Alan Walter

Minot

I read with interest and some consternation the article about the US Postal Service in the newspaper on May 2.

First, it was interesting to note that the Postal Service sent two people to Minot to tell us how great the postal service is for Minot. The two people came here from out of town. Even from out of state to tell us how the postal service works and how efficient it is.

Second, it was interesting that they had to be fiscally responsible for the service to maintain operations.

Third, it was interesting about the comment of mail going to Bismarck in the evening and being returned to Minot the next day for delivery.

There is more interesting points made by the two people, but let me address these three.

First, it seems to me that the two people didn’t need to come to Minot to tell us how great the mail service is. They maybe should have addressed the problems that have been pointed out and how the problems would be fixed.

Second, it doesn’t seem to be very fiscally responsible to send two people to Minot from two different states to explain how great and efficient the service is. I had a meeting with the regional director shortly after the first article appeared in the news about the mail problems. It was explained to me about the mail going to Bismarck and back. It was also pointed out that mail from Williston is daily shipped to Bismarck to run through the equipment there. Then it is trucked to Minot and loaded on a truck back to Williston to be delivered. I commented (tongue in cheek) that that system sounded like a pretty good business plan.

Third, the mail going to Bismarck and back the next day is completely not true. There are many instances of the mail being delivered to Bismarck and not being postmarked for two days.

I have a number of e-mails and calls about the poor service from the US Postal Service in the Minot area. I have had business people tell me that they, like the County, have had mail returned to them two years after it had been sent. The return mail was marked undeliverable, wrong address. The mail was to customers the businesses still have and have been at the same address for years.

I have numerous examples of mail delayed for days. The recipient waiting for checks or other important mail that they needed which was time sensitive.

I have an e-mail from an Air Force Base personnel telling about all of the birthday cards and letters that have never been received by them, There were gift cards and money in those pieces of mail that didn’t get delivered. This should maybe lead to a federal investigation.

I can go on about how efficient our postal service is. But I think you get my point. The US Postal Service may not be paid by our taxes, but it is paid for by us the citizens. The citizens of this region deserve better, much better services.

One last comment. In the City of Minot, alone, there are 14,000 homes. I don’t know how many businesses. To say that there are only 8,000 pieces of mail daily is ludicrous. The 60,000 to 70,000 people in our community deserve and need “a lot” better mail services. I will be sending my information to our Congressional delegation.

Walter is a Ward County commissioner.