August 19, 2009

2 LEGISLATORS JOIN POST OFFICE BATTLE

By Pamela McLoughlin, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — Two state legislators announced their support Tuesday for the fight being launched by two city alderwomen to keep the Westville and Kilby Station post offices open.

State Rep. Patricia Dillon and Sen. Toni Harp, both D-New Haven, are urging the Board of Aldermen to support a resolution opposing the closing of the post offices. In a joint statement Tuesday, the women extolled the convenience of local post office branches and their importance as neighborhood institutions.

Dillon and Harp are calling for people to mobilize, saying the federal government won't hear opponents until everyone mobilizes and raises their voices together.

The legislators said saving the branches will take a groundswell of public pressure, and the way to do it is through public hearings.

Dillon, whose district includes the Westville branch, said she's thrilled alderwomen Liz McCormack and Jackie James-Evans are "taking control" of the fight. The alderwomen who represent the Hill and Westville have drafted a resolution seeking congressional intervention to halt the possible closure of their neighborhood post offices. They are expected to introduce their resolution at the Board of Aldermen meeting Sept. 8.

The two claim the branches are "financially viable and active" and that closure would be a "terrible blow" to their neighborhoods.

"My hope is, we'll be taken off the hit list by September," Dillon said. She said closing the branches will increase urban sprawl while the state is trying to move in the opposite direction.

The "hit list" she cited includes 11 post offices statewide, five in Greater New Haven, identified by the U.S. Postal Service for possible closure and consolidation as the cash-strapped service seeks ways to shave costs. Already, branches in East and West Hartford have been removed from the list because of pubic outcry, and officials in East Haven are taking a strong stand against closure, as are residents in West Haven.

The Kilby Station post office on Washington Avenue and Westville Station on Fountain Street; Trolley Square Branch on Main Street in East Haven; Baybrook Station on Ocean Avenue in West Haven; and Mount Carmel Carrier Annex in Hamden are being considered for consolidation.

Postal Service spokeswoman Maureen P. Marion said the Postal Service remains in a "data collection" phase regarding the remaining 11 potential closures. The agency has not yet sought public comment on the proposed closings, and it's premature to say what could happen, in part because the study is so fluid, Marion has said. The study is expected to conclude in October.

The Postal Service projects a loss of more than $7 billion this fiscal year, according to an August statement.