Al.com (By John Sharp): It’s been almost four years since Spanish Fort learned its sole post office was closing igniting a journey of frustrations with one of the oldest federal agencies in the United States.
The stakes are high for Spanish Fort, according to the city’s mayor. Ever since January 2021, when the city’s lone post office closed, it has hurt Spanish Fort’s “identity.”
“The zip code that you put in here populates Daphne, and that takes away the identity of Spanish Fort which is cumbersome itself,” said Spanish Fort Mayor Mike McMillan. “We are 31 years old. We grew 48 percent in the last Census. Don’t tell me that when our population within the city limits is 11,000 people, and is easily doubled that outside the city limits, that we don’t need one. I don’t agree with that.”
Lame duck potential
It appears the battle could last a little longer and could be handed off to a third member of Congress.
Outgoing U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, R-Mobile, who took over the issue that was first left with former U.S. Rep. Bradly Byrne, said he hopes to see funding for a post office in Spanish Fort emerge during the current lame-duck session of Congress.
If that doesn’t happen, then the issue will be handed off to incoming U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise.
“I don’t care how it happens,” McMillan said. “I want it to happen. It’s important to the citizens of Spanish Fort that we have a post office here.”
The hope for McMillan and Carl is that funding for a new post office will be included in an omnibus federal spending package that will be voted on by Congress by year’s end. One option floated is to include the money within the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2025, which is often voted on by Congress before the Christmas holiday break.
Carl and McMillan have spent the last couple of years talking with USPS officials including Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about the restoration of a post office within the city limits. Their efforts come as Carl admits his office has fielded hundreds of complaints from constituents within the Eastern Shore about the lack of a post office in Spanish Fort.
“The last conversation I had with the Postmaster General is that I’d like to make a deal to help find a place in the budget to have a post office,” Carl said earlier this month after speaking before the Mobile Chamber, referencing U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “We’ve not given up on that.”
The issue recently surfaced publicly during a House Appropriations Committee meeting in September. During that hearing, DeJoy told Carl that the USPS had not been able to find a suitable location for a retail postal outlet since the closure in January 2021 of the last unit that was inside a strip mall along U.S. 98.
Carl vowed to find a spot in Spanish Fort that DeJoy “can’t refuse,” to which DeJoy said the USPS would be willing to reopen a branch if that occurs.
But in a statement to AL.com on Monday, USPS spokesperson Debra Fetterly said there are no plans for a new post office in Spanish Fort.
CPU return
She did encourage any business that wanted to serve as a Contract Postal Unit (CPU) through the USPS, to visit the agency’s website.
CPUs and Village Post Offices (VPO) are suppliers such as convenience store operators that contractually provide postal services at their locations, for which nearby Postal Service staff provide oversight and support.
Steve Hutkins, a retired professor at the Gallatin School of New York University and a leading advocate for the U.S. Post Office and founder of the website, “Save the Post Office,” said if Spanish Fort can get a CPU, it would be “better than nothing.”
“But one danger in going with a CPU is that it could make it even more difficult to win the fight for a regular USPS-operated post office since the Postal Service will be able to say you already have a post office,” he said.
There are also problems with CPUs, and a lack of oversight with them, as have been documented in a recent inspector general audit within the agency. The issues contained in a 2023 audit include incomplete reviews of supplier performance and supplier training certification, incorrect program data (for example, hours or addresses), and missing administrative files.
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