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Post Office Closure
updated: Jan 26, 2013, 8:39 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

What's the latest regarding the closure of the downtown (Main) branch of the US Post Office? It was reported earlier that it was closing and there were other plans for that historic building....

What gives? Anyone??

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 367901P	2013-01-26 08:49 PM
Remember postage is going up in a few days.
COMMENT 367913P	2013-01-26 10:00 PM
Time to cut Saturday deliveries!
COMMENT 367918P	2013-01-26 10:06 PM
Calling all non-answers.
COMMENT 367942P	2013-01-27 06:45 AM
I was told by an employee at the main branch that it was no longer going to happen.
COMMENT 367955	2013-01-27 07:41 AM
Sorry we need Saturdays .. Deliveries .. Parcels are the same price 6 days a week for the USPS ... Remember that!
COMMENT 367962P	2013-01-27 08:00 AM
I think Congress told the post office they could not stop Saturday deliveries - although I'm all for it. I'd rather have a relaxing weekend - without bills being delivered.
COMMENT 367980	2013-01-27 08:50 AM
The postal service is an amazingly efficient bargain. Try sending a letter for less than fifty cents to anywhere in the country using a private service like UPS, FedEx, etc. Priority mail gets your package anywhere in the country in two days for about five dollars. Again, try that with any for-profit service. Saturday deliveries are essential for carrying out its mission, started by Benjamin Franklin: To be a carrier of ideas and information. The only reason for the financial problems of the postal service: An unnecessary and irrational requirement by Republicans that they fund the next 50 years or so of pensions in the space of a few years. Next time someone says government can't get a job done right, remember the post office gets it done right for less than for-profit business. And those who are trying to cut its budget and service are on an ideological mission.
COMMENT 367981	2013-01-27 08:57 AM
Is postage really going up in a few days? Please elaborate.
COMMENT 367983	2013-01-27 09:03 AM
I'm a postal worker, we are not going anywhere anytime soon, yes stamp prices will go up but all stamps are "Forever" so you never need to buy penny stamps again. Main Office is a historical landmark so if it were sold, the new owner would not be able to do anything to it, and it needs 8 million just in retro fits, so who would buy that?
COMMENT 367988P	2013-01-27 09:11 AM
Postal service costs a lot more in Australia - despite remarks occasionally seen about the poor service, we're lucky to have such good, safe service at reasonable prices. With everything being outsourced, wages stagnant or lowered, who is going to be part of the middle class to be able to afford cars, restaurants, entertainment?
COMMENT 367992	2013-01-27 09:44 AM
I've often wondered why the Postal Service in the entire country doesn't do away with mail slot delivery at the house. Everybody should be "equal" and have to put up a mailbox at the street. It is obvious that it takes a lot longer for a carrier to park the vehicle and walk the block up to each house. There should be some accommodation for houses presently with mail slot delivery where the resident(s) can't walk to the streetside mailbox. All new housing developments should have centralized mail boxes so that mail is delivered and sorted into individual boxes once for every block. Big city downtown delivery of course would be different.
GILBERT	2013-01-27 09:53 AM
I , for one, am proud to support our Postal Service. I urge all to use their services as much as possible.
COMMENT 367997P	2013-01-27 09:59 AM
992's suggests we simply do without services. I suppose this is a solution for all sorts of things. Maybe we should all have post office boxes and have to pick up our mail at a central site. Maybe we should provide our own emergency services up to the police station door where we can line up behind the desk with others to make our crime reports. Maybe we should carry our water to our homes in buckets from a central fountain. etcf Civilization is not going backwards...
D8VANILLA	2013-01-27 10:26 AM
@992 - Just talk with the people that have had mail stolen out of their curb mailboxes....I'm sure they would LOVE to get their mail thru the door. Plus, there are rules about requiring curb boxes. Ask about what happened on El Sueno after the Painted Cave Fires, and the PO was trying to install "gang" boxes, and the residents knew the rules and put a stop to it. We need to support the Post Office. The service is much better than any other country.
COMMENT 368015	2013-01-27 10:52 AM
US Postal Service is the best by far. My daughter-in-law comes from Venezuela. There is no home delivery of mail nor package delivery by UPS or FEDEX. Residents are afraid their mail or packages will be stolen before they are delivered. Imagine no home delivery at all - how inconvenient is that!
