The Topeka Capital-Journal | Sunday, September 29, 2013 | 7A
JAN BILES/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
Lecompton residents continue to seek answers about why the hours of their post office were reduced, why two mail routes were transferred to the Perry post office and how those measures are saving the U.S. Postal Service money.
Postal: Mayor says office made profit in 2012 Continued from 1A Lecompton post office were shortened Jan. 26 as part of a nationwide USPS initiative to trim retail window hours in order to save $500 million annually once the plan is fully implemented in September 2014. Current window hours are from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The previous schedule was from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday. In addition to the cutback in hours, two mail routes based in Lecompton were transferred to the Perry Post Office, which the Postal Service also said would save money. Last week, the Postal Service said it expects to lose $6 billion this year and is seeking help from Congress to fix its finances. The USPS has recommended raising the price of first-class stamps from 46 cents to 49 cents and a bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate proposes to end Saturday delivery after one year and door-to-door delivery to new residential and business addresses.
Information denied
In January, thenLecompton mayor Mark Tunstall filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Postal Service requesting: n Total revenues and expenses for the Lecompton Post Office for fiscal years 2010, 2011 and 2012. n Projected annual savings resulting from the transfer of the two rural routes to Perry. n A copy of the minutes or notes taken at a Lecompton community meeting with Perry postmaster Cheryl Jones on Nov. 2, 2012, regarding shortened window service hours. n Answers to other questions posed at the November meeting, including salary increases for transferred mail carriers and the Perry postmaster and a USPS national survey used to adjust operational hours. Darrin Gadson, manager/consumer and industry contact with the Postal Service’s Mid-America District, responded to the city’s request in a letter dated April 23. Included with the letter was a two-page document listing only the operating expenses of the Lecompton Post Office for the fiscal years requested; revenues for those years were redacted. The document indicated operating expenses of $216,089 in 2010; $181,832 in 2011 and $38,335 in 2012. Because the Postal Service is an independent establishment of the executive branch of government and receives no tax money, it is exempt from disclosing certain information to the public.
Bahnmaier questions why the Postal Service refused to release the revenue numbers to Lecompton city officials because the information was shared with Sen. Jerry Moran in a letter dated Jan. 10, in response to correspondence by Moran to USPS regarding the proposed changes at the post office. “As it related to revenues and expenses for the LeCompton Post Office, the total operating revenue for 2012 was $55,874 and the total expenses were $38,335,” the letter states. “We have shown a profit at our post office,” Jacquot noted. The Postal Service refused to disclose projected annual savings resulting from the route transfer and wouldn’t answer the questions posed at the meeting, although a copy of a community survey conducted in Lecompton regarding options for future mail service was included with the letter. The USPS said no minutes were taken at the November 2012 meeting, but two pages of notes taken by Jones were included.
‘We’re in limbo’
In May, Jacquot sent a letter appealing the partial denial of the city’s FOIA request. In a letter dated Aug. 22, the Postal Service again refused to release the requested revenues, stating the data would provide “potential competitors for each facility with valuable intelligence regarding the relative strength and weaknesses of a specific market.” The letter, however, included a one-page proposal summary that indicated the transfer of the two routes to Perry would save $5,598. On Sept. 20, Jacquot said she spoke with Gadson but was disappointed in his response. “His basic message was he would not meet with the city council and his job was only to answer FOI requests,” she said, adding she will continue to establish an open dialogue with USPS officials in attempt to expand the window service hours at the post office. “We’re in limbo until we find a person to talk to,” she said. Jacquot and Bahnmaier said the changes made at the Lecompton Post Office have affected service. Jacquot had noticed a decline in mail received on Saturdays. In the past, Bahnmaier said he would mail the Lecompton Historical Society’s newsletter in Lecompton and residents would receive it the next day. Now, the newsletter is mailed in Lecompton, transported to the Perry Post Office, sent to Kansas City for processing, transported back to Perry and then on to Lecompton. “People in Lawrence and Perry get it before people in Lecompton,” he said. Contact Jan Biles at (785) 295-1292.
CHRIS NEAL/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
Alex Robertson, 9, dressed as a zombie in scrubs, poses for an attack as the Statehouse looms in the background. The lawn was overrun with zombies and zombie hunters alike during Saturday night’s Zombie Walk.
Zombies: 200-plus walked Continued from 1A Irish pub/restaurant. The Topeka Zombie Walk is organized by Kansas Karnage, a nonprofit group that discusses and promotes the horror and sci-fi genres. Louis Creek, the organization’s president, said about 200 people participated in the walk last year. Participants paid $5 or donated five cans of food to take part in the walk. Proceeds will go to Let’s Help, which provides a variety of programs and services to those in poverty. Among the zombies were a man with a machete lodged in his shoulder, people in surgical gowns, hospital scrubs and athletic uniforms, teens in prom dresses, a youngster carrying a severed hand, punk rockers — all bloody and ashen-faced. Zombie hunters decked out with fake weaponry and masks seemed to be on the prowl for the unliving. Jaymond Lewis, 24, and Jacob Keeler, 19, both of To-
CHRIS NEAL/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
A zombified Molly Dillman, right, applies blood to Sabrina Serrano’s face prior to Saturday night’s Zombie Walk around the Statehouse. peka, suited up as ex-military characters who were called into duty to stop the zombie outbreak. “He might chase them, and I’ll lay back and get the stragglers,” Keeler said. Topeka sisters Brookelynn Tilton 15, and Nevaeh Tilton,
12, and 17-year-old Perry resident Molly Dillman manned the blood and makeup booth, where they sprayed fake blood and applied makeup to those without costumes for at least a dollar donation to Let’s Help. “I’ve grown up with
horror movies and comic books,” Brookelynn said, explaining why she wanted to be involved in the Zombie Walk. “As I get older, I’ll have to conform to society,” Molly said, “and this lets me break out of that for a while.”