutes away from Spokane, Pullman, The Couer D’ Alene Indian Reservation, and Sprague, Washington.
The Washington State Parks Department is preparing to build a trailhead here for the John Wayne Trail. A private developer is also floating the idea of an equestrian themed camp ground here as well. NO FURTHER DECLINE IN WALK IN REVENUE SHOULD BE EXPECTED.
5: EAS Craft and labor first year savings listed as $61,822.00 with ten years $664,681.00 which is again not explained. Postmasters cannot be laid off. The fate of the Postmaster Relief is not clearly stated. Without knowing the fate of each employee it is impossible to calculate a labor savings. I contend there is no benefit to the post office. The postmaster still gets paid; the cost of the postmaster relief is covered by walk in revenues. When our postmasters pay is spread out among the entire Postal System, it is covered by other offices that make more money. Here in Malden you have a monopoly on shipping. If you close our post office, you are cutting off a revenue stream. Customers forced to leave town will likely choose a competing shipping company. There is a UPS shipper next door to your Rosalia office.
6: You list a total 10 year savings of $572,291.00 however when your breakdown is added up the total is $730,590.00
IT DOES NOT ADD UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This thing is so far out of whack; you really have no choice but to find the proposal NOT WARRENTED.
Thank you
Nick Backman
Hey Nicholas,
Thanks for your comment. It encouraged me to go back and examine our “numbers” again, giving me more fodder to write yet another letter. It’s the next post. Thanks for prodding me.