COMMENT 368023	2013-01-27 11:21 AM
I like the postman/woman walking about delivering mail. There is something nostalgic and almost Norman-Rockwell"ish" about it; not to mention the fact that the person has a job. The U.S. Postal Service may not be the fastest horse on the track, but it's the steadiest and most reliable when it comes to hand delivery. There is no better way to send cards---who wants a mass-emailed Christmas card? Not! And Valetine's Day, Mothers' Day,,,the list goes on and on. To send a hand-written note is one of the last affordable romantic gestures we have. Let's try to keep the U.S.P.S. in service and making money (and they give Veterans preference when it comes to hiring!)
LOURAY	2013-01-27 11:22 AM
I recall a Postmaster General years ago responding on a radio show to a caller who suggested the elimination of Saturday services: "We need Saturday to sort and deliver one sixth of the mail." I had a TON of trouble with my former curbside box, and am grateful we can still get mail brought to a box on the carport wall at the current house, thank you very much.. Love my mail carrier and my PO.
COMMENT 368026	2013-01-27 11:24 AM
980 it's always the republicans? Amazing how simple a solution.
COMMENT 368029	2013-01-27 11:36 AM
Their mismanagement is what's ruining the post office. As a company I have never seen worse managers. At all levels, top to bottom. Their decision making does not contain common sense or rational thinking. Future does not look good for the PO regardless of what other statements are made here. It's just a matter of time.
COMMENT 368033P	2013-01-27 11:44 AM
026 Because it IS always the Republicans.
COMMENT 368054P	2013-01-27 12:43 PM
I love the post office and the amazing service we get from it. I find most postal workers to be friendly and helpful. I can see it being reduced somewhat as digital replaces paper, but presumably the P.O. is monitoring that. Nice in that regard that it doesn't need to make a profit, but serves the nation.
COMMENT 368061P	2013-01-27 12:59 PM
A shout out to my mail carriers: Daniel and Masout! You guys rock. I think mail delivery men provide us with a bit of unpaid security, as well. Love my mailmen! One guy, years ago, told me he walked 16 miles per day, on deliveries. Wow.
ARCHIE	2013-01-27 04:24 PM
983: Rick Caruso?
COMMENT 368123	2013-01-27 07:39 PM
Every study shows that the government is more efficient than corporations, which have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to maximize profit ... i.e., squeeze as much out of customers as possible.
COMMENT 368171P	2013-01-28 06:47 AM
123, is that sarcasm or do you actually believe that? What "studies" can you site? Or is that something you "learned" in 1st year lib arts? I will assume its sarcasm. Not funny to those of us paying our "fair share" however. USPS is good folks, just outdated and driven into irrelevancy by technology and changing societal communications systems. Its kind've a sacred cow because its a form of welfare.
COMMENT 368182	2013-01-28 07:42 AM
It's not a form of welfare. Nice try though.
COMMENT 368201	2013-01-28 08:49 AM
Serious question: do the employees of the postal service all work six days (Mon-Sat) or do they work five and have a floater cover them for the sixth day? Besides Christmas cards and the occasional bill, I haven't sent anything via the USPS in years. We groan when getting the mail: bills, catalogs, and junk mail. Our mail carrier is a great lady, but we toss 80% of her deliveries in the recycle bin.
COMMENT 368241	2013-01-28 10:31 AM
@123- What studies would that be? I would say that's completely untrue. Corporations are much more efficient bc of their need to make a profit to survive. The government doesn't need to be efficient bc there's no competition. Have you been to the DMV?
COMMENT 368266	2013-01-28 11:30 AM
The USPS is effectively a non-profit, intended to cover costs with prices for stamps, etc. They have wildly different motivations than a for-profit entity. Does this make the USPS a form of welfare? Not really, but it does allow them to institute human resource and business planning that are "abnormal" in a for-profit setting. My opinion is that the USPS should increase the price of postage to cover their costs (whatever those costs are and based on whatever efficiencies they achieve). Even with the upcoming postage increase, the USPS still loses money every year. And please take romaticism for Normal Rockwell out of this critical business decision.
COMMENT 368337	2013-01-28 04:08 PM
Whatever happened to the idea of moving the police into that building? A little refurb and retrofit is still cheaper than new- plenty of parking- great location

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