July 23, 2009

POST OFFICE CLOSINGS ARE INEVITABLE
U.S. mail service in deep financial trouble as e-mail use rises.

New Haven Register Editorial

No final plans have been announced, but the hubbub has already started. The U.S. Postal Service may close up to 300 branches nationally, including five in the New Haven area. Seniors, politicians, local residents are turning out to save them.

State Rep. Patricia A. Dillon, D-New Haven, objects to the possible closing of the Westville post office because of its convenience for neighborhood businesses. U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3, is prepared to fight, as she did last year, against the closing of the Trolley Square post office, East Haven's only branch and within walking distance of senior housing.

Postal union officials say there are ways to save money without losing branches and jobs.

Individually, the objections make perfect sense, but they fail to acknowledge the postal service's problems. And those problems are compounded by the fact that, although technically an independent agency, much of its policy is controlled by members of Congress more interested in providing services for their constituents than cutting costs. Congress, for example, has given a chilly reception to the proposal to deliver the mail only five days a week as a cost-saving measure.

Despite their attachment to their local post office, people are using e-mail more frequently rather than paying 44 cents to send a first-class letter. The number of pieces of mail handled by the postal service is expected to drop this year to 180 billion. In 2006, it moved 213 billion pieces of mail.

The postal service has not made money in three years. Last year, it lost $2.8 billion and had $7.2 billion in debt. Raising the price of a first-class stamp in May by 2 cents will not have much of an effect. The postal service is expected to lose $6 billion this year. With numbers like that, branch closings are an inevitable necessity.