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KPBS Evening Edition

Talmadge Residents Upset About Plan To End Door-To-Door Mail

End Of An Era?

The U.S. Postal Service could change fundamentally in the next few years. Tell us what you think: What would you do if door-to-door mail delivery stopped?

A San Diego lawmaker is blasting a congressional proposal that could eliminate home delivery of mail with the idea to save the agency money.

Democratic Rep. Susan Davis says a provision in the Postal Reform Act calls for the creation of cluster mailboxes in all neighborhoods over the next 10 years. She has introduced a measure to block the plan.  Davis calls it a bad idea that would outrage the service’s most loyal customers.

“It’s American. They really have bonded with their postal carriers over the years — and with their postal service,” Davis said. “And for many, many people, just the presence of a mail carrier in their neighborhood is a comforting, reliable feeling that the mail is on its way.”

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David Moty, with the Kensington-Talmadge Planning Group, said at a news conference that cluster mailboxes have no place in his Talmadge neighborhood.  He says they’ll clutter up the sidewalks, create litter and encourage crime.

“Even though this is a safe neighborhood, it’s had its share of mail thefts,” Moty said. “I fully expect that our cluster boxes, if we got them, would be broken into.” 

The Postal Service lost $5 billion last year, in large part because of a congressionally mandated requirement to contribute money to the agency’s pension fund. Democratic Rep. Scott Peters says Congress should let the Postal Service work out its own money-saving changes.

“We know that there are challenges, we know that the economy is changing, that every business is challenged to keep up with the competition.  It’s no different with the Postal Service.  We have to empower them to make the changes,” Peters said.

Congress is in recess currently.  Lawmakers return to the Capitol in September.