Gaulala CA + 100,000 Pcs Undelivered Mail
bswe...@harborhi.com
This is from an ongoing series of articles in the San Franciso Examiner.
Funny how I haven't heard this mentioned. In the original piece of Feb 11
they mentioned that the area had grown considerably in 3 years yet their
numerous requests for additional help were denied due to budgets! They
had stated that the only help received was last Xmas. Although, to be
fair about it, that should have no bearing on willfully destroying the
mail or intentionally witholding it. It just strikes me as sad when I see
things compromised for the sake of the allmighty budget. I've seen far
too much of this happening lately-lets not fill those clerk jobs! They
don't seem to take into account growth or anything-It's all about looking
good. I have never seen a Function 4 (clerk audit), where they haven't
come back EVERY YEAR and cut more jobs! Funny though, they never seem to
cut back on supervisors jobs!
Postmaster Raymond Berleyoung, a 28-year veteran of the post office,
and clerk Anne Spencer, a 10-year veteran, were relieved of duty
after an undercover postal inspector watched Spencer drop a tray full of
catalogs and advertising circulars into a dumpster, authorities said.
About 5,000 pieces of mail were fished out of the dumpster and
another 95,000 pieces of undelivered third-class mail were recovered
inside the small post office, according to Tom Taylor, a spokesman for the
postal inspectors. The recovered pieces included Christmas catalogs and
holiday advertising more than 2 months old. (2/8/97)
An estimated 100,000 pieces of undelivered mail, including some
first-class letters, are finally en route to residents of the
Mendocino County town of Gualala, the interim postmaster said yesterday.
`Right now things are going great,'' said interim Postmaster
George Parr. ``Most people seem to be happy to be getting their mail,
and we're trying to keep it current.''
Parr's upbeat assessment came a week after Gualala Postmaster
Ray Berleyoung and his assistant, postal clerk Anne Spencer, were
suspended while authorities investigate the alleged dumping of about 5,000
pieces of third-class mail and the failure to deliver a lot more.
Investigators claim that some of the mail had been in storage
for months.``I don't think we're going to have any problems for the
foreseeable future,'' said Parr, who was reassigned February 4 from the
small post office at Stewart's Point in Sonoma County.
Berleyoung and Spencer were suspended -- with pay -- after a
postal customer reported seeing thousands of third-class mailers dumped
in a trash container behind the Gualala post office.
Postal inspectors later also found bins filled with undelivered
mail inside the office, which serves 1,600 households and businesses.
The case is expected to be turned over to the U.S. Attorney's
Office, which will decide whether felony charges will be filed. (2/14/97)
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The Bakers
bswe...@harborhi.com wrote:
>
> Postmaster Raymond Berleyoung, a 28-year veteran of the post office,
> and clerk Anne Spencer, a 10-year veteran, were relieved of duty
> after an undercover postal inspector watched Spencer drop a tray full of
> catalogs and advertising circulars into a dumpster, authorities said.
>
> About 5,000 pieces of mail were fished out of the dumpster and
> another 95,000 pieces of undelivered third-class mail were recovered
> inside the small post office, according to Tom Taylor, a spokesman for the
> postal inspectors. The recovered pieces included Christmas catalogs and
> holiday advertising more than 2 months old. (2/8/97)
>
> An estimated 100,000 pieces of undelivered mail, including some
> first-class letters, are finally en route to residents of the
> Mendocino County town of Gualala, the interim postmaster said yesterday.
>
Since the USPS wants to consider itself a "private corporation" and
touts
how it pays its own way, takes no government funding, etc., then someone
in
the affected area served (?) by this P.O. should file a class action
suit
against the USPS.
Has this ever happened ? Can someone sue the U.S.P.S. for
nonperformance,
negligence, or whatever ?? Would make a great case for some lawyer,
I'm sure :-)
M. Baker
mba...@monmouth.com
Ron Bean
>...an undercover postal inspector watched Spencer drop a tray full of
>catalogs and advertising circulars into a dumpster, authorities said.
>The recovered pieces included Christmas catalogs and
>holiday advertising more than 2 months old. (2/8/97)
It was junk mail?? Pardon me if I'm not too outraged.
I'll bet the SENDERS are pissed, though.
>An estimated 100,000 pieces of undelivered mail, including some
>first-class letters, are finally en route to residents of the
>Mendocino County town of Gualala, the interim postmaster said
>yesterday.
"Here's two months worth of junk mail. Sorry we didn't get it here
sooner."
"Uhh... Thanks. The dumpster is right over there..."
[For the record, I do not work for the USPS. I don't mind junk mail, as
long as it's addressed to someone else :-) ]
bswe...@harborhi.com
In article <5edonf$n...@earth.alpha.net>,
rb...@earth.execpc.com (Ron Bean) wrote:
>
>
> >...an undercover postal inspector watched Spencer drop a tray full of
> >catalogs and advertising circulars into a dumpster, authorities said.
