200 protest closure of Ukiah post office

<p>More than 200 people turned out Thursday night to protest the proposed closure of Ukiah's historic downtown post office.</p><p>"Cancel your foolish plan," said Ukiah attorney Barry Vogel, echoing the sentiments of the standing-room-only crowd at the Ukiah Conference Center, where the U.S. Postal Service's public hearing on the proposed closure was held. He suggested a lawsuit would be filed if postal officials close Ukiah's downtown post office.</p><p>Post office preservationists also presented postal officials with nearly 5,000 signatures in support of keeping the post office open, rejecting the plan to consolidate services into the post office annex away from the town center, near Highway 101 on the east side of Ukiah.</p><p>The consolidation is part of a larger Postal Service effort playing out across the country to cut costs and become more efficient in hopes of reducing the Postal Service's annual deficit, which is estimated at $8.5 billion. The deficit is largely due to a requirement that the organization pre-pay its employee retirement fund, an unusual obligation that some legislators, including Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, are trying to change.</p><p>The Ukiah consolidation is expected to save $1.4 million over 10 years, said Postal Service spokesman James Wigdel.</p><p>The Postal Service also claims the 11,200-square-foot, steel-reinforced concrete building with a copper roof needs $800,000 in repairs. But agency officials have refused to provide details, causing local officials and residents to question their veracity, a point that became clear Thursday night.</p><p>"If you want us to believe you, let us verify" the numbers, said Richard Shoemaker, a former county supervisor and city councilman.</p><p>The Postal Service has denied requests from residents, media representatives, local officials and Thompson to release the information.</p><p>Remodeling the annex to accommodate the services now provided downtown will cost about $360,000, money some speakers suggested would be better spent remodeling the downtown post office.</p><p>The downtown post office is a Moderne-style building that includes a historic mural, "Resources of Soil," painted by famed muralist Benjamin Cunningham in 1937 as part of the federal Public Works of Art Project. Postal officials promise it would be preserved if the building is sold.</p><p>But history isn't the only loss worrying Ukiah officials. There has been a post office in downtown since 1858 and the current one serves both as a community gathering place and a draw for downtown business.</p><p>"You will create the blight of downtown," Shoemaker said.</p><p>Area residents have 30 days to submit written comments about the proposed closure. A decision on the proposed closure will take at least two months, officials said.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473</p><p>or glenda.anderson@press</p><p>democrat.com.</p>