Speakers denounce plan to close Norfolk mail center

NORFOLK

A stream of speakers denounced a proposal to close the local postal distribution center at a hearing Tuesday night.

“When did America or the Postal Service ever reduce their standards?” asked Victor Fields, a postal maintenance worker in Norfolk. “Our standards are first-class, and they need to remain first-class.” Like most other speakers, he was greeted with applause and hoots of approval from the audience of nearly 200 at Booker T. Washington High School.

The U.S. Postal Service, which recently reported a $5.1 billion deficit, has proposed closing the Norfolk Processing and Distribution Center on Church Street. Sorting and processing of local mail would move to the newer Sandston facility, outside Richmond. The agency has said that would save $20.2 million a year, partly by eliminating 260 jobs.

The move also would stretch delivery times, a Postal Service manager said at the hearing. Most previous comments by postal officials have promised that delivery would not be affected.

A piece of local first-class mail that takes one day to get to its destination would probably take two days if the plan is approved, said Jacob Cheeks, manager of the Richmond postal district, which includes Hampton Roads. That would be in sync, he said, with another Postal Service proposal to ease “service standards.”

“If you want to provide second-class delivery, with two or three days’ delivery time, simply call it second-class,” said Kathy Garitson, a Norfolk resident. Garitson said the change would force the small business she works for to receive checks later and send payments earlier.

Stephanie Iles, deputy registrar for Norfolk’s Office of Elections, worried about the impact on sending and tallying absentee ballots.

“I want everybody’s vote to count,” Iles said, “particularly people in the military who are overseas, fighting for our right to vote.”

Cheeks did not mention a recent internal audit that found the Sandston facility was riddled with delays and ranked it the worst among more than 40 other distribution centers. But some speakers did.

If mail distribution is shifted there, “it’s going to cause an absolutely negative impact to service,” said Fran Sansone, who retired this year as a local spokeswoman for the Postal Service.

In a presentation before the public comments, Cheeks said the volume of U.S. mail had fallen about 20 percent, or the equivalent of more than 40 billion pieces, since 2006, leaving the agency with “excess capacity.”

“Put simply, to process less mail, we need fewer facilities,” Cheeks said. He noted that the agency subsists on revenue from services and products and receives no federal aid.

Several speakers said the cause of the deficit was a requirement that the postal agency pre-fund health benefits for retirees decades in advance. That costs more than $5 billion a year.

“Not one bit of this is necessary,” said Tim Dowdy of Suffolk, national business agent of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Democratic state Sen. Yvonne Miller also voiced her objections: “In a downturned economy, this is like a kick in the gut.”

Cheeks said a decision will not be made until late February or early March. If the distribution center is closed, the service counter and post office boxes at Church Street would remain.

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com