Please help spread the word about the potential impacts of moving mail processing away from the Grand Junction Processing & Distribution Center. I want to make sure everyone is informed about the latest news and discussions regarding the Area Mail Processing study.
We recently met with Alex Prierto-Rivero to discuss the potential impacts of Postmaster General DeJoy’s Delivering For America Plan. Here can see the KREX new footage here.
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Please spread the word to everyone you know. Service may be effected and it is our responsibility to let the public know what those changes will mean for them. Please disseminate this flyer and have conversations with everyone you know about these potential changes.
Community Input Meeting
To see the Public Meeting notice click the link below. The Meeting will be at University Center on the Colorado Mesa University campus at 1455 N. 12th Street at 3:00 PM on Thursday February 22. The notice has the incorrect address.
Initial Findings
The Postal Service released the initial findings.
A few highlights from the report:
- No career employee layoffs.
- It states that the changes will result in a loss of 12 “non-career” employees.
- It states that the Plant will end up with 3 DBCS Machines and 1 DIOS Machine. These are letter sorting machines. Currently the Plant has 4 DBCS Machines and 1 DIOS Machine. The Initial findings show that they will remove 1 machine from the Plant. Currently the machines run on a tight schedule. By removing a machine, local letters including election ballots could be delayed.
- 1 Flex Rover Sorter Quad will be added to the Plant. This is a robot parcel sorter.
- The Initial findings show a savings in costs in many areas. This is very questionable. For example, they claim a savings to Transportation of $1.4 – $1.9 Million. How can they save on transportation when the truck schedules do not seem to be changing. They claim a savings to Maintenance is $590 – $790 Thousand. Without career layoffs, it would seem that the Maintenance staffing and upkeep would not change.
- With Originating Mail being transported to Denver, 255 miles away, to be processed, there is a lot of potential delays that are sure to arise. The Mountains and Canyons on I-70 often have closures due to traffic, mudslides, and adverse weather. This could cause election mail, flats, letters and parcels to be delayed. This being an election year also has the added potential of causing election issues. We already have made National news with problems with handling mail in Western Colorado. Moving mail processing out of Western Colorado will negatively affect Rural towns in Colorado which have already been seeing delays over the past few years.
Daily Sentinel Article
Dennis Webb from the Daily Sentinel wrote an informative article about the Rally, the Meeting, and the possible changes happening at the Grand Junction Processing Plant. Make sure you read it and share it. Dennis Webb has done a great job at reporting about Postal issues and we hope he continues to do so.
Anne Landman Blog
Anne Landman has a blog post talking about our Rally today. She also joined us at the Rally to show her support and concerns about the potential change in mail processing at the Grand Junction Plant.
KKCO News Story
Quick news story from KKCO aired today. They focused on the job losses and possible delays. The Postal Service states that the changes will make it more efficient. We all know that the Denver Plant is overloaded and mail is delayed in processing at that location. Adding more network mail to the over burdened Denver Distribution Center will only exacerbate those problems.
KKCO Rally Story
KKCO Reporter Jeff Hinkle came out to the Rally. He saw the support our customers have for the Postal Service. It was a great news story. Hopefully we can help not only stop these changes but help restore the diminished service we have suffered over the last several years.
Daily Sentinel Covers the Rally
The Daily Sentinel came out to cover our Rally. Here is that coverage.
Post Independent
The Post Independent ran a great story about the Community Meeting.
Telluride Daily Planet
Sophie Stuber of the Daily Planet ran a great story regarding the concerns with the potential Grand Junction mail processing changes. Concerned citizens and the union were asked important questions regarding the affects on rural towns like Teeluride because of these changes
KREX Pre-Meeting
Alex Prieto-Rivero interviewed Shane McDonnell about some of the initial findings for the AMP study. There are plenty of concerns about where the savings are coming from and the feasibility of the plans.
Real Vail Article
Dave O. Williams reported on the Grand Junction Plant operation changes at Real Vail. Dave reported on other recent stories of delays in the mountain areas and the conditions of some of the offices in the area.
Please support the media sources that are getting these messages out to our community. If I have missed any stories, please let me know.
Colorado Public Radio
CPR was at the Rally this evening. The public had a ton of questions and lots of comments. There was lots of stories, lots of cheering, and lots of concern.
The Post Independent
Taylor Cramer from the Post Independent was at the Rally and talks about the Representatives and citizens were concerned about. The Notice of potential changes lacked the data to show whether these plans were realistic and feasible.
KREX
Alex Preito-Rivero did another great story from the Rally. He talk to Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout and Ridgway Mayor John Clark about the questions and concerns with the Postal Service’s plans.
Daily Sentinel
Dan West of the Daily Sentinel wrote a great article featuring our own Dale Elletson as well as some of our elected officials and our Mesa County and Montrose County Clerks.
Colorado Sun and Durango Herald
Nancy Lofholm wrote a very comprehensive article featuring our own Tia Durrant, Dale Elletson, Shane McDonnell and award winning President Roger Daniels. She did a great job at expressing the atmosphere at the meeting and some of the key points stated by customers, politicians, County Clerk, and employees.
Summit Daily & Steamboat Pilot
Summit Daily reporter Katherine Tomanek was at the Meeting and reported on a lot of the concerns we have about the potential changes. The story also ran in the Steamboat Pilot
Montrose Press
Katharhynn Heidelberg From the Montrose Press reported on the Grand Junction Mail Processing Plant changes could affect Montrose.
KREX
Michael Logerwell from KREX ran a story featuring John Clark (Mayor of Ridgway) and Anna Stout (Mayor of Grand Junction). The spokesperson from the USPS now claims environmental concerns. We believe that this new talking point is because of the Public Input Meeting. Once again, they claim that slowing the mail down is not a delay and a 31 employee excessing is not a layoff.
Colorado Public Radio
Tom Hesse from CPR did a story featuring Michael Bennet and 19 other Senators calling for a halt in Postal Consolidiations. This article highlights some of the problems these changes will have for Rural Western Colorado.
Steamboat Radio
Steamboat Radio also did a story on the action by Michael Bennet and the other 19 Senators who are calling for a halt of consolidations throughout the country. Nice to see that the news is still traveling around the surrounding areas.
Center Square
Derek Draplin from Center Square wrote an article talking about a recent letter to Postmaster General DeJoys from Representative Neguse opposing the Postal Service moving mail processing operations from Grand Junction to Denver.
Daily Sentinel
Dennis Webb wrote another great article in the Daily Sentinel. The article focuses on the reduction of service while calling the Postal Service out for denying the Local Transportation Optimization schedule. The article also speaks of the Congression Representatives efforts to stop the mail processing changes.
