Residents upset with USPS plan





A proposal to relocate the Newbury Park post office at 1602 Newbury Road to save more than $300,000 a year was met with overwhelming opposition during a public meeting held by U.S. Postal Service officials this week.

On Jan. 29 the boardroom at Thousand Oaks City Hall was packed with about 50 local residents who argued that the potential new site, a mail carrier station about 2.5 miles away at 3401 Grande Vista Drive, is inaccessible.

Don Mathews of Newbury Park said the road goes up the side of a mountain.

“The Grande Vista location is probably the worst location that anybody could have selected . . . for the postal service in the entire city,” Mathews said. “It’s up a god-awful two-lane road through a horrible intersection that is . . . under construction.”

Ed Umbrasas of Newbury Park said he would switch to UPS services if the station moved.

“That is the most ridiculous outpost to place a post office,” Umbrasas said. “If that’s your location, goodbye and good luck. It’s not worth it for me to go there.”

In defense of the planned relocation, Richard Maher, spokesperson for the postal service, said the USPS’ financial situation has left the government agency with little or no choice but to consolidate.

The Postal Service, which suffered a $15.9-billion loss last year, has more retail locations than McDonald’s, Starbucks and Walmart combined, he said.

But sales are slow. Mail volume has declined more than 30 percent since 2006, Maher said.

“First-class mail is the bread and butter of the post office. That is what has been supporting us over the years.”

And in 2006, Congress passed a law that requires the Postal Service to prepay future retiree health benefits, which accounted for $11 billion of USPS’ $15.9 billion loss.

“We have to pay benefits for people who aren’t even retired yet. We have to pay 75 years of those benefits in advance,” Maher said. “That has been the main driver of our losses since 2007. We have asked Congress to please address this.”

To mitigate the losses, USPS is cutting costs nationwide.

Diana Alvarado, USPS facilities service office manager, said both Newbury Park post offices are underutilized and have excess space.

That argument did not convince the crowd that the move is necessary.

Tim Koster, founder and president of Search Systems Inc. in Newbury Park, pointed out that P.O. boxes have already been installed at the Grande Vista site, provoking an angry reaction from the audience.

“This meeting is disingenuous at best, a sham at worst,” Koster said. “Because really, the decision has already been made.”

Maher said their concerns would still be considered.

“The local district got a little ahead of themselves not knowing the procedures they had to follow,” Maher said. “When facilities found out they said, ‘Hold it. We do not have this relocation approved yet.’ It was a mistake that was made.”

If the Newbury Road post offi ce is moved to the carrier annex, the services now offered at the two locations would be combined, and the Grande Vista facility would offer P.O. box and letter carrier services plus a retail counter where customers can mail packages and buy stamps.

P.O. box numbers and ZIP codes would not change. The move would not cut postal services in the area, Maher said.

But George Kuby said he and his wife cannot reach the Grande Vista site.

“When you say, ‘Oh, it’s the same thing. You’ll have your boxes someplace over there’—we can’t walk there,” said Kuby, who is retired. “We’ll have to give up our box. That’s our only choice. Not only are you depriving us of the lifestyle that we thought we were living, you’re also depriving many of the businesses in the neighborhood.”

T.O. City Councilmember Joel Price, who lives in Newbury Park and spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, told the Acorn that moving the post office to Grande Vista might not be the only solution.

“Overwhelmingly what we heard from the residents here, they see (the relocation) as a reduction of service from the post office,” Price said. “I understand there are a lot of people who criticize government with its bloated budget and overspending. Here the post office is trying to correct that problem. I applaud them for doing that. Whether or not this is the right thing to do, I’m not sure of that yet. I think there might be other options.”

Once a decision regarding the move is made, there will be a 15- day appeal period.

“A lot of valid points were raised,” Maher said. “(They) will be weighed with a lot of different things: cost savings, the possible impact on retail if there is a move. . . . It’s good that the community was that involved and came to share their concerns.”