Norton D.C. Postal Roundtable Brings Recommendations to Improve Local Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released a set of recommendations that originated at Norton's D.C. Postal Service Roundtable on Wednesday, and invited residents to continue to contribute suggestions for improvements for D.C. postal services that the Roundtable problem-solving session initiated. Suggestions can be emailed to NortonEvents@mail.house.gov with "Post Office Improvement" in the subject line, and they will be forwarded directly to the D.C. Postmaster. The Roundtable brought together the District of Columbia Postmaster, Gerald A. Roane, Cynthia Goodwin of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Dena Briscoe of the American Postal Workers Union, ANC 3F Chairman Adam Tope, and Brennan Dorn and Gail Broeckel, two District residents who shared their experiences with local postal service in the city. Among the recommendations were:

• Quarterly Postmaster meetings with ANCs;
• Setting up an automated phone system for residents who want only routine information, such as operating hours, freeing up customer service representatives to handle substantive issues;
• Creating the role of Postal Ombudsman to focus on recurring customer reports in order to detect patterns of service problems; and
• Getting State Department assistance in processing passports using postal office personnel

Norton said she would call in the U.S. Postal Inspector on the use of mail for drugs, which can lead to attacks on letter carriers.

"This roundtable was the problem-solving session we had hoped for," Norton said. "Residents, employees, and the Postmaster sat down together in a public session and not only aired issues, but arrived at creative suggestions for a path toward practical solutions. We now invite the public to keep the problem-solving process going by emailing its suggestions for improvements of D.C. postal services to NortonEvents@mail.house.gov with ‘Post Office Improvement' in the subject line."

Norton decided on the Roundtable following the killing of a letter carrier doing late night deliveries, as well as a surge of complaints from residents. Last year, she wrote to United States Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe after the death of USPS letter carrier Tyson Barnette to request that further efforts be made to ensure the safety of letter carriers at night. In February of this year, Norton joined Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and other members of the Maryland congressional delegation in a letter to Donahue urging USPS to immediately devise a plan to protect worker safety in inclement weather and the evenings, and to ensure that no homes or businesses experience multiple-day delays. Norton's office used social media and community outreach to crowd-source local postal service issues from residents in the District. Among the complaints District residents have raised are customer service, after-dark mail delivery, lost and stolen mail, letter carrier safety, and responsiveness to customers' concerns.

Congress does not fund the USPS, but requires the USPS, unlike any other federal agency or private organization, to prefund future retiree health benefits, taking billions in revenue from operations. Norton and other congressional Democrats have offered several alternatives for relaxing the prefunding to allow more postal revenue to go to service. The USPS is ranked as the fourth most trusted company in the entire United States.