[Durham INC] Postmaster Mike King

Wed Nov 9 16:36:43 EST 2011

At one  time, David Fields was the direct supervisor of our Postmasters, 
not sure if  that is still the case. But if our Postmaster is indeed unwilling 
to meet with  the neighborhoods, I would find that extremely disturbing and 
worth of  contacting whoever is next up the ladder.

What other  city in North Carolina can a postmaster meet with so many 
neighborhoods in a  single meeting? 

Bill Anderson

In a message dated 11/9/2011 4:27:53 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
bulldurhamnc at yahoo.com writes:

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 <TheOcean1 at aol.com>  wrote:

From:  TheOcean1 at aol.com <TheOcean1 at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [Durham  INC] Postmaster Mike King
To: andrew.sugg at duke.edu,  inc-list at rtpnet.org
Cc: 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 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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