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Permit #15 Williston,VT 05495 POSTAL CUSTOMER
RECIPE INSIDE! FEBRUARY 3, 2022
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
WWW.WILLISTONOBSERVER.COM
Lawmakers ramp up pressure on post office BY JASON STARR Observer staff
Hoofin’ it down Route 2A Alex Coyle of Williston walks his mule, Aspen, along the tight shoulder of Route 2A north of Taft Corners on Tuesday. “’Cause I can,” Coyle said when asked why he chose this highly trafficked route. OBSERVER PHOTOS BY JASON STARR
Vermont legislators are backing up their constituents in a push to return the U.S. Postal Service’s level of service to its pre-pandemic norm. The home delivery of mail in Williston has been slow and erratic since the middle of last year, according to several residents who have shared their experiences with the Observer. In the most extreme cases, residents accustomed to six-day-a-week delivery have gone more than a week without mail delivery. “I understand the problem is that they are terribly understaffed, but my attempts to communicate with the post office have been like shouting into the void,” said Finney Crossing resident Matte Brittenham-Jones. “We need mail delivered in a timely manner, and definitely more frequently than once a week.” Other Vermont towns are having similar issues, but Williston’s seem to be among the most acute. State representatives from Brattleboro, Bennington, Manchester, Putney and Londonderry, among others, brought a resolution (HR 15) addressing the issue to the floor of the House in January. Adopted Jan. 21, it targets the U.S. Postal Service’s 10-year “Delivering for America” plan as the root cause of the post office’s reduced level of service. “This legislative body urges the United States Postal Service to reassess its 10-year transformation plan with the goal of immediately restoring the reliability and timeliness of mail delivery to the standard that existed prior to the plan’s implementation,” the resolution states. The Delivering for America
‘My attempts to communicate with the post office have been like shouting into the void.’ Matte Brittenham-Jones Williston
plan was adopted in 2020 under the leadership of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to make the postal service financially sustainable, streamline operations and change the business model in response to a market shift away from standard letter mail to package delivery. DeJoy says the plan will “reverse a projected $160 billion in losses over the next ten years by achieving break-even operating performance.” “Our business and operating models are unsustainable and out of step with the changing needs of the nation and our customers,” the plan states. Yet, it reiterates the postal service’s commitment to “providing the nation with six days of mail and seven days of package delivery” a week. The Vermont House resolution accuses the 10-year plan of focusing “more on profitability and less on timely service” and of intentionally slowing (from three days to six days) the delivery standard for first class mail. The shortcomings of the postal service are resulting in late arrival of medications, late payment on bills and financial losses for businesses, Vermont lawmakers say. “The … ‘Delivering for America’ plan is causing significant harm to the health and economic livelihoods of individuals and corporations in Vermont and nationsee POST OFFICE page 7
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