Heraldnet: EVERETT, WA — Postal workers in Snohomish, Granite Falls and Marysville say they’ve been told their post offices will soon no longer serve as delivery hubs and will only offer retail services.

Mail distribution would be run out of Everett, according to a source within the U.S. Postal Service’s Seattle District Regional Post Office.

The postal worker, who wished to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation, told The Daily Herald, “all mail delivery for these cities would come from” Everett and that employees have been told this news, but not the public. The source provided a USPS identification to The Herald.

Kurt Eckrem, Washington president of the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, confirmed he had heard about the impending changes from carriers and others in the union.

“There’s a lot of rumors going around,” Eckrem said.

Reached for comment, a U.S. Postal Service spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the changes were taking place in Snohomish County….

Critics and those who follow the postal service closely are not convinced this change will improve the mail system or customer experience. One of those people is Steve Hutkins, a retired English professor and expert on the Postal Service. He also runs the site SaveThePostOffice.com.

“My concern, because I’m always focused on brick-and-mortar post offices, is that when you take the carriers away, you empty out more than half the building,” Hutkins said. “This is going to lead to opportunities to close the post office or relocate the post office to a much smaller, retain-only space. It’s a threat to post offices.”

Read more: Post Office in Snohomish