>
> >The recovered pieces included Christmas catalogs and
> >holiday advertising more than 2 months old. (2/8/97)
>
> It was junk mail?? Pardon me if I'm not too outraged.
> I'll bet the SENDERS are pissed, though.
If you read the posting it also stated that there was first class in
there too. People had to pay late payments on bills according to the
articles. You might not like receiving advertising mail-but there are
quite a few people who get upset if they miss a sale. The articles also
stated that there was lots of support for the PM in the town. Not to
mention of course, that advertisers paid to get it delivered. If you ask
me, we should be able to institute a "special service" whereby you can
request that any third class (altho they don't call it that anymore) not
be received. Some kind of a signed statement whereby you attest that you
do not want or will accept any third class. There's great money to be
made there-except then all those big mailing outfits would certainly
lobby not to allow that. After all, they bill by subscribers (i.e.
deliveries). Can you just see how upset they would get? If we can sell
phone cards and now send coupons for services such as cable along with a
change of address , why not?
Ron Bean
bswe...@harborhi.com writes:
>You might not like receiving advertising mail-but there are
>quite a few people who get upset if they miss a sale.
I was not condoning the dumping of mail, but I don't have to share their
opinion of its value.
>If you ask
>me, we should be able to institute a "special service" whereby you can
>request that any third class (altho they don't call it that anymore) not
>be received. Some kind of a signed statement whereby you attest that you
>do not want or will accept any third class. There's great money to be
>made there-except then all those big mailing outfits would certainly
>lobby not to allow that.
The Direct Marketing Association (which is a group of big mailing outfits)
maintains a list of people who don't want to receive *unsolicited* third
class mail (that is, from companies they don't already do business with).
It's completely voluntary, but it's better than nothing. Write to Mail
Preference Service, PO Box 9008, Farmingdale NY 11735-9008 and they'll put
you on the list for five years.
Actually, I think the PO now calls 3rd class "standard" mail, which I
suppose reflects the fact that it is now their "standard" source of
revenue. I guess that means everything else is "non-standard" :-).
Keith Kushner
>...an undercover postal inspector watched Spencer drop a tray full of
>catalogs and advertising circulars into a dumpster, authorities said.
>
>The recovered pieces included Christmas catalogs and
>holiday advertising more than 2 months old. (2/8/97)
>An estimated 100,000 pieces of undelivered mail, including some
>first-class letters, are finally en route to residents of the
>Mendocino County town of Gualala, the interim postmaster said
>yesterday.
And probably 30,000 pieces were AOL disks, too....
--
* Keith Kushner * Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? - Juvenal *
* myc...@dorsai.dorsai.org * *
Bob DeSavage
On 18 Feb 1997 20:32:15 -0600, rb...@earth.execpc.com (Ron Bean)
wrote:
>
>>...an undercover postal inspector watched Spencer drop a tray full of
>>catalogs and advertising circulars into a dumpster, authorities said.
>
>>The recovered pieces included Christmas catalogs and
>>holiday advertising more than 2 months old. (2/8/97)
>
>It was junk mail?? Pardon me if I'm not too outraged.
>I'll bet the SENDERS are pissed, though.
>
>>An estimated 100,000 pieces of undelivered mail, including some
>>first-class letters, are finally en route to residents of the
>>Mendocino County town of Gualala, the interim postmaster said
>>yesterday.
>
>"Here's two months worth of junk mail. Sorry we didn't get it here
>sooner."
>
>"Uhh... Thanks. The dumpster is right over there..."
>
>[For the record, I do not work for the USPS. I don't mind junk mail, as
>long as it's addressed to someone else :-) ]
>
I have a feeling that the media didn't provide accurate and complete
reporting of this particular incident.
First of all, throughout the Postal System, tons of UBBM articles are
disposed of on a daily basis, because people move.
It's PROPER and LEGAL to dispose of UBBM (a.k.a. 'junk' mail),
provided that there is not an endorsement that says words like "or
current resident" below the name.
If it is endorsed as such, then the article is delivered to the new
addressee. If not, then the article is placed in a bundle for the
supervisor to examine and dispose of. In our town, UBBM mail is sent
to a recycle center.
I'm not an apologist for those who are satisfied doing slipshod work,
but it is possible for ANY carrier to mistakenly place a first class
article in that bundle (Yes folks. We are humans capable of error!).
Hopefully, the supervisor will catch it and bring it to the carrier's
attention.
I certainly would not take it personally when he or she did bring it
to my attention. It is one of the necessary and worthwhile duties of a
supervisor to double check for what could be a serious error.
Bob
Happiness is to come home from work and see my beagle wag his tail
all...@tiac.net