[Durham INC] Postmaster Mike King

Wed Nov 9 16:29:51 EST 2011

When and where from me.

From: John Martin [mailto:bulldurhamnc at yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 4:28 PM
To: Myers Sugg; inc-list at rtpnet.org; TheOcean1 at aol.com
Cc: mike.e.king at usps.gov
Subject: Re: [Durham INC] Postmaster Mike King

I find this whole situation troubling and Postmaster King's evident indifference, disturbing.  The East Durham neighborhood listserv has had frequent complaints of incompetent service in East Durham, e.g., people who have lived at an address for years suddenly having their mail returned to senders with a notice that no such person lives at the address. Whenever one person complains, invariably three or four more chime in with recent accounts of horrible service.  I think that Postmaster King would be well-advised to make sure that his carriers are actually performing their duties competently before he worries about the placement of mailboxes.

As INC president, I'm certainly willing to lead a delegation to meet with him if he is unwilling to come to one of our meetings.  I would suggest that our President-emeritus and attorney, Tom Miller, also be included, along with City Councilman Mike Woodard, and Tracy Lovett, Congressman David Price's Durham liaison.  I would also want to include people like Bill and Myers who appear to be particularly well-versed in these issues.

I am open to anyone else attending as well.

John Martin
President, Durham InterNeighborhood Council

--- On Wed, 11/9/11, TheOcean1 at aol.com<mailto:TheOcean1 at aol.com> <TheOcean1 at aol.com<mailto:TheOcean1 at aol.com>> wrote:

From: TheOcean1 at aol.com<mailto:TheOcean1 at aol.com> <TheOcean1 at aol.com<mailto:TheOcean1 at aol.com>>
Subject: Re: [Durham INC] Postmaster Mike King
To: andrew.sugg at duke.edu<mailto:andrew.sugg at duke.edu>, inc-list at rtpnet.org<mailto:inc-list at rtpnet.org>
Cc: mike.e.king at usps.gov<mailto:mike.e.king at usps.gov>
Date: Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 12:06 PM
Hard to call it a relationship, Myers, but I just got off the phone with Mr King (who is CCed) and will gladly forward his reply to this message back to the INC listserv.

Just FYI, when the 2005-2006 issue came up, I was passing the INC gavel to Mike Woodard, so we have always had two past presidents visiting with each new post master... and there have been a few.
It's my understanding from our long ago meeting with Postmaster Chris Tinkham, that Postmaster Patrick Harkin was demoted over the issue, and Mr Tinkham was quite willing to work with the neighborhoods. He even committing to pay residents who had been forced to put up rural mailboxes in "porch delivered" neighborhoods.
That's why Mike Woodard and I have met with all the incoming Postmasters, including Dominic Camasso when he replaced Tinkham, and we did so again when Mike King took the helm.

Unlike all the previous Postmasters, Mr King just told me that the USPS has the right to independently decide to change the mode of delivery. So I asked if he was available to meet with the InterNeighborhood Council at our Nov meeting, and he instantly said he wasn't available. So I asked if he would be available to meet the 4th Tues in Jan 2012, and he said he wouldn't commit to an appointment that far out, and we'd need to check with him after the first.

He explained his unusual response by telling me that his family was more important than any neighborhood, and he has a handicapped daughter who's needs come first. (media is welcome to quote me as to that being virtually verbatim)

While I applaud Mr King's dedication to his family, I think a greater dedication to the neighborhoods is in order, as that is the job that is putting food on the table for his family. Meanwhile, Myers, I would encourage you to bring those letters and those news articles to every INC meeting until we can secure a guest appearance with Mr King.

Hopefully we'll eventually arrive at a win/win solution as we did with Mr Tinkham so long ago. One last suggestion for Mr King, check your own postal manual (which is generally not available to the public, but we were able to secure a copy of the appropriate pages). Six years ago, and perhaps it has changed in the meantime, it stated that placing a rural mailbox in a porch delivered neighborhood causes the carrier to walk a zig zag route that is not efficient.

The member neighborhoods of InterNeighborhood Council look forward to your reply, and to meeting you in person, at your earliest convenience.

Bill Anderson
Past President INC
PS: If those letters are exactly the same as the letters six years ago, they will be cleverly worded to "trick", not "require", the postal customer to change their mode of delivery. And that change in mode of delivery becomes permanent after 30 or 90 days, I can't recall which. There are still a few mailboxes in Northgate Park which look utterly ridiculous.
I can't speak to whether the postal manuals have changed in the past half dozen years, but I rather doubt Durham's neighborhoods have reversed how they feel about this unconscionable practice.

In a message dated 11/9/2011 10:22:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, andrew.sugg at duke.edu<mailto:andrew.sugg at duke.edu> writes:

Does anyone here (Bill, how about you?) have a relationship with the acting and now permanent postmaster for Durham, Mike King?  The ever deceptive practice of “we are going to withhold your mail until you erect a rural mailbox and return to send” even though postal regulations don’t allow this, is back in full swing in my neighborhood.  I have a copy of two letters from the post office where this threat is made.  This is for a new neighbor of mine on Echo Road, in Long Meadow.  I still have copies of the 2005 & 2006 Herald Sun articles outlining this practice, and how USPS was going to back off, as they didn’t have this authority.  If anyone has a current relationship with the postmaster, please let me know.  I really want to help this homeowner.

Thanks,

Myers Sugg

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