Rebuffed on his first attempt, Congressman Mike Thompson is again asking U.S. Postal Service officials to conduct a public meeting so Healdsburg residents can tell them the importance of a downtown post office to replace the one that burned.
Thompson, D-St.Helena, said Thursday he was "going to continue to push for this meeting" and believes the postal service should have a presence downtown.
Postal officials reiterated Thursday that rather than hold a public meeting, they will rely on a survey they sent out in September to all Healdsburg residents and businesses asking them about their postal needs.
"We still feel the survey is the most comprehensive and cost-effective way to ask the community about their postal needs," said USPS spokesman James Wigdel.
Postal officials received more than 2,000 responses in the survey and are tabulating the results. Wigdel declined to comment on the possibility of establishing any type of downtown location, even if the survey results demonstrate demand for one.
Since the Aug. 14 fire destroyed the downtown office, the postal service has operated exclusively out of its Foss Creek Circle carrier annex, a half-mile away.
In 2008, in a cost-cutting move, the postal service announced it planned to close the Center Street location, a block off Healdsburg Plaza, where it had been for 40 years. But postal officials relented in the face of a large outcry from residents intent on keeping the convenient location and informal downtown meeting place.
The fire changed everything.
In its aftermath, postal officials said the Center Street site was larger than needed and they would not occupy it again.
"I know we will never see a post office back in the form it was," Mayor Jim Wood said earlier this week. "But to have a small facility where you could mail packages and buy stamps, especially for the business downtown that comes in on a regular basis, I think would be doable."
Wood said he had asked Thompson to intervene on behalf of the city to request a public meeting with postal officials, but they were spurned.
"That one really bothered me," Wood said. "This is a direct request from a sitting member of Congress on behalf of his constituents and they are declining to provide us a public meeting."
Wood said he was told by post office employees that if the Postal Service closes or consolidates an office, the city is supposed to get written notice of the change and there is supposed to be a public meeting to discuss the decision.
"To this day, we never received a written letter from anyone in the post office saying this closure is permanent and they never had a meeting," Wood said.
But postal spokesman Wigdel said the fire caused an emergency situation and a special circumstance that altered typical protocols.
"We thought we did our due diligence by sending out the survey," he said of the reasons for skipping a public meeting.
In the wake of the fire, the Postal Service refurbished the Foss Creek facility by installing more than 1,700 post office boxes, providing counter service, including stamp sales and package shipment. Parking has also been expanded to 34 public spaces.
The controversy over the Healdsburg post office comes amid continuing budget deficits linked to declines in First Class mail volume. The Postal Service recently announced a net loss of $8.5 billion for the close of its fiscal year, and postal officials emphasized the continued need to reduce costs.
That has not altered the feelings of Thompson or town officials.
"Congressman Thompson believes the Postal Service should have a presence in downtown Healdsburg and he would like to work with them to figure out how that can be done," said his spokeswoman, Anne Warden.
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