No conflict of interest with post office ownership, Branstad says

Gov. Terry Branstad says his ownership of about a dozen buildings that house rural post offices in Iowa poses no conflict of interest with his criticism of the U.S. Postal Service's decision to close many rural post offices.

Branstad said Tuesday that only one of the 178 rural post offices slated for closure in Iowa is owned by him and his wife, Chris. That's a post office in Lohrville.

"Of the 178 post offices that are threatened there's only one that my wife and I have that are on that list," Branstad said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. "The impact on us is very minimal, the impact on those communities is very significant."

The governor says he wants to see a comprehensive plan from the Postal Service about how it plans to deal with its budget troubles, and he says closing a handful of rural offices won't make a significant difference.

Critics have cited as similar Branstad's order to close about 37 Iowa Workforce Development offices around the state because of budget woes, saying it was done without regard to the impact that would have on job training and placement programs.

He rejected those comparisons, saying the Workforce Development services were still being offered. He argued the Postal Service needs to develop a realistic plan for how it would deal with its budget problems, something he hasn't seen.

"The difference is we have 178 offices, many of them in very small rural communities that don't have those services available," said Branstad. "I think we have with Workforce development a plan that's going to increase access."

Branstad began his criticism of the Postal Service last week, and officials from that agency have declined to comment.

"Their problems are much deeper than a few rural post offices," the governor said. "They can close all these post offices and it won't make even a little dent in their situation."

Branstad said the Postal Service faces much deeper budget troubles it must address, many dealing with the contracts with workers and pension obligations.

The governor said he began buying the post office buildings in the 1970s, viewing them as a good investment with the Postal Service being a reliable tenant.