Congressman Souder continues to seek answers regarding Bristol post office changes

Above, Kay Kintigh, employee of the Bristol Post Office, assists customer Jay Ritchie with weighing a package for mailing. A reduction in personal and operating hours may take place in the near future. (Photo by Jacob Shaffer)

In a January 6 letter to this writer (see full text below article) Rep. Mark Souder promised to continue his quest for answers to questions raised by Bristol residents at the December 17 meeting of the Bristol Town Council. That meeting was attended by Cory Martin, Souder’s regional director for Elkhart County, whose office is in Goshen.

Souder stated that he will send a letter to David C. Williams, Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service, requesting specific information regarding the proposed “consolidation” of Bristol’s rural carrier routes, which means they will be based in Elkhart as of January 16, 2010. Rep. Souder is a member of the subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives which oversees the operations of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

Even though Bristol patrons are concerned about reported possible plans to close their local post office, Souder is limiting his requests to the publicly announced plans to consolidate rural routes in larger post offices.
He is specifically asking to be provided the following: 1) a specific breakdown of the cost savings to be achieved through consolidation; 2) the list of Indiana post offices that are being consolidated (including which are in leased buildings, and which are in owned buildings); and 3) a copy of the original study which set the criteria for determining which post offices were candidates for consolidation.

The congressman is sending this letter because he is not satisfied with the responses of USPS representatives in Indiana to Cory Martin’s persistent requests for the information now sought by Rep. Souder. Answers to Cory’s phone calls and e-mails have been evasive and incomplete at best. Some questions were dismissed as being irrelevant, some were ignored or unanswered, and others were met with vague and contradictory information.

At right is a historical picture showing the original post office, established in 1835 and housed in the building that now the serves as the Bristol Opera House. (From the historical files of Bristol Bugle)

In the December issue of the Bristol Bugle (“Can We Save the Bristol Post Office?”) we reported that planned changes would include the fact that “window service will be reduced to one part time employee.” It now appears that, along with that reduction in personnel, the hours will be curtailed to 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a one hour window closure during a yet-to-be-determined “lunch hour.”

Those who remain unconvinced by the USPS insistence that “there are no plans to close the Bristol post office” might find it helpful to consult the website of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), one of three unions representing USPS employees. The online address is www.apwu.org. Several articles are posted on the APWU website about post office closings, one of which is entitled “Rallying Community Support is Key to Keeping Post Offices Open.”

Interested citizens are encouraged to follow developments regarding the Bristol post office as they are posted online at bristolbugle.com.

Update:  See Mark Souder’s letter to the Inspector General here