We, too, believe the system used by the U.S. Postal Service regarding the Ranier Post Office is flawed.
We believe Ranier residents should have had a chance to make their case before the decision was made to reduce window hours from eight hours to four hours Monday through Friday.
While we are amazed, and grateful, that the several small post offices around the larger International Falls Post Office have not been slated for closure because of the agency’s budget problems, the Ranier Post Office was handled poorly.
Koochiching County commissioners weighed in this week, agreeing to send a letter to the area’s congressional delegation about the plan to cut window hours. In addition, they said they want to be kept updated about the status of providing new addresses to the hundreds of residences annexed into Ranier. Most of the new residents did not receive mailings about the meeting.
On Monday, the Ranier City Council is expected to take action seeking relief from the federal lawmakers.
We certainly understand the need for the U.S. Postal Service to reduce its costs. Just Thursday, the Postal Service reported a record $15.9 billion net loss for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. That brings the agency closer to insolvency.
For nearly a year, the agency has been urging Congress to pass legislation that would allow it to save costs including cutting back the number of days it delivers mail to five days a week, reducing annual payments required for its future retiree health fund and entering into new lines of business like delivering beer and wine by mail.
Much of the public understands the financial problems of the agency. But when a public meeting seeking input about hour reductions changes to a meeting to announce reductions already decided, people will be angry and frustrated.
The U.S. Postal Service did itself no good by jumping over the public input part of the process and we urge federal lawmakers to review the procedure.
