Top 10 Stories: Mail Carriers Overworked

It's been a crazy year. From fish die-offs to reality television episodes to freeway news (and everything in between), Redondo Beach Patch writers were always busy. Here is the No. 3 most read story of the year, chosen by popularity and editorial discretion.

Letter Sparks Storm of Comments (No. 3)

When Vicky Oetzell wrote her letter to the editor, she had no idea that it would spark a storm of comments from mail carriers across the country.

In her letter, she wrote about how she had noticed that her mail was coming at night—sometimes as late as 10 p.m. When she asked about the late delivery times, a postal employee told her that Redondo Beach had reduced the number of delivery routes, and consequently expanded the remaining ones.

According to Barbara Stickler, the president of the local letter carriers union, the implementation of a Flat Sequencing System—which sorts all sizes of flat mail into delivery order—was the cause of the route reduction.

"Based on the new automation, the Post Office has combined assignments downsizing the staff in Redondo Beach," she told Redondo Beach Patch in an email. "The LA District has recently committed to the Union that they will fix the assignments and review the staffing."

Based on her letter, which she sent to all the media outlets in Redondo Beach, the Easy Reader began to investigate. After their initial story describing how the number of routes in Redondo had been cut from 92 to 71, reporters discovered that postal employees may have been dumping mail and that at least 70 grievances had been filed against the Redondo Beach Post Office.

• Original letter to the editor:

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