Washtucna post office closure could be sign of things to come

Washtucna residents are fearing the almost year-long experience of a 20-minute drive to pick up their mail may become permanent.

Residents were recently asked to fill out a survey about their use of the postal service. The survey stated the U.S. Postal Service is “contemplating the permanent closure of the Washtucna, WA Post Office.”

Washtucna’s post office was closed in April of 2010 after officials determined mold levels in the building created an unhealthy work environment, according to Heidi Evans, postmaster at Hooper.

Washtucna-bound mail since the closure has made the additional 10-mile trip to Hooper.

“It’s really made life hard for a lot of our neighbors,” said Donna Stoess, business manager for the Washtucna School District. “We have quite a few older residents who have a hard time making that trip every day.”

Washtucna does not have local mail delivery.

Stoess said that is especially difficult for school officials who sometimes need to make two trips a day to Hooper for special mailings.

“It’s been a hard situation, it really has,” said Linda Whitman, postmaster at LaCrosse and former relief rural carrier at Washtucna. “The post office is where people get together and see each other. It’s hard when that goes away.”

Evans has arranged for representatives from the U.S. Postal Service to be at the Washtucna school March 22 from 4:30 to 7:30 to answer questions about the future of Washtucna mail.

Washtucna residents have scrambled since the closure to regain mail service. They have contacted state and federal representatives, as well as several officials with the postal service about regaining a post office.

T.A. Phillips, a consumer affairs representative with the Seattle office, wrote to Washtucna resident Jack Guske that the postal service lost billions of dollars in operations in 2010 and is looking for any savings it can find.

Spokane operations manager Carol Rebstock, in a Feb. 9 letter to Theresa St. Hilaire, said several Washtucna businesses have expressed interest in becoming a contracted post office.

Stoess sees the closure of the Washtucna post office as a foreshadow of the fate of other small town post offices.

“I think it is important for small rural towns around us to pay attention to what is happening to Washtucna’s post office,” she said. “I do believe this is only the beginning of small town post office closures to come.”