‘This is an outrage’

Congressional delegation pressures Postmaster General to improve service

BY KATE O’FARRELL VTDigger

Vermont’s congressional delegation is demanding answers to the postal problems that have been plaguing a number of the state’s residents.

Last Thursday, U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch, along with U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, sent letters to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and to the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors seeking information about prolonged postal service delays around Vermont.

“These delays are nothing short of life-threatening for Vermonters who rely on the Postal Service for prescription medication delivery,” the delegation wrote in a letter to DeJoy.

“In fact, we have heard from multiple constituents who have been forced to order emergency prescription replacements because their original medication never arrived or arrived in unusable condition. That is an outrage,” the delegation wrote.

Issues with mail delays and understaffing have been especially prevalent in

Chittenden and Windham counties, with the Town of Hinesburg experiencing a backlog of over 1,000 packages, the delegation said in its letters.

Merrily Lovell, chair of the Hinesburg Selectboard, said she started to notice significant issues with the postal service in October, but things really worsened around December.

“I was getting mail once a week, maybe. And other people were getting mail once every other week, so it has been a real hardship for many people in town,” Lovell said.

Earlier this month, four members of the Hinesburg Selectboard sent a letter to the Vermont congressional delegation, outlining their concerns and ongoing difficulties with mail service in the town.

Lovell said she received phone calls from representatives of Balint, Sanders and Welch shortly after sending the letter.

In the Feb. 16 letters, Balint, Sanders and Welch stress that they do not place blame on Vermont’s postal workers, but rather the agency’s administration.

“We know postal workers are working 12 hours or more each day, seven days each week. Their commitment to the work is unwavering, even though they have been entirely let down by Postal Ser-