An energetic crowd of about 100 Flathead Valley residents attended a public meeting hosted by the U.S. Postal Service on Dec. 1 to address questions and solicit comments about the possible closure of the mail processing center in Kalispell.
Representatives from Montana’s federal delegation and Secretary of State Linda McCulloch were at the meeting, held at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell. However, the majority of attendees were local residents, business owners and postal workers who told USPS representatives they opposed the plan to consolidate the Kalispell facility with one in Spokane, ending overnight mail service in western Montana.
Earlier this year, USPS announced a plan to study the possibility of consolidating 252 distribution centers, where mail is sorted. Included were facilities in Kalispell and Missoula, which could both be combined with Spokane’s operations.
John DiPeri, USPS district manager for Montana, said the postal service has consolidated facilities before, including some in Montana, but never before has service been affected.
“I don’t want to see us close any facility or any station, but I also want to see us survive,” DiPeri said.
But many in attendance were against losing their overnight service. Senior citizens worried about the delivery of their Christmas cards. Business people were concerned about costs. One person dressed like Santa Claus wore a sandwich board that read, “you were good this year and yes I got your letter. But it was delivered 3 days late!”
Jon Cuthbertson, general manager for Montana Environmental Laboratory in Kalispell, which tests water for bars and restaurants, said his customers would have to drive water samples to his lab because the government requires the samples to be processed within 30 hours. The end of overnight mail service in western Montana would affect about 250 of his customers.
“When you have a business, the last thing you want to do is piss off your customers,” Cuthbertson said, adding if the service were to end, he would take his business elsewhere.
According to the postal service, moving the mail processing duties to Spokane would save the agency $575,412 annually. But some people, including Larry Hanson, who worked for the postal service for 25 years, said those savings are overstated.
“This is tragic. It’s the demise of the postal system,” said Hanson, who at one time was the postmaster in Kalispell. “This is a stupid move.”
Jefferson Oxford, president of American Postal Workers Union Local 683, said ending overnight service would only further hurt USPS and the drop-in mail volumes, at least locally, have been exaggerated. He said the biggest financial issues the postal service is facing, including employee benefits, are something the union is working with them on.
“I know of no company that has made itself more viable by making itself less relevant to its customers,” he said. “It’s the U.S. Postal Service, not the U.S. postal disservice.”
DiPeri said changes must be made at the postal service, but even if a facility is under consideration for closure, it doesn’t mean it will close. He also said the large turnout would be noted by postal management in Washington D.C., where the final decision will be made early next year.
“If I came to this meeting and no one was here it would mean the postal service was irrelevant, but the fact that you guys came here means that you care,” he said. “The passion that people talked with here makes me think we’re going to make the right decision.”