Year: 2007

Waco leaders, residents and veterans spent several years trying to convince Veterans Affairs officials to not close the Waco VA Medical Center.

Now the U.S. Postal Service is investigating the possibility of closing Waco’s mail sorting plant, a move that could cost the jobs of up to 240 processing clerks while worsening local mail service.

Postal officials must not allow a deterioration of local mail service.

It’s difficult to imagine how trucking the daily average of 326,000 pieces of mail in the Waco processing plant to Austin and Fort Worth could improve pickup and delivery services for Waco customers.

If a Waco resident or business simply wanted to mail a bill or letter across town, the USPS consolidation plan being studied would have all local mail taken first to Austin or Fort Worth for processing before being trucked back to Waco for local delivery.
Postal service officials announced they had begun a study to maximize mail delivery efficiency and cost savings by consolidating the Waco plant’s operations in January 2006.

The postal service has conducted 52 similar consolidation studies across the country since 2004. Nine of those studies resulted in consolidations, 30 were canceled and 13 are ongoing.

Earlier this year, consolidation studies in Bryan and McAllen were halted after postal officials determined it would negatively impact service quality.

Mail can play an important role in helping citizens chose their elected officials and the U.S. Postal Service has resources officials need to create Vote by Mail programs.

Those were the two main points shared by Postmaster General John E. Potter during a keynote address at the National the Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) summer meeting here. Stressing proven experience, commitment and available resources, Potter said the Postal Service is a ready partner in states’ efforts to reach voters and conduct elections through the mail.

Founded in 1904, NASS is the nation’s oldest, nonpartisan, professional organization for state officials. The summer meeting, “A First-Class Experience,” is hosted by Bill Bradbury, Oregon’s Secretary of State. Oregon is the only state in the nation to vote exclusively by mail. Twenty six additional states are considering Vote By Mail initiatives.

The Postal Service plays no role in how elections are carried out in the United States, although it is fully authorized to inform and educate election officials about available USPS products and services.

Those services were put to the test last year when the Postal Service worked closely with the Louisiana Secretary of State and other officials to help locate and deliver election and voting information to tens of thousands of residents displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in time for statewide elections as well as the New Orleans mayoral race.

The Louisiana legislature declared June 2, 2006, “United States Postal Service Day,” recognizing the dedication and commitment Postal Service employees showed after the hurricanes and specifically acknowledging successful efforts in the elections.