Postal Service In Martinez: Congressmen Call Town Hall Meeting

MARTINEZ, CA — In a city where people have complained for years about poor service at the local post office, the situation is bringing to town two Congressmen who will head up an Aug. 22 town hall meeting to discuss the situation.

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Walnut Creek, whose District 11 includes the southern part of Martinez, and District 5 Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents the northern part of the city, are set to lead the town hall. The gathering is a special Martinez City Council meeting.

Thompson said Thursday that he and DeSaulnier want to hear people's concerns about the post office and, hopefully, provide some answers about them.

"The Post Office has a responsibility to offer timely and responsive customer service like any government agency, and this forum offers a chance to hold them accountable to that standard," Thompson said.

Residents' complaints about erratic mail delivery, long post office lines, indifferent employees and other mail-related issues have been on officials' radar since at least 2015, when the Martinez City Council first asked the local postmaster to discuss a growing chorus of complaints.

Councilwoman Lara DeLaney asked Postmaster Jeanette Davis to attend a council meeting, which she did, and presented Davis with a long list of service issues.

At that time, many of the problems were attributed to a large wave of retirements of longtime local employees, and the resulting short-staffing.

But though less vociferous now, such complaints persist in Martinez to this day. The City Council started talking about the problems again last spring, when the idea for a forum with Thompson and DeSaulnier was mentioned.

Kevin Murray is an administrator of the popular local Facebook page "Martinez Rants and Raves," where post office problems continue to generate posts, if not as many as three years ago.

"I think that, at this point, people have just gotten used to it and gotten tired of complaining," he said.

As for whether Thompson and DeSaulnier are going to help usher in change at the local post office, Murray is skeptical.

"It's an election year, after all - it's probably showboating," Murray said.

A spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service did not return a phone call Friday.

The town hall meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the council chamber at Martinez City Hall, 525 Henrietta St. The meeting is supposed to last 90 minutes.

By Bay City News Service

Photo via Shutterstock.com