[Durham INC] Fwd: Postal Service delivery method swtich attempt

Mon Aug 20 18:39:14 EDT 2012

Speaking  as a Realtor, if you purchase a home in an older neighborhood 
that is porch  delivery, then that's your mode of delivery.
Asking  folks to change that would be fine, but tricking them into it  
isn't.

If you put  up a rural mailbox in an urban neighborhood and leave it for 90 
days, it becomes  etched in stone as your mode of delivery... so it's not a 
decision to take  lightly.

The USPS's  own code dictates that such a change should be sweeping to 
avoid creating a zig  zag route for the mailman. (Going from curb, to porch and 
back again, is not a  time saving route)

Inner city  neighborhoods are not suited to curb side boxes due to folks 
parking on the  street in front of them. Mail inside curb side boxes isn't as 
secure as a box on  the porch  -  unless you are out in the country.

Bottom  line: Even if it was to the USPS's advantage to convert all 
delivery to curb  side boxes, the choice is the citizen's to make. That should not 
occur because  of a slyly worded letter ending in "do this by this date or 
we'll return your  mail to the sender", which is what most of the other 
letters  said.

Imagine  yourself as the lower income new homeowner who has your hands full 
with all  the details of a recent move. Purchasing and installing the curb 
side box is an  unexpected expense in both time and money. It will be the 
most likely thing  you'll hit with your car, and they look ridiculous in true 
urban  settings.

Lastly,  having visited with each incoming new Postmaster for years, all 
agree that this  practice isn't fair, nor has it been approved by them.  They 
each committed  to stopping it, and we should hold them to what they said 
they'd do.

Bill Anderson
REALTOR
(919) 282-8209  cell

_www.FrankWardRealtors.com_ (http://www.frankwardrealtors.com/) 

(919) 688-5811 Office
(919) 688-2094 Fax
theOcean1 at aol.com  

In a message dated 8/20/2012 5:52:42 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
christinebbd at yahoo.com writes:

I realize this is a hot button subject for members of Durham  INC.  I could 
use a refresher course on why installing mailboxes at the  curb is such a 
terrible idea?  The postal service is trying to keep it's  head above water, 
and at a time when all government offices are squeezing  every last penny, 
is it such a bad thing to ask a community to go to curbside  delivery?  

I've had a mailbox at the curb for 18 years, in east  Durham.  My first 
home was near Southern High School and now I"m in Grove  Park.  I don't see the 
mailboxes in my neighborhood as ugly, it's merely  a utility of sorts.  
There are green boxes for the phone/cable company,  larger green boxes for the 
power company, and curbside mailboxes.  Many,  if not all, of my neighbors 
have flowers, bushes, etc around their  mailbox.

Is it simply "change" to something new that is the problem  here?  Change 
can be a difficult thing.   

Christine Chamberlain

____________________________________
 From: "TheOcean1 at aol.com"  <TheOcean1 at aol.com>
To:  mike.e.king at usps.gov; inc-list at durhaminc.org; nathanegriffin at gmail.com 

Sent: Monday, August 20,  2012 12:07 PM
Subject:  [Durham INC] Fwd: Postal Service delivery method swtich  attempt

Mr King,  

Not so long ago we had our little pow wow regarding this unacceptable  
practice, and gained your commitment that it would stop.

As pointed out below, the problem seems to persist, but only in certain  
neighborhoods.
Is it the USPS policy or belief that folks in affluent neighborhoods  
deserve a different quality of postal service?

The fact that many East Durham streets are now peppered with rural mail  
boxes, (which look rather silly in an urban setting), indicates your Post  
Office is targeting neighborhoods of lower economic status. That elevates this  
practice well beyond "unacceptable", in fact even "Un-American" would 
likely  be too kind.

Unsavory, unethical, unimaginable all come to mind - but perhaps  
"Criminal" is most appropriate.

Since these employees are supposedly under your control, it's time you  
explained to the citizens of Durham how this "accident" continues on your  
watch.

Bill Anderson

____________________________________
 From: cpalenchar at hotmail.com
To: inc-list at durhaminc.org,  nathanegriffin at gmail.com
Sent: 8/20/2012 10:07:15 A.M. Eastern Daylight  Time
Subj: [Durham INC] Postal Service delivery method swtich  attempt

John/others-

I know INC has helped many people deal with  this issue in the past. My new 
neighbor, Nathan, was just given this letter  asking him to put a mailbox 
at the curb by our mail delivery person. How  should he respond to this? 
(Nathan is on the To: of this email if you'd  prefer to respond just to him on 
how to handle the issue.)

I remain  completely frustrated that the post office is attempting these 
misleading  tactics. And even more frustrated that they have been more 
successful in my  community than in some of the more well connected, well organized 
 communities. It seems unfair to take advantage of people who don't know  
better. But, that's another  topic.

-chloe

=

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