See/Read Retired Postal Mgr./Long Beach Resident's Devastating Comments on Proposed Closure of 2300 Redondo Ave. Postal Facility

(December 30, 2011) -- As LBReport.com Community Correspondent Joe Mello previously reported, local officials, consumers and postal union representatives spoke in opposition to a U.S. Postal Service proposal to close its 2300 Redondo Ave. mail processing facility (also known as the "Steve Horn Post Office Building") at a Dec. 16 USPS-conducted public meeting at LBCC.

USPS says the proposed closure, part of a nationwide plan to reduce costs in the face of declining consumer usage, will likely mean a letter sent by first-class mail would take 2-3 days to reach its destination.

Among those speaking was a Long Beach resident Martine Etchepare, who identified himself as a retired Postal Manager LBReport.com has since obtained Mr. Etchepare's written testimony on the proposed closure. We publish it below (writer's address/phone number removed). It speaks for itself.

Sadly typical for the Postal Service [which in our opinion Congress should strip of its monopoly on first class mail], that agency has invited written comments on its proposed plan by regular mail -- but not apparently by email [brilliant] -- if postmarked by December 31 and addressed to:

Manager, Consumer and Industry Council
Santa Ana District
3101 W Sunflower
Santa Ana, CA 92799-9323

Former Postal Manager Etchepare's written testimony follows immediately below, with additional background thereafter.

As previously reported on LBReport.com, USPS officials say they've conducted what they call an "Area Mail Process (AMP) Feasibility Study" on consolidating and moving the Long Beach Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC) to the Los Angeles P&DC. Proposing to close the Long Beach facility -- a plan LBReport.com reported in September -- is part of the Postal Service's response nationally to falling revenue. The agency acknowledges it could result in First Class Mail taking 2-3 days to deliver. USPS previously held a similar but separate meeting for local business customers.

To see a USPS "Power Point" presentation prepared for the Dec. 16 public meeting meeting; to view it, click here.click here.

USPS Santa Ana District Manager Gerry Ahern described plans to "radically realign" USPS's distribution center system to cut costs to save what he described as billions of dollars annually in response to a 20% drop in processed mail since 2006.

Photo by Joe Mello

Mr. Ahern blamed that decline on electronic communications and the economic recession and told the audience that USPS doesn't expect to regain that market share, prompting its proposal to reduce 487 P&DC facilities nationally to 252 to eliminate "latent capacity" (time when the equipment isn't running).

USPS graphic displayed at Dec. 16 meeting. Photo by Joe Mello

The proposed action would change USPS' current "service standard" for deliving a first class letter from 1 day to 2-3 days. Other changes would include local collection box pick-up times...and business mail acceptance, retail postal services and PO Boxes would all have to move to other sites.

Signal Hill Mayor Forrester and Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske's office were among thirteen speakers against the closure, citing lost jobs, economic repercussions and service concerns. Long Beach City Manager Pat West sent a letter of opposition on behalf of the City Council, and the letter was read aloud. Postal workers and union representatives criticized what they called agency waste and lost opportunities to diversify, adapt and compete.

Photo by Joe Mello

The agency says its plan, still officially in its "study" phase, is estimated to save $16 million dollars a year by closing the Long Beach P&DC and shifting the Long Beach mail district from Santa Ana to the Los Angeles P&DC, twenty one miles away. An estimated 684 jobs would be eliminated in the consolidation.

Ahern stated that USPS would try to shift the personnel to other positions. The agency's union contracts have "no-lay off" clauses, but Mr. Ahern stated that USPS is "seeking the authority to do so" [make layoffs]. In his presentation, Ahern stated that the nation-wide planned "network realignment" is estimated to result in 35,000 fewer processing positions.

The study is currently under review at the United States Postal Headquarters in Washington D.C. and written comments on the plan will be accepted through December 31st at:

Manager, Consumer and Industry Council
Santa Ana District
3101 W Sunflower
Santa Ana, CA 92799-9323