Inspector general points to staffing problems, chronic mail delivery delays
BY: TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Three Missouri and two Kansas members of Congress serving constituents in the greater Kansas City area forwarded a joint letter Tuesday to the U.S. Postal Service demanding action to rectify problems with missing or delayed mail and protracted periods in which no mail was delivered at all.
Republicans Sam Graves and Mark Alford, both of Missouri, and Jake LaTurner of Kansas as well as Democrats Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri and Sharice Davids of Kansas forwarded the letter to USPS postmaster general Louis DeJoy. They pointed to the July federal audit of the Kansas City Postal and Distribution Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and stations in Hickman Mills in Missouri as well as in Mission and Kansas City on the Kansas side of the border.
Deficiencies at the distribution center touched on mail clearance times, delayed mail, late cancellations and dock scanning during an inspection period in May, USPS auditors said. The report said challenges at the three stations included document scanning, delayed mail and property conditions.
The inspector general concluded USPS ought to address problems with employee staffing and recommended supervisors prepare better for staff absences in the Kansas City region.
“The audit makes clear that the USPS must do more to ensure Kansans receive reliable, timely mail delivery,” said Davids, who is seeking reelection in the 3rd District of Johnson and Wyandotte counties. “I will keep working across the aisle with my colleagues in the KC area to help fix these issues and ensure our postal service meets the needs of our communities.”
In recent months, the letter said, all five congressional offices received a growing number of complaints regarding inadequate mail service.
“It is unacceptable that these facilities … are failing to keep up with the USPS standard of service,” the bipartisan letter from U.S. House members said. “We wholeheartedly urge the leadership of the Postal Service to roll out the recommendations of the USPS office of the inspector general immediately.”
The federal lawmakers said USPS ought to implement strategies to mitigate mail delays, ensure compliance with processing procedures, improve delivery logistics, and upgrade safety and security policies for staff at the mail facilities.
The representatives said residents of communities across Kansas and Missouri relied on consistent mail service and deserved better support from USPS management.