St. John meeting draws protests: Post office hours reduced to six a day

From the time a post office was established in each rural town, it has been a hub of the community. Not only a place to get mail, but a place to see a neighbor, learn the latest news and perhaps exchange a few bits of gossip.

But the U.S. Postal Service is making some changes that could affect the future of rural post offices.

Two postal service representatives met with concerned citizens from Garfield and then St. John last Thursday. Most folks voiced opposition to the proposed reduction in hours for their local post offices.

Just before the St. John meeting, the USPS representatives visited the Garfield Post Office, telling patrons that the office faces a reduction from eight hours to six hours a day.

Garfield Officer in Charge Nancy Hathaway said between 16 and 18 people attended the meeting which went very smoothly.

“I really appreciate the community support,” she said.

She said people who attended the meeting had lots of questions. She also said that Carol Rebstock, manager of post office operations in the Seattle district, reassured patrons that the post office is not closing.

Hours for the Garfield Post Office will be 8 a.m. to noon and 2 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The new hours take effect Feb. 23, Hathaway said.

St. John meeting packed

People started filling the St. John City Hall more than a half hour before the meeting began. When the meeting started at 5:15 p.m., more than 200 people sat in the few available chairs and stood wherever there was room, overflowing into the library and outside onto the sidewalk.

Greg Morasch, president of St. John Telephone, directed the meeting.

“We’re here tonight to support our local telephone office,” he said as he tried to begin the meeting lightheartedly. As the room broke out in laughter, he said, “That was a joke.”

He then introduced the USPS representatives.

Carol Rebstock, manager of post office operations in the Seattle district, encouraged people to use the post office, claiming the number of people using it help the post office retain its hours. The reduction in hours is a financial necessity, she said.

Residents were informed that USPS will reduce the hours of operation in St. John from eight hours a day to six hours daily. The reductions are part of what the postal service is calling its POStPlan, reportedly to relieve some money woes the postal service is experiencing.

“We are in deep financial stress at this point,” she said.

She said that volume and transactions drive the numbers that USPS uses to evaluate the rural post offices.

As voices mumbled in the background, St. John resident Carol Harrison was introduced by Morasch.

Harrison read a letter she had written and called St. John “a unique example of vitality that rarely exists among populations as small as ours.”

She said the town is “not just a random gathering of homes in a rural setting. We are a vital, small city with a substantial, community-supported business base.”

Then Harrison read a list of businesses in St. John.

“All these businesses and services depend on, use and would be severely hampered or damaged if we lost our post office. We respectfully request that our post office be kept open.

“You see, our post office is one thing every business on this list uses and has in common.

“It is the hub in the wheel of our town. Please do not allow that hub to be removed and cause our wheels of progress to begin to grind to a halt.”

The room erupted into loud applause.

“Did you think your post office was closing?” asked Rebstock.

A resounding “yes” followed her question.

“Well, it’s not,” she said.

And someone in the crowd said, ‘“For now.”

“My main concern is customer service,” Michelle Welsh, owner of the pharmacy in St. John, said. “I mail out prescriptions to customers in outlying areas. Doctors offices are open until 5 p.m. and we get a lot of prescriptions until then.”

“I have customers from Steptoe to Pullman and Hay and LaCrosse,” she said. “This cuts into my business. We don’t want St. John to disappear like these other little towns.”

A school district employee said although the district puts a lot of information on the Internet, they still mail information because people like to have something solid to hold in their hands. She said it was hard for staff to get to the post office before 2:45 p.m., one of the proposed closing times.

Surveys were mailed out to residents giving them options to choose how they want the post offices to operate. Staying open for eight hours daily was not one of the options.

The results of the St. John survey was that out of 636 forms mailed 257 were returned and 91 percent favored realignment of hours, cutting the hours to six daily. Saturday hours won’t change. Monday through Friday, the post office will open at 8:30 a.m., close with a longer lunch time and remain open until 4:30 p.m.

“I truly believe you’ll go up to an eight-hour office,” Rebstock said. “I can’t promise.”

She said the St. John post office now has enough revenue to support six hours a day, but not eight hours.

St. John Postmaster Bill Corder was not allowed to speak to the crowd, but this wife, Joan, voiced her concerns. She said as she researched the formula the USPS used to calculate downsizing post office hours. She found that the 94 Thornton deliveries were not included in St. John’s formula that cut the hours.

“If the number of deliveries is not accurate, then the number for downsizing can’t be accurate,” she said.

Bill Corder is transferring to LaCrosse where he will be the full-time postmaster. He declined the part-time position in St. John because of the wage cut and lack of benefits. He will start in LaCrosse next month after 19 years as St. John’s Postmaster.

Rebstock said Corder’s replacement will be a career employee.

Protests also arose when the crowd learned Corder is going to LaCrosse.

“It’s got half the population and half the volume” one patron said.

“I’m sure the Thornton numbers would’ve pushed you over, but I can’t change it,” Rebstock said.

Rebstock said St. John will be re-evaluated next year and likely will go back to eight-hour days, she said.

“It’s an unusual situation,” she said. “You were right on the border with the numbers. You are going to be re-evaluated every year.” The first one will be 2014.

“I can’t promise anything,” she said.

A big blue mail box that will allow people to insert mail will be installed within the next month, Rebstock said. The new office hours also should be posted now and will take affect by the end of February.

Within a few weeks, some 6,340 post offices across the United States will see their hours reduced to six, four and even two hours a day. According to the postal service’s list, it affects 12 Whitman County post offices.

Although the meetings may indicate USPS wants feedback from postal customers about reduction in hours, the new hours already have been implemented and will not be evaluated until next year.

According to reports from past meetings, USPS already has determined a reduction in hours before any meetings are held, making any survey feedback meaningless.

Rebstock encouraged those present to write to the Postmaster General in Washington, D.C. and to the western region office in Seattle. She said she was powerless to make any changes and letters from concerned people would be better.

Uniontown residents plan to meet Feb. 7 about cutting its post office hours from eight hours a day to four.

Post office hours cutbacks

Albion - from 8 hours daily to 4 hours

Colton - 8 to 6

Endicott - 8 to 4

Farmington - 8 to 4

Garfield - 8 to 6

Malden - 8 to 4

Oakesdale - 8 to 6

Rosalia - 8 to 6

St. John - 8 to 6

Steptoe - 6 to 2

Uniontown - 8 to 4

Hooper - 8 to 4