The USPS Office of Inspector General has just released a report about the Premier Post Office program. According to the OIG, the Postal Service could be doing a better job measuring and evaluating the success of the program. A lot of the Premier post offices could also be improved in terms of their physical appearance. The Premier Post Office program … Read More
Life-threatening mold closes historic post office in Richmond, CA
While it’s not uncommon for the Postal Service to close a post office after it discovers some mold in the building, it’s cause for concern when the building is a historic structure. Does the Postal Service have plans to abandon the building and sell it off? That’s the question surrounding the closure this week of the 80-year-old post office in … Read More
Napa frustrated by meeting with USPS to discuss future of historic post office
Approximately 50 people attended a meeting Wednesday night hoping to hear about the future of the earthquake-damaged Franklin Station post office building in Napa, California. The Postal Service wanted to discuss the relocation of postal services to a new facility, but residents wanted to talk about the preservation of the building. The Postal Service would not provide any details about the … Read More
Under lock and key: The New Deal post office art of Palm Beach County
Three New Deal post offices in Palm Beach County, Florida, feature important murals painted in the 1930s. But one of the buildings isn't serving as a post office anymore, and the art is "under lock and key." The former Palm Beach post office buidling on N. County Road now serves as the offices for billionaire real estate tycoon Jeff Greene, who purchased … Read More
USPS reviews 5,000 more post offices for reduced hours
The Postal Service is working on phase two of POStPlan, its initiative to reduce hours and staffing at half the country’s post offices. From September 2012 through February 2015, the Postal Service implemented phase one — 13,000 small post offices had their hours reduced from eight a day to six, four, or even just two, and thousands of career postmasters … Read More
Erasing History at the USPS: When U.S. Post Office Tries to Sell Off Historic New Deal Sites, Scholars and Communities Protest
The scholarly news magazine JSTOR Daily has a great article about the selling off of historic post offices, by R. H. Lossin. It covers the sale of the Bronx GPO, the fight over the Berkeley post office, and the whole legacy of New Deal post offices and murals. "For defenders of historic post office sites," writes Lossin, "the disappearance of … Read More
The relationship of USPS lease costs and lessor location
Earlier this month Dakotafire Media published a couple of very good articles about the ownership arrangements for post offices. It’s an important issue, since about three-fourths of the country’s post offices operate in spaces leased by the Postal Service. As noted in a recent OIG report, the Postal Service leases more than 23,000 buildings — about 79 million square feet of … Read More
Montreal Mayor jackhammers community mailbox
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre has taken a jackhammer to the concrete slab foundation of a community mailbox in l’Anse-à-l’Orme nature park. The mayor was protesting what he says is a lack of consultation with the city as Canada Post moves from door-to-door service to community mailboxes. Throughout the day, Coderre had expressed his disappointment with the Crown corporation via a news conference, angry tweets, and … Read More
OIG recommends halt to Phase II Network Rationalization until USPS service performance improves
The USPS Office of Inspector General has just issued a management alert about the timeliness of mail processing after the changes in service standards went into effect on January 5, 2015. The OIG says that the changes were expected to affect about 14 billion pieces of total mail volume, and up to 16 percent of First-Class Mail. As discussed in … Read More
USPS decides not to demolish historic Napa post office, will sell instead
In an abrupt about-face, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced it won’t pursue demolition of the historic Franklin Station Post Office in downtown Napa. Instead, the federal agency plans to sell the quake-damaged building to a buyer who can repair the structure and preserve its architectural integrity. A public notice of the intent to sell was posted on Tuesday on … Read More
