Residents speak up for Quasqueton’s post office

QUASQUETON - About 75 local residents packed the American on Thursday night to voice their concerns about a proposal to close the post office here.

The United States Postal Service is looking at cutting about 2,000 offices to save money. The agency has operated at a loss for years and higher-ups hope closing facilities will save enough to keep the operation afloat.

The proposal is being studied now, and investigators likely will make a recommendation on whether to close the Quasqueton facility within a year. If authorities in Washington, D.C., decide to close the office, rural carrier routes will be expanded and the postal service will likely place outdoor mailbox clusters in the town. Rural carriers will offer some services from their vehicles, but locals will have to go to nearby Rowley for other things.

That new system would be too inconvenient, Quasqueton residents pleaded last night.

“I don't have time to go chase the carrier down,” said Teresa Kress, who runs a business in town. “I don't have time to go to Rowley all the time. It's not going to be convenient for me. It's not going to be efficient.”

Postal service workers told the attendees that they can go online for many of the services they get at the physical post office, often at a discount. But the post office is a social hub in Quasqueton, where there are only a handful of other businesses and public spaces.

"And there are a lot of elderly people who don't even have a computer in this town,” said Carrie Chesmore, who estimated that a quarter of the local residents don't have home computers. “What are they supposed to do?”

Pushing to close offices is just one of the U.S. Postal Service's cost-cutting plans. The organization lost $8.5 billion last year and is on track to lose almost as much this year.

“We can't continue to service people effectively the way we have been going about it for the last 200 years,” said Rory Sullivan, a regional manager. “People just aren't mailing first-class letters and cards any more, and that's been the bread and butter of our whole makeup.”

Postal service officials didn't have any figures available last night about whether the Quasqueton branch operates at a profit, but very few do. Of 32,000 offices nationwide, fewer than 2,000 bring in more than they spend.

The U.S. Postal Service doesn't receive federal funding but is still subject to congressional oversight and federal regulations. The agency has eliminated thousands of positions in recent years and frozen executive salaries, but benefits and retirement plans built into labor contracts have kept personnel costs high.

Sarah Lindauer, a postmaster in Bernard, is leading the investigation into closing the Quasqueton facility. She said feedback on these proposals is almost universally negative, but closing branches is likely inevitable.

“When I see this happening, I know there's a lot of changes coming and it's scary,” she told the crowd. “I understand if you're upset and angry about this. I don't like it, but it's what we have to do as an organization to exist.”